Ps. xiv. 1 , Tlie fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.
MEN, who judge only by the outward appearance, are apt to entertain a good opinion of themselves : but God, who looketh at the heart, describes the whole race of mankind as immersed in an unfathom- able abyss of wickedness ^ In confirmation of this melancholy truth we need look no further than to the declaration in the text. It may be thought indeed that the text is spoken only in reference to a few professed infidels : but the words immediately follow- ing shew that it relates to many, yea to all mankind ;
^ Jcr. xvii. 9.
" all being gone aside, and none doing good, no not one." Above all, St. Paul, speaking expressly upon the subject of human depravity, appeals to this very passage as decisively establishing that doctrine.'' In considering the words before us w^e shall shew,
I. The atheistical thoughts and desires of the heart —
God interprets the thoughts and desires of the heart as though they were expressed in words ; and he attests its real language to be like that in the text. It may be understood,
1. As an assertion —
[The name here used for God is not Jehovah, which relates to his essence, but Elohim, which characterizes him as the moral governor of the world. The words therefore must be understood, not as declaring that there is no God, but that there is no God who interferes in human affairs. It is true there are not many, who will deliberately affirm this in plain terms ; but, alas ! how many are there, whose actions mani- fest this to be the inward thought of their hearts ! If we look around us, we shall see the great mass of mankind living as if there were no superior Being to whom they owed obedience, or to whom they were accountable for their conduct. They inquire constantly whether such or such a line of conduct will tend to their comfort, their honour, or their interest ; but how rarely do they examine whether it will please God ! How will men gratify in secret, or at least harbour in their bosoms, those lusts, which they could not endure to have exposed to the eye of a fellow-creature, while yet they feel no concern at all about the presence of their God ! The language of their hearts is, " The Lord seeth us not, he hath forsaken the earth^:" " How doth God know? can he judge through the dark cloud ? Thick clouds are a covering to him that he seeth not; and he walketh in the circuit of the heaven 'V' ignorant and indifferent about the affairs of men. And as tve thus refuse to acknowledge God ourselves, so we do not choose that any others should acknowledge him. Is any one of our com- panions awed by the fear of God ? how ready are we to laugh at his scruples ; to propose to him the customs and maxims of the world as more worthy of his regard than the mind and will of God ; and to encourage him in the hope, that such comphances shall never be noticed in the day of judgment ! And what is this but to use the very language which God
^ Rom. iii. 10 — 12. « Ezek. viii. 12. ^ job xxii. 13, 14.