Man in his natural state has become odious to God,
utterly incapable of answering the ends of his creation, until by God’s free grace, a change has been wrought.
Psalm 1
1 The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.
2 The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God.
3 They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
4 Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge? who eat up my people as they eat bread, and call not upon the LORD.
5 There were they in great fear: for God is in the generation of the righteous.
6 Ye have shamed the counsel of the poor, because the LORD is his refuge.
7 Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion! when the LORD bringeth back the captivity of his people, Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad.
Psalm 1 – J. Vernon McGee
Psalm 14 – The Bounty of God and the Folly of Men
The creed, character, and doom of the atheist are set forth in the 14th psalm, and the psalm is so important as to demand repetition. See Psalm 53. The root of atheism is in the heart, Romans 1:21. Its effect on character, speech, and action is disastrous, and it ends in great fear, Psalm 14:5. The best answer to atheism is the light and liberty of the children of God, Psalm 14:7; Hebrews 9:28; II Thessalonians 1:6-10. —Through the Bible Day by Day
Psalm 14:7—When the LORD bringeth back the captivity of his people.
It is good to have an eye on the future, even though we get sometimes a little weary of waiting, and impatient of delay. Here a captive soul transports itself to the hours when its captivity shall be ended; and although it cannot altogether suppress the “Oh!” of longing desire, it dilates with ecstasy, as it anticipates the outburst of joy that shall hail the Divine deliverance.
Let us look on and up. Bunyan tells us that the heart of the Pilgrim “waxed warm about the place whither he was going.” A real lover of Christ, who knows something of the law of sin in his members, and of the dull weight of this mortal tabernacle, is apt to have, at times, eager desires for his home and his glorious inheritance. Paul was one of the most eager of workers, but he was ever dwelling on the blessed hope.
“When,” exclaimed Baxter, “when, O my soul, hast thou most forgot thy wintry sorrows? Is it not when thou hast got above, closest to Jesus Christ, and hast conversed with Him, and viewed the mansions of glory, and filled thyself with sweet foretastes, and talked with the inhabitants of the higher world?” Such devout anticipations do not slacken our work down here during this little while. It is said of Samuel Rutherford that he was always studying, always preaching, and always visiting the sick; but it was he who exclaimed, “Oh, time, run fast! Oh, fair day, when wilt thou dawn? Oh, shadows, flee away! Oh, well-beloved Bridegroom, be Thou to me like the roe or the young hart on the mountains!”
“The best is yet to be–
The last, for which the first was made.” —Our Daily Homily