Friday - Psalm 53 - Pray it Again, Sam

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his psalm is almost identical to Psalm 14.  So, why include the same psalm again if there was no new information to share?  Well, there are a couple of possibilities which come to mind.  First, repetition (which is not at all unusual in the Scriptures) is usually used for emphasis and in order to verify that a doctrine is neither obscure nor minor.  However, in this case there is another obvious purpose for repetition. 

Whatever the situations were which occasioned David's singing of this song, the truth of it is powerful enough that we should remind ourselves of it more than just twice.  Atheists are fools... God said so.  Actually, He said it the other way around.  Fools tell themselves that they are atheists (Psalm 53:1).  It may not sit well with some folk in our modern society, but God essentially asked (through David), "Are these men just stupid, or what?" (Psalm 14:4 & 53:4). 

So, what's the problem?  If a man denies that God exists, under what rock must he have been living in order to be so blatantly ignorant of the obvious?  He has to have missed or ignored the design, effects and laws that swirl constantly all around all of us.  Psalm 53:1 says that the problem is corruption.  Mankind is corrupted with a virus; a sin virus which blinds spiritual eyes, deafens religious ears and stops the beating of reasonable hearts.  It is a philosophical virus which dulls the mind, creates a cannibalistic appetite bent on the self-destruction of one's own soul, and which seemingly locks the jaws of a man and prevents him from calling out to his Creator for mercy (Psalm 53:4).  If the fool is to be cured of his foolishness, a divine operation is necessary (Colossians 2:12).