For the music director; according to the machalath style; a well-written song by David.
David wrote this song for the music director of the Levites. The Levites would sing these songs at the Israeli festivals. The machalath style was a popular tune or rhythm at the time. This song is very similar to that of Psalm 14, except that Jehovah is replaced by Elohim. Jehovah was the covenant-keeping-promise-keeping God of Israel. Elohim was the Triune-Creator God. Psalm 14 concentrates on the foolishness of Jewish unbelievers, while Psalm 53 concentrates on the foolishness of Gentile unbelievers.
53:1 Fools say to themselves, “There is no God.” They sin and commit evil deeds; none of them does what is right.
A fool is one who elevates his human opinion above that of the Bible. He claims that there is no God. All atheists are fools, because the evidence of creation is all around them, but they cannot see God as the Creator. They are so foolish, that they will disbelieve in a Creator God, but believe that nothing exploded into everything. Scientifically and mathematically, 0 x 0 = 0. It is foolish to believe that 0 x 0 = everything.
It is a sin to disbelieve in God. It is a sin to teach others that there is no God. It is a sin for humans to elevate their human opinion above the Bible. All of these sins come from arrogant thinking. Unbelievers are so foolish, that they reject the Creator God who created them. They reject the Creator God who has the power to send them to the Lake of Fire forever.
A fool will commit evil deeds. A fool will open up public schools which teach secular humanism. A fool will ban the Bible from schools. A fool will create a multi-cultural society which calls all religions equal. A fool will murder babies in the womb and sell their body parts for profit. A fool will make homosexuals and lesbians a specially-protected class. A fool will accuse those who oppose homosexuals and lesbians of hate-crimes. A fool will pass same-sex marriage laws and then arrest those who hold to the biblical view of marriage. A fool will destroy his military and then aid the enemy. A fool will establish a welfare state where those who work must provide for those who are too lazy to work. A fool will take away the guns of the citizens and the military and then arm the enemy with nuclear weapons. A fool will do all of these things in a very smug way and think that his unbiblical views are superior to those of the Bible.
A fool cannot do what is biblically right. He does not have enough Bible doctrine to know what is right and what is wrong. He will do evil and think that it is good. He thinks that the Bible is wrong and that he is right. All he can do is human good works, which is dirty menstrual rags to God (Isaiah 65). A fool may be very religious, but he is not Christ-like. He actually lives more like the devil than he does like Christ.
53:2 God looks down from heaven at the human race, to see if there is anyone who is wise and seeks God.
God looks down from heaven at the human race and He is not very impressed. He looks to see if there is anyone who is wise. Wise men master and apply Bible doctrine from the entire counsel of the Word of God at the deepest level. There are very few of these kinds of people in the world. Most people walk around the earth wasting their lives, because they are too foolish to study the entire counsel of the Word of God at the deepest level. They are easily deceived by the secular humanism of the world. They become more like the world and less like Christ. They love wordily things, but they do not enjoy the Word of God. The Bible is a book which should be studied daily at the deepest level, but they have more worldly ambitions to consider. They are too busy for the Bible, but they are not too busy to entertain themselves in other aspects of their life. There is nothing more important than studying and applying Bible doctrine at the deepest level. This is a waste of time for the fool, but it is essential for the mature Christian who desires to serve God.
53:3 Everyone rejects God; they are all morally corrupt. None of them does what is right, not even one!
David understood the doctrine of total depravity. Everyone who is born into the human race is born with a hatred for God. He wants nothing to do with God. He is born as a selfish, evil, arrogant, and godless person. If God leaves man alone, then every single man will reject God and go to the Lake of Fire.
All men are morally corrupt, meaning that they are against the doctrines of the Bible. They will even think that they are smarter than the doctrines of the Bible. Bible doctrine reveals the mind of Christ. Men who are totally depraved and evil elevate their human opinions above the mind of Christ.
There is not a single person in all of history who does good. Not even one! They all perform human good works, but these are dirty menstrual rags to God (Isaiah 65). They cannot perform divine good works, because they reject Bible doctrine.
Paul gives a commentary on these verses in Romans 3. In a court case, he proves that all men are totally depraved and evil and are going to the Lake of Fire. Their only way out of this situation is that God must give them eyes to see, ears to hear, and a brand new personality which will receive the gospel of Christ. If God does not give a person this free gift, then man is completely lost. He will follow his sinful nature and reject God.
53:4 All those who behave wickedly do not understand—those who devour my people as if they were eating bread, and do not call out to God.
If God leaves man alone, then they will behave wickedly. They will adopt the methods of the satanic world system. They will not have the spiritual capacity to understand the things of God.
The Bible is a supernatural book, but the natural man will not be able to understand it. He will reject what it says. The natural man will hate God, hate Christ, and hate those who follow Christ. If Christ was back on earth, then these natural men would accuse Him of false crimes and crucify Him again. Since Christ is no longer on earth, then they direct their rage against His followers. They will attempt to destroy those who teach Christ and apply Bible doctrine. They will attempt to devour believers just as if they were eating bread. They will never call out to God, because they are not interested in what he has to say.
53:5 They are absolutely terrified, even by things that do not normally cause fear. For God annihilates those who attack you. You are able to humiliate them because God has rejected them.
The natural man is so terrified of God, that they must attempt to wish him away.
Evolutionists believe in the foolish idea that man comes from monkeys. Monkeys are a lot smarter than man, because at least they recognize their Creator.
Agnostics believe that God has not left enough knowledge of Himself to be known. This is foolish, because the complexity of the amoeba and the vastness of the universe testify to the glory of God.
Pantheists believe that everything is God. This is foolish, because death shows the mortality of man.
People who believe in the Big Bang Theory believe that nothing exploded and created everything. This is foolish, because 0 x 0 = 0 every time that this mathematical formula is applied.
Cults and isms believe that Jesus is less than God and salvation can be gained by adding additional works to faith. This is foolish, because Jesus Himself claimed that He was God. He claimed that salvation came only through Himself. Salvation was a free gift. A gift cannot be earned or bought.
53:6 I wish the deliverance of Israel would come from Zion! When God restores the well-being of his people, may Jacob rejoice, may Israel be happy!
David prays that the deliverance of Israel would come from Jerusalem. This prayer will be answered at the First and Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus will come first to redeem man from their sins. He will come a second time to establish His Kingdom.