Father, thank you for your Son. And we pray by your Spirit, do that miracle now where you use a mere man's voice to open up your Word to us and us to your Word. May we see your glory in the face of your Son, Lord. May the book live as we prayed and we said before. that we might live as unto you and for you all the days of our life. And that in the end we'll know goodness and mercy has followed us, and that we'll dwell in the house of our Lord happily ever after. In Jesus' name, amen. In 1908, the Times, that is I think the London Times, asked the number of authors to write on the topic, what is wrong with the world? G.K. Chesterton's answer was the shortest one submitted. He simply wrote, dear sirs, I am. Sincerely yours, G.K. Chesterton. We said this sometimes, where words are many, sin is not absent, Proverbs says. True? And it was Jesus who was able to say a lot in a little. Amen? Chesterson did not mean, by the way, that he had committed every crime on earth, of course not. His point is that what is wrong with the world is that we human beings are sinners. And so it's no use pointing my finger at everyone else. Since I am a sinner, I am the problem. We say sometimes when you point at someone else, you got three fingers pointing back at you, right? Which of us hasn't been ruined by the fall of man in the Garden of Eden? Yeah, and Psalm 14 says that. None of us, not even one. So God's diagnosis of mankind is not a pretty picture. But here's the point of the Bible, it's so simple. Until we accept the bad news about ourselves, we will never embrace the good news of the gospel. What's that? That Christ Jesus came into the world to save good, self-esteemed folks. No, He came into the world to save who? Tell me. Sinners, not self-righteous folks who assume that they don't need the Savior. So, Psalm 14 then, like all of Scripture, is very relevant today. Here's my point. As I looked at the text, I preached on this in 1999. So it was that 15, 16 years ago. I was realizing it this morning. Now, I would never, I wouldn't be honest to go back and preach my old sermon. Because it wasn't worth preaching. There's a lot of good in it, of course, but I just, it just, I looked at it again and I thought, no, I need to rework it. But here's, maybe you've wondered this in our days lately. How can our society become so corrupt? Thought ever cross your mind? Maybe you've thought of the highest court on our land? How can our society be so corrupt? Or become so corrupt? This psalm gives God's answer. And you may not like what he says, but it's still true. I think about the illustration where the doctor comes and he gives you the C word. And you say, I'd like to get a second opinion. Maybe I don't have cancer. You know what I'm saying? We don't want to hear what he has to. Even if it's true, we don't want to hear it. Well, same is true with God many times. Or maybe you've also wondered, not only how could our society become so corrupt, but secondly, you've wondered, is there any hope? Okay, this is an interesting point. Because Psalm 14 also gives us God's answer to that question. And the message of the Psalm is straightforward. What is it? Mankind is universally depraved. I got to explain what that means. Yet there are a people who have been and will be delivered by God. Four words to hang our thoughts on this morning and I'm going to stick closer to my notes because it's communion. All right? Rejection, that is man's rejection of God. Secondly, inspection, God's inspection of man. Thirdly, miscalculation, man's miscalculation of God and his people. And fourthly, salvation that we're to be longing for. Is that just pie in the sky when you die? And the answer is... No, it has everything to do with where we are here as well, okay? So first we're told about man's rejection. Look at verse 1. Alan read the text, did a great job. To the choir master, David's writing the psalm, and he's finished it, and he's sending it off to the guy that's going to put it to music. I love it. Why? So we need to sing about these truths. Why? They must be important. Amen. Choirmaster of David, the fool says in his heart, what does he say? There is no God. And then he says they're corrupt, they do abominable deeds, there is none who does good. So man is personified in an individual who is described as a fool. Now the word fool, nabal, in Hebrew means moral perversity. not intellectual weakness. He's talking about practical atheism, not philosophical atheism. And I'll explain what I mean. The Bible knows nothing of people who rationally work themselves out to be atheists. It doesn't know that. It is a rational thing to worship the one who made you. Amen? Okay, that's all I'm saying. It's a moral rebellion against God. And notice that he says it starts in the heart. That is the source of all the corruption in our society. All right? Now, this is key. Why? A fool, this word from Nabal, if you look at it up like in the lexicons and if you looked it up in the concordance for that matter, you'll see where it occurs, you'll find this out about the fool. I looked it up in one of my topical references and it had like 22 different references of what the fool is and what he's like and what he does. You say, he? Well, she, okay, you get the point, it's not just a man thing, amen? A fool breaks his relationships primarily with God and with others to serve himself. And as a result, the fool brings trouble on himself and on those around him. And the opposite of folly is steadfast or loyal love, having the wisdom to honor our relationships with God and with other people. But here's what some people wonder when they look at this text. They say, wait a minute, wait a minute. Why does God call this person who says, no God for me, a fool? By the way, in the Hebrew, the words there is aren't there. It's literary, the fool has said in his heart, no God, yeah. In other words, in a sense, no God, no God for me. Why not call him sincerely mistaken person, you know, who just doesn't know any better? And because, the text is saying, the fool is not a helpless victim, he knowingly and consciously commits himself to a life that denies and dismisses God. Now listen to what Paul says about this. How do we know this? Paul describes this thought process of the heart of this natural man in Romans 1, 18 through 23. He says, For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. They're pushing down the truth. What truth? Well, the truth about God. How's that? For what can be known about God is plain to them. How's that? Because God has shown it to them. How so? Well, His invisible attributes, namely His eternal power and His divine nature, have been clearly seen or perceived ever since the creation of the world. How's that? In the things that have been made, things God has created. So they, man, natural man, seeing God's creation is without excuse, Paul says. And now listen to his explanation. This is profound. For although they knew God, they knew there was a God by what they saw Him create. Amen? You see the point? Although they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks to Him. But they became futile in their thinking. You see, as a man thinks in his heart, the fool has said in his heart, there is no God. And their foolish hearts were darkened. claiming to be wise, they became fools. And they exchange the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. You say, so what? Here's the point. Man sees God's glory and God's majesty in the world God created. The heavens declare the glory of... And why? because God has revealed himself. And so, Alistair Begg put it, the God of the scriptures is a God of revelation. He's revealed himself. And the reason we may know God is because God has made himself what? Tell me. Known. Not because we went looking for him. When somebody said, man doesn't seek after God for the same reason that the criminal doesn't seek after the cop. I don't like to think of God as a cop. But here's the point. Listen, the revelation of God in creation is not hidden so that only a highly skilled scientist can find it. It is open. It is manifest to who? Tell me. Everyone, that a child can see God's revelation, and there's enough evidence of God in a snowflake, in a fingerprint, in a flower, in a drop of water, put it under the microscope, amen? There is enough evidence of God in what He created to lead any honest person to believe in God and worship Him, but Paul says, man suppresses, he pushes down that evidence. And so man is a fool because he refuses to honor God even though he knows God exists. And so what is the psalmist saying? What's David saying? That man makes a deliberate choice to block out the truth about God. And when man does that, Paul says, God gives us up to the power of corruption from which we cannot break free. and it leads to this terrible moral perversity and corruption, which Paul goes on to talk about in Romans 1, and it's all the result, and this is key, it is all the result of man refusing to honor and worship who? God! It's all about worship. We were made to worship, and if we don't worship God, we will plunge to horrible depths. Now, let me be clear about this. David is probably not talking, in this psalm, about the more vocal atheists that we know about today, such as Christopher Hitchens and Richard Dawkins type. Do you know what I'm talking about? If you don't know about Christopher Hitchens, you aren't missing much. Richard Dawkins, these guys that write books, why God is not great. I could go on and talk about it. It's crazy. Here's the point I'm getting at. When the Jews went astray, they didn't become philosophical atheists like Hitchens or Dawkins. No, no, no. They turned their back on the one true God to worship idols that are no gods at all. Gods they could manipulate. Gods they could control with the right sacrifices. And so, he's not looking around at the Philistines when he writes this psalm. He's looking at his fellow who? Tell me. His fellow Jews, his fellow Israelites, exactly. Just like we look around and we see our fellow Americans and they say, well, I believe in God. And then they wave rainbow flags. Are you with me or not? Okay, you say, are you picking on anyone? No. The point is, they were religious but they denied the true God and they ran life their own way. Now listen to me. This is really key. Why? Job describes this sort of practical atheism in chapter 21. And this is so important. Why? As Job is suffering, he's questioning God. Like his friends are saying, you must be suffering because of your what? Tell me. Your sin. And Job says, no, I'm not. He got his dander up, I'll tell you. I am not suffering. I'm not aware of anything against me. They said, oh, fess up, man. Confess. Nobody would be suffering like that unless he sinned against God. And as he suffered and he questioned God, he wondered this question. And it's not the first time that it happens, by the way, in the Bible. Well, maybe it's the first time in terms of chronological, but look at Asaph in Psalm 73. It's the age-old question, why do the righteous suffer and why do the wicked, what, tell me? Prosper. Okay, this doesn't make any sense. God must not know what he's doing. And some people look at that and go, well, see, that's evidence that God doesn't exist. I prayed and Maria was telling me about Meryl Streep. She prayed and God didn't answer her, God, in the way that she wanted, so there must not be a God. Or if there is a God, I don't like him because he's not doing what I want to do. He's not saying things my way. Meryl Streep, she's an actress. Holly Weird. Well, Job, he's wondering why do the wicked seem to have it so easy in life when they've denied God? And this is what he says. Listen to what he says. They spend, the wicked spend their days in prosperity, and in peace they go down to Sheol, that is the grave. They say to God, depart from us. Listen to this. We do not desire the knowledge of your ways. And then they ask these two questions. What is the almighty that we should serve him? And then a second question. What did we profit? What profit do we get if we pray to him? Behold, is not there prosperity in their hand? Job asked this question at the end. Behold, is there not prosperity in their hand? And so this describes men and women today too. How so? Human nature has not changed. And yet, here's what we think to ourselves. If you're honest, you know this thought comes, or it has, to you. Who needs God? I run my business without Him. I have a family without Him. I pay my mortgage without him. I can do life my own way. And so man naturally denies God any meaningful place in his or her life, any meaningful place in his or her decisions. And we act as if God is not relevant to real life. Functionally, we deny that God exists. Let me ask you, have you ever made a decision, even as a Christian, with no regard for God at all? And the answer is, yes, then that is practical atheism. Okay? Now, when we read verse one, though, our first instinct might be to apply these words to outspoken atheists like Hitchens and Dawkins. But this is really describing you and me apart from Jesus Christ. We are fools, apart from Jesus, who say, there is no God. And to be honest, then each of us can and we must say, I, like Chesterton, I am the problem. What's wrong with the world? And the answer is, I am. I am. Say, no, no, it's the Democrats. You say, no, it's the Supreme, five of those Supremes. You know, those court justices. That's what's wrong with the world. You could even go back and say, it's the woman you gave me. It's all your fault, God. You could say, it's the devil. The devil made me do it, she said, right? No, no. Here's the point of the text. The fool means then that God does not matter, God does not count. And this creed, there is no God, has consequences. Look at verse 1. They are corrupt. That word means decay, like putrid or sour milk. You ever open up the refrigerator and something stinks? It's bad, it's nasty, it's gone what? Bad. The New English Bible translates it rotten to the core. And notice verse 1, they do abominable deeds. And why? Because without God there is nothing to hold us back from plunging into all kinds of horrors. We need to remember that all sin, all sin, all sin, not just homosexuality, all sin, are you listening to me, is an abomination to God because He is absolutely what? Perfect, holy. He is perfect. He is worthy of praise. And in case you think David is talking about someone else, he says, there is none who does good. A Russian poet, Turgenev, he once said, I do not know what the heart of a bad man is like, but I do know what the heart of a good man is like, and it is terrible. I have to agree. I told you about my dentist, didn't I? He said, man, he said, you know, I bet you've got a thing for everybody, don't you? You got a little snip for everybody. I said, yeah, what do you mean? He said, well, you know, you, you probably have a little 10 second thing that you give to everybody if you only got 10 seconds and you got, I said, yeah, I said, I do. My favorite one is when they asked me, have you heard the good news? You got any good news? I say, yeah, Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I'm the worst. or the chief, and he said, he started laughing, you're not the worst, you're not the ha ha ha, you're a pastor, you're a pretty good guy, I know you, that kind of thing. And I said, no, I know what goes on in my head and my heart. And then he got quiet. He said, here's the point, here's the point. Jeremiah says, the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately sick. Paul says, I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. And that means, Christian, listen, that the best things, that the best of us do are still tainted by selfishness and sin. And we want to ask when we look at this text, can this really be true? You see, we say, I didn't come to church to hear this, this is pessimistic, this is pretty negative, this is rotten to the core. Is it really possible, pastor, that all humanity denies God is corrupted by sin? Well, just in case we're saying we're the exception, secondly, David speaks of God's inspection. What does God say about what he sees? Notice, what does God say about what he sees? God looks down from heaven to see if anyone has the sense to seek him. Look at verse 2 and 3. The Lord looks down from heaven on the children of man, of Adam, the word in the Hebrew, Adam, to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God. Well, what's God's verdict? They have all, notice the word turned aside, together. They have become corrupt. There is none who does good, not Even one. Do you see that? Not even one. But doesn't God already know everything? Why has He got to look down? It's a figure of speech. It's a figure of speech for us to realize, visualize God's careful inspection of His world and our lives. God doesn't look up as if He's beneath us. God doesn't look over as if He's beside us as our peer. No, no. He looks down because He's so highly exalted far, far above us. For example, God looked down on the Tower of Babel. God looked down on Sodom and Gomorrah. And in the days before the flood, God looked down and saw what man was like. And here's a question that I have as I look at the text. Why? Why does God even care to look? Isn't that what David says in Psalm 8? What is man that you consider him? What is man that you are mindful of him? In other words, some of the atheists would tell us, God doesn't really care about man. If there is a God, he's just up there and, you know, he's got better things to do than think about us. Why does God even care to look? Listen, Christian, because he made you. And because He gives you everything, me everything, life and breath, brains and brawn, homes and health, family and friends, sunrises and sunsets, grass and golf, somebody said groceries and gravity. Now listen, here's the question. God gives us all this. Every good and perfect gift comes from the Father of light from above, in whom there is no shifting shadow of changes. Here's the question. Will we snub this God who gives us everything? Will we even bother to send him a thank you note? He's told us how to live so that we find joy and satisfaction in his world. Here's the question. Will we listen or are we fools who break the good things he has given us? And notice what the verdict, God's verdict of man is. Notice the words, all in verse three, together. and none. God's findings are all inclusive. Listen, David is not talking about a few especially bad people. Well, yeah, Hitler of course. Charles Manson, Ted Bundy, Osama Bin Laden, you know. You just fill in the blank. That's who he's really talking about. Saddam Hussein, the butcher, a bad guy. The Herod, you know, the butcher. of Bethlehem. That's what David's talking about. No, no, no, he's not. Not at all. He's talking about every man, woman, boy, and girl. The fool is not a rare subspecies within the human race. All human beings are fools apart from the wisdom of God. Now, here's where we stick at this, and we stumble, and we say, wait a minute. The world just needs more religion. And the answer is, no, it doesn't. The problem's not that there's not enough religion in the world. Many people are religious, but they don't want the God of the Bible, the true God. Many people reject the real God by multiplying false gods. As Alistair Begg said, people don't mind a New Age genie God who gives them whatever they want. People don't mind a Star Wars God that's a force, impersonal force, and he's not going to hold you accountable for your sins. They don't mind that kind of God. We don't mind a kind of God that we make in our own image that's kind of like us, you know? We don't mind that God. What we really mind is the God of the Bible. But here's what one person put it, religious activity that does not come to God through Jesus Christ is an active denial of God and by definition the essence of atheism. So listen to me, the opposite of atheism is not religion. No. The opposite of atheism is true Christianity, believing the gospel of Jesus Christ. Why? If anyone does not trust in Jesus Christ, he does not know God. Did you know that? To know the Son is to know the Father. If I don't come through the Son, I don't even begin to know the Father. Jesus said, I am the way and the truth and the life, and no one comes to the Father except through me. And therefore, anyone who comes to God any other way is not coming to the one true God. And therefore, they are an atheist in the truest sense of the word. Now, let me clarify, because most people say, this is bad news and I'm going to find another church. No, wait. Just wait a minute. Wait a minute. Okay. Does that mean that there's no good in man at all? No. No. Thank you. Does that mean that a non-Christian can't do anything good? The answer is, no. There is both common grace that God extends to unbelievers that restrains them from doing the most wicked things they could do, and there's saving grace that Christians experience that does cause us to be able to do good works that God accepts. So the doctrine of total depravity doesn't mean that everyone is rotten to the core and they're doing as bad as they can. No. Rather, the Bible teaches there is no good in man that can satisfy God. Listen, this is so important, Kristen. That's why the Lord Jesus had to come from heaven to accomplish man's redemption and why man can never accomplish it for himself. Why? Natural man wants to earn or buy his way into heaven by his own quote-unquote good deeds. But the only coin that will be accepted at the gate of heaven is the righteousness of Christ, which Jesus is ready to place in the account of anyone and everyone who will approach him in humble faith and adoration. Here's the way one person put it, maybe we would like to cherish the thought that we may be the exceptions to what God finds when he expects mankind. Someone could say, but I'm part of a Bible believing gospel preaching church. Bible Baptist, that little loud mouth preacher, he preaches the word and we're not compromising. We don't water down the gospel in our place. I'm a Christian and proud to be an American. Okay, great. Now listen to me, okay, but what part of verses 2 and 3 in this psalm don't you get? What part don't you understand? What do you mean? It's a snip of your and my biography. None of us miss the fall. Amen? Let me illustrate it because you know I love to do this. Martin Lloyd-Jones, one of my favorite preachers, he once told of his preaching at the 1941 mission at Oxford University. Now, you know, American universities think they're pretty smart, but those guys over there in England, they've been around longer. And they think they're what? Even smarter, yeah. And the first service was on a Sunday evening, and the congregation consisted mainly of students. And it had been announced that after the service, they would have an opportunity to ask the visiting preacher, Lloyd Jones, some questions. And this gathering would be in another nearby building. So Lloyd Jones preached his sermon. And afterwards, he and the convener went to the question time. And neither of them apparently expected more than a few people. However, the place was packed. And one bright student in the front row, he said he had a question. And after paying the preacher some polite compliments, he said that the sermon had raised a difficulty in his mind. And this is what he said. It was that it seemed that Lloyd-Jones sermon could have been preached just as well to a congregation of laborers or anyone else. And he sat down while the whole group roared with laughter. In other words, what was he implying? We're above that. We're not just a bunch of farm hicks here. Lloyd-Jones replied that he was interested in the student's question but he couldn't really see the questioner's difficulty. Four, though Lloyd-Jones might be thought a heretic, he had to admit that up to that moment he had regarded undergraduates and graduates as well of Oxford University as being just ordinary common clay and miserable sinners like everyone else. And that their needs were the same as agricultural labors or anyone else. Do you see the point? This incident highlights our danger. What is that? We so flatter ourselves that we are somehow exceptions to what David says about mankind. And this Psalm flattens our flattery, doesn't it? That if I accept the testimony of Psalm 14, which is quoted in Romans 3, then how will it affect me? How will it affect you? Maybe in our prayers? Arthur Bennett put together a collection of Puritan prayers called the Valley of Vision. And lots of them are so refreshing. You know why? Few folks pray like this anymore. For example, this is what one of them says. But in my Christian walk, I am still in rags. My best prayers are stained with sin. My penitential tears are so so much impurity. My confessions of wrong are so many aggravations of sin. I need to repent of my repentance. I need my tears to be washed. I never do anything else but depart from thee." He's talking to God. Okay. Listen what he goes on to say. And if ever I get to heaven, it will be because thou willest and for no reason beside. I am sinful even in my closest walk with thee. It is of thy mercy I died not long ago. My heart is an unexhausted fountain of sin, a river of corruption, since childhood days flowing on in every pattern of behavior." People who pray like that, okay, are people who believe the witness of this psalm about human nature, that it's corrupt. Am I right? Listen, you will find no other book in the world than the Bible that says this about man. You will find no other people than the church that admit this about themselves. It's true. You say, well, I don't like that. I mean, are you saying there's no distinction between the righteous and the wicked? I'm not saying that. For example, a pastor entered a tavern. where a man, wanting to embarrass him, stood and yelled, there is no God! And the pastor went to him, calmly put his hand on his shoulder, and he said, friend, what you've said is not new at all. The Bible said that more than 2,000 years ago. The man replied, I never knew that. The Bible made that such a statement. The pastor informed him, yes. Psalm 14.1 tells us, verse 1, it says, the fool says in his heart, there is no God. But there is a great difference between that fool and you. He was quite modest, and he only said in his heart. He didn't go around yelling out in taverns. Coach Bear Bryant, he's one of these real famous college coaches. And they won the Sugar Bowl years and years ago. I'm dating myself. But they gave them all t-shirts. We wore t-shirts yesterday. It was really nice. I was thinking about that. Somebody mentioned my t-shirt. They gave him t-shirts, you know, they gave him all t-shirts, but the bear, you know, he went to the after game meeting and somebody noticed he had a hole in his t-shirt, brand new t-shirt. They said, bear, your t-shirt has got a hole in it. He said, oh yeah, I always put a hole in my t-shirt to remind me of where I came from. I put a hole in all my shirts. Do you know where you came from, Christian? He said, I'm not like those sellers in Washington, D.C. Or where's that place, where's the Supreme Court meet at? Tell me. Somebody told me they were in Louisiana or somewhere. The guy went there and he's outside the courthouse with his sign, you know. Anyway, the point being is that, do I forget where I was saved from? Listen, I was driving to church this morning praying and I was thinking, if these people, if some of these people in Bible Baptist knew what I was doing before I was saved, they would not come and listen to me. And I thought, and probably if I knew what some of them do or have done or still do, I wouldn't preach to them. You say, that's not funny. That's not very nice. No, that's the point though, isn't it? Is that we, none of us, none of us escaped the fall. And so what do you have? You have man's rejection. You have, you have, you have, you have God's inspection. And thirdly, man's miscalculation. Notice verses four through six. They, Have they, that is what, these evildoers, no knowledge? What do they do? They eat up my people as they eat bread, and do not call upon the Lord. They don't pray. There they are in great terror, for God is with the generation of the righteous. You would shame the plans of the poor, in other words, of the righteous. But the Lord is his refuge. So some translators have rendered verse 4 in such a way to identify the oppressors as corrupt priests who eat the bread of God, that is, the sacrificial offerings, but are not really godly men. Others claim, no, no, the oppressors are the Jewish nobles, these politicians of the day. And still others maintain, no, it's a reference to foreign oppressors. We don't know. But either way. These people do not know God, and they don't want to know Him, but they make a fatal miscalculation. Why? They are touching the apple of God's eye, His people, and question, does God take that lightly? No. Verse 4 may be describing Pharaoh in the book of Exodus, his obstinacy, and his cruelty, and his repudiation of the Lord from which they sprang. Verse 5 sounds like the showdown at the Red Sea, where God, He's present with the righteous, He looks down yet again, this time from the pillar of cloud, and the Egyptian army is overwhelmed with dread. In fact, they all got a good bath, but it was a deadly one. Amen? All right. The words, my people, should surprise us. Look at verse 4, my people. Why? Because when God looked down on the world, on our world, He saw that all had turned aside. There is none who does good, not even one. So where did God's people come from? Obviously, they were not seeking Him on their own. They had turned aside too. Rather, in the psalm, we see God's rich and eternal purpose in saving unworthy sinners. And He forms His people from the very men and women who have rejected Him and were not looking for Him. And this is what the Apostle Paul talked about in Romans. He said, for while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. Did you know your names in the Bible? Ungodly. It's right there. Romans 5, 6. God shows his love for us in that while we were still saints, Why we were still what? Sinners. Christ died for us. So through Christ, God turns atheists into worshipers of him. And when you and I are ready to admit I am the problem, we're ready to become one of God's people, one of his children. Jesus died to save sinners like you and me. Do you believe it? It's good news, amen? I didn't come to say anything new this morning, amen? If it's new, it's not true. And if it's true, it's not new. You've heard that? Listen. Well, here's what we think, we believe. If I become one of God's people, then my life will instantly become easy. I can get one of those easy buttons. You see no easy button? The unbelieving world devours God's people. That's what the Bible teaches. Like bread. The two great commandments, loving God and loving your neighbor, are foreign to the evildoers. And the picture of eating bread is particularly graphic. Why? Bread's a staple, and we eat it every day, unless you're on the no-carb diet. I get it, okay. But the world devours the righteous daily, and eating bread is also normal. And for the wicked, devouring God's people is a casual thing, an everyday occurrence. And instead of praying to God, the wicked pray on the godly. That is, until they're in great terror. Now, notice what it says. Why are they in great terror? Verse 5, for God is with the generation of the righteous. What's that mean? That those who persecute God's people get overwhelmed with dread when God is present. We say, wait a minute, isn't God present everywhere? And the answer is yes, but he's not everywhere present in a special way of abiding like he does with his people. Here's the question, how does God manifest himself in your changed life, Christian? Listen, as you and I walk in the Holy Spirit, in his power, people will either be drawn to Christ or they'll be in dread of us. What we do is we flip it and we're afraid of the wicked. But to the degree that I fear God, I won't be afraid of the... For what can man do to me? You read Psalm 27 lately? Read it! The Lord is my light, my salvation. I will not fear man. What can he do to me? Well, I know he could kill me. To die is what? Tell me. Well, it's promotion day. Amen. What are you going to do? Give me a ticket to heaven? Come on! You say, are you really going to say that in the face of death? Well, God give me grace and courage. Amen? And so, the presence of God terrifies the wicked. But God is the unspeakable joy and comfort of his people. And listen, let me put it in today's vernacular. If you were held hostage in a bank robbery, you know, you went into the bank and you're going to get some money or you're going to put your deposit, your check, you know what I'm talking about, and you're going to get the check in there and get some cash if you're an old timer like me, right? You don't do that stuff online or, you know, drive by and drop it in the thing. But you're going to, I cash my check and I get $100 back or whatever, you know, I'm going to use for gas or whatever, books, you know me, a book nut. Some people got a tapeworm, I got a bookworm. Anyway, all right. The point being, just listen to me, the point being you're in the bank and all of a sudden the robbers come in and they're holding everybody hostage. What are you naturally doing? Tell me. Are you afraid? You're worried? You're anxious? Well, sure, the guy's got a gun on you and stuff. But then all of a sudden the SWAT team shows up at the door. And now you feel what? Fearful or what? Boy, you're bold as a lion. And that bank robber shaking in his what? Shoes. Amen. And so that's the point. If you're held hostage in a bank robbery, you're going to be happy to see the SWAT team when they come to the door, but that robber is going to be terrified when they see those very men. And that's how it is with God's face too. C.S. Lewis said this, he said, in the end, that face, God's face, will be the delight or terror of the universe. And it must be turned on each one of us, either conferring glory and inexpressible or inflicting shame that can never be cured or disguised. Let me ask you this question. Why won't the gates of hell prevail against the church? Why? You say, well, because Jesus promised it. Amen. But look at verse 6, God is present with his people. Verse 5, and God is the refuge. The Lord is the refuge. The church has always been refined in times of persecution. Let me ask you, has the church been tried to be wiped out by Satan? Has it survived? Are you still here today, Christian? We say that sometimes, whatever's going to kill you makes you. And so we're kind of like weeds in the backyard. I don't like to think of it as weeds, but I try to get rid of them, they keep popping up. It's a great thing, isn't it? The most terrible moment in the experience of men and women who are in the grip of such atheistic folly will be when, like the rich man in the parable, after death, they lift up their eyes in hell. Let me ask you this. Did you know in hell there are no atheists? Well, it shouldn't make us laugh. There they all know that God is, and they will remember their folly. And guess what their theme will be? Oh, that we were wise, that we understood this, that we had considered our latter end. Do we consider the latter end of unbelievers around us? You see the contrast on the other hand, there will be millions. In fact, there'll be a number that no man can count, Revelation, you read it. in heaven, who were born with foolishness bound up in their hearts, but who by God's grace were made wise unto salvation." Let me ask you, which group will you be among in the end? That's really what this psalm is asking. Now we're ready for communion, aren't we? Which group will you be among? So man rejects God, but God looks down and sees man, and God comes to save his lambs from the mouth of wolves, and lastly then, the believers should be longing for salvation. Verse 7, and we're done. It's a prayer. It's a longing. It's a wish, if you will. Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion. When, not if, when the Lord restores the fortunes of his people or returns them from captivity. Let Jacob rejoice. Let Israel be glad. Zion is God's holy hill, the place where God has established his king, Psalm 2.6. And when David prays for salvation from Zion, what's he doing? He's longing for the Messiah to come, the king whom God has sent to rule over all the nations. And the word for salvation in the Hebrew is Yeshua. Sound familiar? It's the name of who? Tell me. Jesus. And when Jesus came into the world, he was given that name, Christ came and he's given that name, Jesus salvation, because he would save his people from their what? Tell me. I can't help think that when Jesus was a boy and he read Psalm 14, he said, yes, I've come. I'm salvation. I'm the savior of my people. Jesus is the ultimate answer to David's prayer in verse seven. Jesus is the answer to the folly of turning away from God. And Paul says this, he says, Christ Jesus became to us wisdom from God, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. And God reached out to you, Christian, to me, and he gave his Son to make us wise unto salvation. You won't be ready to welcome Jesus until you have the courage and honesty to say, I am the problem. Listen, this morning, when you admit your sin, when you grieve over what you've done, when you feel the weight of God's judgment on you, then you'll be ready to pray with David, oh, that salvation would come out of Zion. You'll be ready to say, come, Lord Jesus, come into my heart, wash away my sin, take control of my life, save me from myself, make me new. I am the problem. You, Jesus, are the answer. Are you ready to say that? No. I'm not ready to say that, Pastor, because I'm not that bad. I'm not as bad as those people that are in those rainbow parades. Now we're getting right down to it, aren't we? Is there a distinction between the righteous and the wicked? And the answer is yes. But here's the question. When will the Lord fully restore the fortunes of his people? We won't have a just society until Jesus returns and creates a new heavens and new earth. But this is also an anticipation of reviving the people of God now. That's why we sung Revive Us Again. What do you mean? What is the only answer for a corrupt society? Will politics do it? No, we're just gonna replace one set of rascals with what? Another. I know what'll do it, edumacation. We'll just get those smart criminals, right? We'll make everybody a smart criminal. Will that, informing the head, will that reform the heart? No, it's not. It's not politics nor education. How about this, socialism? We'll just make equality. We'll sneakily steal from the rich and give to the poor. You say, that sounds like Washington, D.C. Yeah, it does, doesn't it? You say, are you really going to talk about taxes? I know, maybe it's psychology. We'll just tell people they're not really responsible for their lives, you know. It was, again, your nature, your nurture. It wasn't nature, it was nurture. It was everything that happened in your life and, you know what, you're not responsible for that and you're just a victim. Listen, oh, that salvation would come out of Zion. That will do it. That will reform society. That's the only answer for a corrupt society. Listen, England in the 1700s was morally rotten, if you read about it. In the streets, there was all this dung and refuse and urine, and there were kids running around who they didn't even know who the parents were of them. And they called it a gin mill. People were drinking gin early in the morning. It was a mess. And the people were looking around, the politicians, and they were saying, how did we get to this such corrupt society? Let me tell you, it's much worse than America today. And then, Salvation came out of Zion. What do you mean? Oh, God raised up a couple men named Wesleys, and one named Whitfield, George, and they started preaching, and thousands came to Jesus Christ, and then they became the salt and light of society, and England was what? Tell me. Transformed. And one of the really smart historians, one of these guys who really observes these things, he says that was the difference between why England didn't become like the French Revolution. You ever read about the French Revolution and what they did to the people? You ever heard of the guillotine? Made famous in that time. This historian said that the preaching of the gospel is what saved England from the equivalent of the French Revolution. What is David praying? He's, oh, that God would work graciously in the world through his people. Today that would be his church, amen? Why? So that foolish mankind would accept two undeniable facts, that God exists and that God is good. To know God is to know life and to desire him is to find happiness. Oh, that foolish people would be drawn to Christ as the church. God's people live as though God is real and he is relevant, that he is to be glorified. And He is to be enjoyed both now and forever. Listen, Jesus has come as a sin offering to deal with our iniquity on the cross. And yet He's coming again for those who are ready to meet Him. Listen, my question this morning is real simple. Are you ready to meet Jesus face to face? He's coming. He's coming. And if you're a rebel this morning, will you throw down your arms today and admit what you know to be true? Will you meet your Maker in His Son and discover the real reason for your being? He closed with this thought. In the days when cameras and photographs were rare, an evangelist with some friends was enjoying a lovely summer day in Glasgow, the Glen of Glasgow, Scotland. And he carried a little leather case containing his Bible. And as he walked along, a group of young people approached him and they saw that leather case and they thought it contained a little Kodak camera. So they said, would you please take our photograph? And without a moment's hesitation, the evangelist said, oh, I have it already. And the spokesman for the group of young people asked in surprise, when did you take our picture? Did you get us on the hop? Did you get us by surprise? Well anyway he said I have it here and here it is and said the preacher as he pulled out his well-worn Bible and he opened it at Romans 3 and he began to read to them from verse 9 to 23 and then he said this is God's photograph of every one of us as he concluded reading with the words for all have sinned and come short of the glory of Christian, have you looked in the mirror lately? The mirror of God's Word? Listen, it is only when we come to grips with our sinfulness that we'll be able to appreciate the redemption we have in Christ. I'm asking this morning, are you rejoicing that by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, you are no longer a fool? I'm asking this morning, aren't you glad that because of Christ and his cross, you are no longer one who says there is no God? Pray that He would further sanctify us because there are still remnants of foolishness bound up in our hearts. Pray that He would reveal our foolishness so that we would confess it and repent of it. and pray for those who are already being killed for Christ's sake in other countries, and pray that they would know the truth of Psalm 14, that God is present with His people, and that God is the refuge of His people, and that God will ultimately, what? Save His people, amen? And pray for the salvation of their persecutors. Why? The cause of corruption is the utter folly of man. the absurdity of putting God out of the picture. And the results of it are horrifying. And the only answer is not so much the fool repenting as God delivering the fool from himself, from heaven. Jesus came. And things went wrong because man was a fool in the Garden of Eden. And things came right again because God is a God of grace and he restored his people. What a marvelous picture, amen? You see, the picture of the gospel is a picture of history. You don't have to look far to see why the world is the way it is, but don't stop with the way it is. Amen. Keep going to God's solution. No, I get stuck in the sewage in the sludge. Amen. Keep going. Keep going to the solution. What's the solution? It's the gospel of God through his son, Jesus Christ. Amen.