Latest / Reformed Thinking / The Fool Says in His Heart, ‘There Is No God’ (Psalm 14) | Saint Augustine

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The Fool Says in His Heart, ‘There Is No God’ (Psalm 14) | Saint Augustine · Reformed Thinking

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  Welcome, dear listener to Reformed Thinking, where we seek
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  to understand biblical truth through the lens of careful
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  exposition. Today we open up an ancient, yet
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  well, incredibly timely meditation on human nature, on
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  sin, and on divine grace. Indeed, we'll be taking a deep
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  dive into Psalm 14 and specifically looking at it
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  through the eyes through the insights of Saint Augustine.
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  And this isn't just some dusty historical artifact.
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  It really is a window into the human condition itself, self,
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  and God's sovereign observation of it all.
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  It gives us some very clear perspectives on our absolute
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  need for a Savior. That's right.
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  So our mission here in this deep dive is to unpack Augustine take
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  on Psalm 14. We want to draw out the central
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  ideas about human fallenness, the real nature of goodness, and
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  the unique position of Christ in God's plan.
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  Yeah, Hopefully you'll gain clarity on some pretty
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  significant spiritual realities. Hoping you grasp what it
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  genuinely means to know God and, you know, live in light of His
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  truth. And we'll look at specific
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  questions Augustine tackles, like, what does it really mean
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  to deny God? Not just, you know, saying it
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  out loud, but denying him in your heart?
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  And how does Augustine show humanity's inability to do
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  anything good without Christ? That's a big one.
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  Yeah, definitely. And, you know, where does hope
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  for salvation can even come from when there's so much spiritual
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  corruption all around? So get ready to consider these
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  topics from a viewpoint shaped by, well, centuries of Christian
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  thought, and one that resonates very strongly with the Reformed
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  tradition. OK.
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  Let's unpack this exposition, then, and see what spiritual
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  wisdom it holds for us today. It should guide our thoughts on
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  our own spiritual state and how God interacts with humanity.
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  So one really interesting place Augustine starts is right at the
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  title. Psalm 14 often has this little
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  note to the end. Seems minor?
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  Maybe, but for Augustine this phrase carries a lot of
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  theological weight. What does he do with that?
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  Yeah, it's fascinating, isn't it, how he takes that small
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  phrase and links the end directly, explicitly to Christ.
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  He pulls in the apostle Paul from Romans, you know where Paul
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  says for Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to
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  everyone that believeth, right? So for Augustine, this means
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  Christ isn't just the finish line, like the conclusion of the
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  law. He is the goal.
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  He's the purpose. He's the actual completion of
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  the law. So it's like the law was always
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  pointing towards him. Precisely.
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  Think of it maybe like a map. The law is the map, but Christ
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  is the destination the map was always designed to lead you to.
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  OK, He's the telos. That's the Greek word for the
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  ultimate aim, the purpose, the reason why the law even existed.
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  So the law didn't just stop when Christ came.
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  No, it found its full meaning. It's perfect expression in Him.
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  It really reframes how you read the Old Testament law, doesn't
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  it? It does.
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  It means for believers, Christ is both the starting point and
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  the culmination of their spiritual path.
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  Right, so it suggests our spiritual walk isn't just, you
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  know, ticking off boxes or following rules.
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  It's actually a movement, a directed movement towards a
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  person. It's about a relationship that
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  finds its completion in Christ. Augustine puts it quite
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  beautifully, doesn't he? He says something like we
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  believe on him when we begin to enter on the good Rd.
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  Exactly that shows our start, our initiation into this
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  spiritual way, our first steps towards genuine goodness and a
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  right relationship with God. They depend entirely on
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  believing in Christ. He's the gateway, the starting
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  point, the starting point. But his role isn't finished
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  there. He's also the destination.
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  He brings the whole path to its fulfillment.
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  As Agustin goes on to say, we shall see him when we shall get
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  to the end. So that points ahead to the
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  future. Yes, it points to that future
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  hope, the grand finish, where our faith, our whole spiritual
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  walk reaches its ultimate reward, seeing Christ in his
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  full glory. And this dual role, Christ as
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  the beginning and the end, is just so central for Augustine
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  here. It places Christ right at the
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  heart of understanding Psalm 14. It sets the theological stage
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  for everything else the Psalm says.
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  It basically tells us, look, any discussion about humanity's true
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  state or what real goodness looks like you, you have to keep
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  referring back to Christ. He's the reference point.
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  He's the reference point, the Alpha and Omega of our spiritual
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  life, you could say the center from which all understanding of
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  God's saving plan flows. If you miss that Christ centered
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  view, you miss the depth of what the Psalm is saying about our
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  condition and God's solution. It frames the whole thing.
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  Sin, righteousness, it all has to be seen in light of Christ's
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  person and work. So, summarizing Augustine here,
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  the Old Testament law wasn't just ethics or rituals.
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  It was like a divine compass, always pointing to Christ as its
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  destination, its purpose. It changes why the law was given
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  not as a way to earn God's favor, but as a guide to the One
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  who would fulfill it perfectly for us.
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  That's a very Augustinian way to see it, and it aligns perfectly
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  with a Reformed understanding of salvation history.
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  OK, so from that starting point, the title itself, Augustine then
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  moves into that very well known line from Psalm 14.
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  The fool hath said in his heart, there is no God.
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  Now, on the surface, that seems pretty straightforward.
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  But Agustin digs deeper, doesn't he?
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  It's not just about symbol atheism.
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  What's his take on this fool and the denial in his heart?
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  Yeah, this is a really key part. It raises that question, what
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  kind of fool are we talking about here?
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  And what does it mean to deny God in his heart?
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  Right isn't necessarily out loud.
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  Exactly. Gustin points out that even
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  people he calls sacrilegious and abominable philosophers.
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  You know this was really warped ideas about God or creation even
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  they seldom dared to actually say out loud there is no God
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  even if maybe the thought crossed their minds.
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  That's interesting. So the silence could be just as
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  telling. Or rather, the internal
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  conviction is the real issue. The denial in his heart is the
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  settled belief inside, often unspoken, maybe even
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  unacknowledged consciously. Sometimes it's a quiet inner
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  rebellion against God, a settled disposition.
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  That's quite revealing, isn't it?
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  It shows our spiritual state isn't just about public
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  confessions, but about what's really going on inside, in the
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  heart, in the mind, the hidden convictions.
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  And Augustine says this internal denial comes from somewhere
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  specific. He talks about corrupt
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  affections. What does he mean by that?
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  Right. This isn't just, you know, a
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  minor moral slip up. Augustine sees it as a deep
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  spiritual sickness infecting the whole person.
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  OK. And the specific problem he
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  identifies is loving this world and not loving God.
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  This misdirected love, this misplaced affection is the
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  source of the corruption. It's not just a preference, it's
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  the fundamental orientation of the soul away from its maker.
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  So the hearts desires are pointed the wrong way.
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  Precisely. And these corrupt affections,
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  Augustine says they corrupt the soul and so blind it.
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  OK, so there's a chain reaction. Yes, misdirected love leads to a
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  corrupted soul, which leads to spiritual blindness, and then
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  this blindness makes it possible for the fool to say, even if
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  only inwardly, there is no God. Wow, so the blindness comes
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  first enabled by the corrupt desires?
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  It seems so, and this spiritual blindness, Augustine links it to
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  a choice, maybe not always a fully conscious I reject God
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  moment, but a leaning away, a preference.
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  He often connects this back to Romans one where Paul says for
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  as they did not like to retain God and their knowledge, God
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  gave them over to a reprobate mind, right?
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  That suggests an act of turning away from truth.
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  An act of turning away? Yeah.
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  A willful rejection, maybe, of what they could or should have
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  known about God. It's not just ignorance.
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  It's an unwillingness to hold God in view.
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  A preference for darkness, you could say.
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  And that fits very much with a reformed view of human
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  depravity. The fallen will.
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  Absolutely. Our capacity even to want to
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  know God is compromised by sin. Those corrupt affections, they
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  come first or alongside, and they feel this rejection of
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  knowledge. It becomes a downward spiral.
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  They choose not to keep God in their thoughts and their
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  awareness and their estimation of what's real or valuable and
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  the consequences. Their minds become, well,
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  incapable of seeing spiritual truth clearly, maybe even
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  incapable of acknowledging his existence in a way that matters.
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  It's a sobering thought that turning the heart away, loving
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  creation more than the creator can lead to such an entrenched
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  spiritual state where God just seems irrelevant or non existent
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  internally. It really shows the heart is the
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  battleground determining how we see reality and relate to God.
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  Augustine helps us see that intellectual arguments against
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  God's existence are often just symptoms of a deeper moral and
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  heart problem. Driven by the desires of a
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  fallen heart, yes. OK, so we have this internal
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  denial rooted in corrupt affections.
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  Then Psalm 14 makes that sweeping statement.
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  There is none that do with goodness.
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  No, not up to one. That sounds pretty absolute.
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  Augustine offers a particular way to understand the phrase up
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  to 1. How does he break that down?
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  Yeah, that is a stark statement, isn't it?
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  None that do with goodness. Augustine, being Augustine,
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  looks closely at the wording. He considers two ways to read up
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  to one. The first way, which he actually
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  thinks is less likely, is that up to 1 means literally no human
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  being at all does good. Not even a single one within
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  humanity. Just total, comprehensive lack
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  of goodness across the board. Right, which sounds like a
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  statement on universal sinfulness.
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  It does, and while Augustine certainly believes in universal
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  sinfulness, he prefers a second interpretation of up to 1 here,
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  one that makes a critical distinction A vital exception.
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  OK, what's the preferred interpretation?
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  Who is the exception? His preferred reading is that up
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  to 1 means besides one or except for one, and that one is
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  specifically the Lord Jesus Christ.
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  So Christ is outside that statement.
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  Exactly. Augustine uses this great
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  analogy. He says, imagine someone says
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  this field goes up to the sea. Well, you don't count the C as
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  part of the field, do. You.
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  No, of course not. Right.
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  The C is the boundary, but it's distinct.
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  In the same way Christ stands apart from humanity in this
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  assessment of universal lack of goodness.
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  He is the singular exception, the only one who perfectly
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  embodies goodness without any sin or corruption.
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  OK. And that exception is crucial.
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  It's absolutely vital because it means, Augustine argues, that no
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  human can do genuine goodness except he, meaning Christ, shall
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  have shown it. Shown it like this as an
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  example. Well, it's more than just a
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  passive example. I think it implies Christ must
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  actively demonstrate, lead, enable, perhaps even impart true
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  goodness within humanity. He's not just a moral teacher we
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  try to copy. He is the source and the means
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  by which any real goodness can appear in us.
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  Any goodness we might show is an outflow of his work in us, not
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  something we generate ourselves. So this is a very strong
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  statement on human fallenness. True goodness isn't something we
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  can just muster up ourselves, effort or intention.
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  It has to come from outside us, from Christ, and it needs that
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  right relationship with God that he makes possible.
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  This fits perfectly with the Reformed understanding of total
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  inability, doesn't it it? Absolutely does it aligns
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  completely. Augustine goes on to clarify
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  this point. Until a man know the one God, he
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  cannot do goodness. So knowing God is the
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  prerequisite. Knowing God is the prerequisite,
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  and Christ is the one who makes that knowing possible and
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  demonstrates the goodness that flows from it.
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  True moral action, real spiritual goodness in God's
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  eyes. It all depends on knowing God,
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  which Christ reveals, and on the divine demonstration through
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  Christ. Without knowing God, and without
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  Christ showing the way, humanity is just incapable of producing
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  goodness on its own terms. That God accepts our will, our
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  capacity. It's so warped by sin, so
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  controlled by those corrupt affections we talked about, that
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  we can't even begin to do what's truly good in God's sight until
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  he steps in, until we're brought into relationship with him
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  through Christ. This speaks directly to that
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  Reformed idea of total inability, that unregenerate
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  humans, people outside of Christ, are incapable of
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  choosing or doing what is spiritually good before God, our
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  fallen nature affects us so thoroughly.
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  So we can't initiate it ourselves.
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  We can't initiate it. We can't perform it acceptably.
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  Any true goodness must be entirely initiated and empowered
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  by God through Christ. It's not about us reaching some
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  moral target. It's about divine grace making
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  goodness possible in US. And knowing God isn't just
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  intellectual ascent. No, it's that spiritual
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  connection, that relationship that reorients the whole soul
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  towards Him, making possible genuine goodness, which again,
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  still flows from Christ, not from our own resources.
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  It just dismantles any notion of human autonomy in salvation or
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  spiritual life. OK, so the Psalm establishes
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  this universal lack of goodness with Christ as the sole
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  exception. Then it says the Lord from
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  heaven looked out upon the sons of men to see if there be one
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  understanding or seeking after God.
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  That's quite a picture of God looking down.
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  How does Augustine understand this divine observation?
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  Does God need to physically look out?
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  Yeah, that's a great question, and Augustine anticipates it.
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  He clarifies that obviously nothing is hidden from God
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  directly. God is omniscient.
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  He knows everything instantly. He's not limited by needing to
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  look. But Augustine offers this really
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  interesting interpretation of From Heaven Looked Out.
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  He suggests that God looks out, that he may see by his holy
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  souls. By his holy souls, what does
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  that mean? It's a.
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  Fascinating idea. It suggests that God's
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  perception, or perhaps his demonstration of humanity's
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  spiritual state, can sometimes be understood as being mediated
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  through his righteous people, through his Saints, his
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  prophets, maybe even the faithful church, those who are
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  connected to him, whose spiritual sight isn't clouded by
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  those corrupt affections. So it's not that God doesn't
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  know directly, but maybe he uses his faithful people to reveal or
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  articulate the condition of humanity.
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  That seems to be the idea. God uses those spiritually
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  attuned to him to, in a sense, discern and reflect the
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  spiritual state of the world around them.
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  It highlights God's active engagement within his creation.
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  OK. So God is actively involved,
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  observing not just actions but the hearts inclinations.
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  Is there a real understanding? Is anyone genuinely thinking
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  Him? Exactly.
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  The focus is specific to see if there be one understanding or
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  seeking after God. He's looking for genuine
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  spiritual wisdom, minds not blinded by the world, and a
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  sincere desire to know and relate to him.
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  He's searching for people whose minds aren't distorted, who are
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  actively trying to grasp divine truth and pursue God.
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  And, Augusta notes, this might initially refer particularly to
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  the Jews. Yes, he suggests that
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  contextually, sons of men might first point to Israel, who had
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  the special revelation of the one true God, giving them a
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  more, shall we say, honorable position initially compared to
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  the Gentile nations who worshipped idols.
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  But this initial focus doesn't limit the scope.
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  The divine gaze, whether direct or mediated through his Saints,
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  ultimately confirms the universal problem.
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  The Psalm describes that pervasive lack of true
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  understanding and seeking after God, even among those who have
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  the law and the prophets. It shows God is constantly
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  vigilant, always observing, always having this righteous
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  expectation for His creation to respond to Him, even when what
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  He sees is widespread spiritual emptiness.
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  It underscores God's active involvement.
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  Never detached, always aware, always looking for a sincere
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  heart. All right, so God observes this
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  lack of understanding. Then the Psalm, as Augustine
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  explains it, really dives into these vivid, almost graphic
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  descriptions of the spiritually corrupt.
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  It's a portrait of spiritual illness.
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  What does this overall deviation look like?
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  Yeah, it's quite a stark depiction, Psalm says.
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  All have gone out of the way. They have together become
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  useless. Useless.
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  That's strong. It is.
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  It means humanity, initially Jews, but then extending to
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  Gentiles too, has strayed from God's intended path, departed
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  from his design, and useless implies failing to fulfill their
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  spiritual purpose, being unprofitable in God's sight.
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  It stems from that deliberate turning away that inner denial,
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  those misdirected affections we talked about.
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  And Augustine then breaks down the specific imagery the Psalm
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  uses, and he makes it very concrete, very visceral almost.
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  He really does has that image. Their throat is an open
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  sepulcher, an open grave. Wow, how does Agustin read that
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  it? Gives it 2 layers of meaning,
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  both pretty grim. First, it can represent sheer
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  veracity, like the ever open palette.
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  Just a greedy, insatiable appetite that's never satisfied.
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  Consuming everything. Consuming everything.
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  A relentless self-serving hunger for worldly things, reflecting a
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  complete lack of contentment in God.
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  Always taking in never fall. OK.
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  And the second meaning? The second is allegorical and
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  maybe even more disturbing. He says it refers to those who
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  slay and, as it were, devour those they have slain by
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  instilling disorder in others lives.
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  So spiritually destroying others.
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  Yeah, like a destructive influence.
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  People who not only do wrong themselves, but drag others down
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  with them, corrupting them spiritually, consuming them.
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  Think of false teachers or those who lead others into sin,
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  effectively killing their spiritual life.
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  That's a chilling idea. Spiritual cannibalism almost.
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  And he connects this to those who devour my people as the food
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  of bread. Yes, exactly.
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  That phrase suggests A continuous, habitual
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  exploitation, treating God's people like a resource, like
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  daily bread you just consume without a second thought, purely
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  for your own sustenance or benefit.
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  Wow. It speaks of a casual,
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  systematic misuse of others for personal gain, with no regard
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  for God's glory or the well-being of those they're
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  supposed to care for. This could apply to corrupt
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  leaders, religious or secular, who exploit their flock instead
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  of feeding them. The imagery just keeps building,
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  doesn't it? With their tongues they have
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  dealt craftily. That points to flattery, deceit,
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  manipulation through words, using language not for truth,
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  but as a tool to twist things, to gain advantage, to trap
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  others. It's dishonest speech designed
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  to ensnare. And then, even more dangerous,
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  the poison of ASP is under their lips.
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  Right. No, it's not just deceit, but
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  malice words intended to harm, carrying spiritual venom.
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  Augustine compares this to how ASPs were thought to ignore a
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  snake charmer, highlighting a stubborn refusal to listen to
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  God's commands to heed his law or precepts.
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  So they're deaf to. Truth.
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  Spiritually deaf. Their words carry poison meant
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  to wound or mislead. And the next line, whose mouth
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  is full of cursing and bitterness, just reinforces this
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  picture of their speech being destructive, graceless,
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  reflecting an inner state of hostility and resentment towards
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  God and others. So the mouth, the throat, the
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  lips, it's all corrupted speech. And the actions follow suit.
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  Their feet are swift to shed blood.
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  Yes. The corruption isn't just
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  internal or verbal. It manifests an action.
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  This phrase shows a habitual inclination towards harm,
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  towards destructive acts, a readiness, even an eagerness to
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  inflict injury or commit violence without pause.
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  It's a pattern, not an accident. Moving quickly towards evil.
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  And the result? Destruction and unhappiness, are
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  in their ways. Their lives, Augustine says, are
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  filled with toil and misery. Why?
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  Because they have not known the way of peace.
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  And August didn't contrast this misery directly with Christ's
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  invitation, doesn't he? He does very pointedly.
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  He reminds us of Jesus saying, Come unto me, all ye that labor,
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  and are heavy laden, and I will refresh you.
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  Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me from my yoke is easy and
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  my burden light, right? That way of peace the wicked
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  ignore is Christ's easy yoke, His light burden.
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  They choose the path of self-inflicted misery instead.
• 19:34
  And underlying all of this, even for those who don't explicitly
• 19:37
  deny God's existence. Yes, Augustine adds that even
• 19:40
  those who don't say there is no God often still show a complete
• 19:43
  lack of fear of God before their eyes.
• 19:46
  So no reverence. No reverence, no respect for his
• 19:49
  authority, and no awe. They might give lip service to
• 19:52
  God, but their lives demonstrate A practical atheism, a disregard
• 19:56
  for His reality. This absence of godly fear is
• 19:59
  really a root cause, allowing those corrupt affections to
• 20:02
  flourish and leading to spiritual uselessness.
• 20:05
  It's a comprehensive picture covering desires, words,
• 20:09
  actions, Interstate, all corrupted apart from God.
• 20:12
  This detailed picture of corruption then leads Agustin to
• 20:15
  talk about the consequences, specifically focusing on
• 20:17
  misplaced fears. He quotes the Psalm there.
• 20:20
  They trembled for fear where No Fear was.
• 20:22
  It seems really central to understanding how sin distorts
• 20:25
  our priorities. What does Augustine mean by this
• 20:28
  misplaced fear? What's his example?
• 20:29
  Yeah, this is a very insightful point.
• 20:32
  The example Augustine uses is quite telling.
• 20:34
  He points to the Jewish leaders at the time of Christ who were
• 20:37
  afraid that if they accepted Jesus as Messiah, the Romans
• 20:41
  would come and take away both our place and nation.
• 20:44
  Right. They feared losing political
• 20:46
  control and their temple, their national identity.
• 20:49
  Exactly. And from a purely worldly
• 20:51
  perspective, that fear wasn't totally irrational.
• 20:54
  The Romans did have that power. But Augustine's point is about
• 20:58
  their priorities. They were terrified of losing an
• 21:01
  earthly Kingdom. Temporal goods.
• 21:03
  Things that don't last. Things that don't last.
• 21:05
  Things that, from God's eternal viewpoint, weren't the things
• 21:09
  they should have been most afraid of losing.
• 21:11
  They prioritized the temporary, the physical over the eternal,
• 21:14
  the spiritual. Their deepest anxieties were
• 21:16
  tied to this world, not God's Kingdom.
• 21:20
  It's a sobering thought, isn't it?
• 21:21
  How easily our fear can latch onto worldly security instead of
• 21:25
  spiritual realities. We trade eternal well-being for
• 21:28
  temporary comfort. And Augustine spells out the
• 21:31
  tragic irony by focusing on this fear.
• 21:34
  Where No Fear was the fear of losing earthly power.
• 21:37
  They actually lost the Kingdom of heaven, which they ought to
• 21:40
  have feared losing. Wow, they traded the eternal for
• 21:44
  the temporary and ended up losing both in a sense
• 21:46
  eventually. Precisely.
• 21:48
  It shows a fundamental failure to understand true value, what
• 21:52
  really matters in the long. Run and Augustin sees this as a
• 21:54
  wider principle, not just specific to those leaders.
• 21:57
  Oh, absolutely, he argues. This applies to all temporal
• 22:00
  goods. Fear of losing these things,
• 22:01
  Wealth, status, reputation, comfort, even relationships.
• 22:05
  Sometimes this fear holds people back from embracing things
• 22:09
  eternal. We become captive to these
• 22:11
  worldly anxieties, and they end up steering our decisions, often
• 22:14
  away from God's call. This misplaced fear is a direct
• 22:18
  result of those corrupt affections loving the world and
• 22:20
  the lack of the true fear of God.
• 22:22
  It all connects back. It all connects.
• 22:24
  If you love the world most, you'll fear worldly losses most.
• 22:27
  This spiritual ignorance blinds people to the real danger,
• 22:30
  eternal separation from God. And what's the ultimate
• 22:33
  consequence of living by these misplaced fears?
• 22:37
  Well, Augustine warns, it leads towards a divine reckoning.
• 22:40
  He interprets the Psalms question Shall not all who work
• 22:44
  iniquity know as a rhetorical threat?
• 22:46
  Meaning they will know. They will know it points to a
• 22:49
  future judgment where those who exploit God's people, prioritize
• 22:53
  themselves, and live by worldly fears will face the reality of
• 22:56
  God's justice. This isn't just for blatant
• 22:59
  atheists, but for anyone living a life of practical godlessness,
• 23:03
  ignoring the eternal for the sake of the temporal.
• 23:06
  Their misplaced fears will eventually give way to the
• 23:09
  terrifying reality of a judgement they failed to prepare
• 23:11
  for because their hearts were fixed on things that pass away.
• 23:14
  OK, so we have this picture of the wicked driven by corrupt
• 23:17
  affections and misplaced fears. But Augustin then contrast them
• 23:22
  with another group mentioned in the Psalm, the Just Generation.
• 23:25
  That sounds like a significant distinction.
• 23:27
  Who are these just people? What makes them different?
• 23:29
  Yes, it's a crucial contrast. Augustin highlights the line God
• 23:32
  is in the just generation. That's the key difference.
• 23:35
  God's presence with them. God's presence in them, among
• 23:38
  them, it's what makes them just. He resides with those who are
• 23:42
  righteous, setting them apart from those who love the world
• 23:45
  and work iniquity. True righteousness isn't just
• 23:47
  about behavior. It's characterized by God's
• 23:50
  indwelling presence reorienting their hearts and affections away
• 23:54
  from the world and towards Him. So it's God's grace reordering
• 23:58
  their loves, their affections. Exactly.
• 24:00
  And this divide is stark. Augustine repeats that central
• 24:04
  error of the wicked. He calls it unjust to leave the
• 24:07
  Maker of the world's and serve the creature more than the
• 24:11
  Creator. Right, that fundamental mistake
• 24:13
  in worship and desire. It's the core of sin.
• 24:16
  Putting created things, whether it's possessions, power, status,
• 24:19
  even other people ahead of the Creator himself serving the
• 24:23
  creature is a form of idolatry that inevitably pulls the heart
• 24:26
  away from God, leading to that spiritual corruption and
• 24:29
  blindness. OK.
• 24:30
  And the Psalm says the wicked shamed the counsel of the poor.
• 24:33
  What does Augustine make of that?
• 24:34
  How did they shame the Poor's counsel?
• 24:36
  Augustine interprets this as the wicked having despised the
• 24:39
  humble coming of the Son of God. So it connects back to Christ's
• 24:43
  first coming, yes. They failed to recognize Jesus
• 24:46
  because they were looking for worldly pomp, for earthly power
• 24:50
  and glory instead of the divine humility He embodied.
• 24:53
  They expected a conquering king, maybe a military leader.
• 24:56
  Very likely they wanted a Messiah who fit their temporal
• 24:59
  expectations, someone who would perhaps overthrow the Romans
• 25:03
  with earthly might. Because Christ came humbly,
• 25:06
  teaching, healing, associating with the poor and outcast rather
• 25:10
  than raising armies, they dismissed him.
• 25:13
  They couldn't see the true king in the servant figure.
• 25:15
  Their worldly desires blinded them to God's actual plan of
• 25:18
  salvation. Precisely, they couldn't
• 25:20
  perceive the spiritual reality because they were fixated on
• 25:23
  earthly appearances. So what then was this counsel of
• 25:26
  the poor that they rejected? The poorest counsel, Augustine
• 25:29
  suggests, was essentially the message of Christ and his
• 25:32
  followers, a call to place hope solely in God, not in temporary,
• 25:37
  passing earthly things. Trust God alone.
• 25:39
  Trust God alone. Those whom Christ called, often
• 25:42
  the humble and marginalized, were urged to put their hope in
• 25:45
  God alone, not in the things that pass away.
• 25:48
  This humble advice, this focus on eternal hope offered by
• 25:51
  Christ, was scorned by the worldly minded who were chasing
• 25:54
  status and power. The pursuit of worldly show
• 25:57
  blinded them to the value of Christ's humble ministry and the
• 25:59
  security found only in God. So this division between the
• 26:03
  just generation, those trusting God and dwelt by Him, and those
• 26:06
  loving the world is central. It defines the two paths, one
• 26:10
  leading to God's presence and lasting hope, the other two
• 26:13
  spiritual blindness, misplaced fear and despair.
• 26:17
  It really highlights that Reformed idea that true
• 26:20
  spiritual sight needs a radical reorientation of our desires by
• 26:23
  grace away from the temporal towards the eternal God.
• 26:26
  OK, so after this stark contrast in the description of human
• 26:29
  sinfulness, the Psalm ends on a note of hope with the question
• 26:32
  Who will give salvation to Israel out of Sion?
• 26:35
  How does Augustine bring this back to Christ and provide an
• 26:37
  answer? Yeah, this question really
• 26:39
  shines as the hopeful conclusion after a fairly bleak assessment
• 26:43
  of the human condition. Augustin's answer is immediate
• 26:46
  and points right back to Christ. He says, when the Psalm asks who
• 26:49
  will give salvation the answer, Who but he whose humiliation you
• 26:54
  have despised is understood? Wow, so the despised and
• 26:58
  rejected 1 is the source of salvation?
• 27:00
  Exactly the very one whose humble first coming was sporned
• 27:03
  as the one who brings salvation. It's a powerful reversal.
• 27:07
  Augustine sees the full realization of the salvation,
• 27:10
  though primarily in Christ's second coming.
• 27:12
  OK. So it's looking forward.
• 27:13
  It's looking forward, He says. Christ will come in glory to the
• 27:15
  judgement of the quick and the dead and the Kingdom of the
• 27:18
  just. This future glorious return is
• 27:21
  the event that will bring about the complete salvation promised.
• 27:24
  The day of reckoning, yes, but also the day when God's
• 27:27
  righteous rule is fully established, when justice
• 27:30
  finally reigns and the just inherit the Kingdom.
• 27:33
  This is the ultimate answer to Who will give salvation?
• 27:36
  Christ returning in glory. So it's a hope rooted in
• 27:39
  Christ's future victory and reign.
• 27:42
  This is central to Reform thinking, too.
• 27:45
  Salvation secured by Christ applied now, but fully
• 27:49
  consummated at his return. Absolutely.
• 27:52
  And Augustine connects this to Paul's teaching in Romans about
• 27:55
  Israel's partial blindness. Remember Paul says blindness
• 27:59
  have happened in part unto Israel, that the fullness of the
• 28:02
  Gentiles might enter in. Right.
• 28:04
  How does that temporary blindness fit into Augustine's
• 28:07
  understanding here? Augustine sees this partial
• 28:10
  spiritual blindness, Israel's difficulty as a whole, in
• 28:13
  recognizing Christ during his first coming as part of God's
• 28:16
  sovereign plan. It wasn't purposeless.
• 28:19
  It opened the door providentially for the gospel to
• 28:21
  go out to the Gentiles for non Jewish people to be included in
• 28:25
  God's covenant people. So it broaden the scope of
• 28:27
  salvation. It broaden the scope
• 28:28
  dramatically, showing God the grace extending to all nations.
• 28:32
  It's a display of God's expansive plan, bringing diverse
• 28:35
  peoples into his one family through Christ.
• 28:37
  But that's not the end of the story for Israel in this view,
• 28:40
  is it? Not at all.
• 28:42
  Augustine holds onto the hope, drawing again from Paul, that at
• 28:45
  Christ's return and so all Israel should be saved.
• 28:49
  A future restoration? The future restoration, Yes.
• 28:52
  He cites the prophecy Paul quotes from Isaiah.
• 28:54
  There shall come out of Sion he who shall turn away ungodliness
• 28:58
  from Jacob. This points to a future time
• 29:00
  when God will deal decisively with Israel's unbelief, remove
• 29:04
  their spiritual blindness, and bring them into the fullness of
• 29:07
  salvation through the Messiah they initially rejected.
• 29:10
  God's covenant promises to Israel remain and will find
• 29:14
  their completion in Christ. And the result of this, when the
• 29:17
  Lord shall turn away the captivity of His people, meaning
• 29:20
  their spiritual captivity, then Jacob shall rejoice and Israel
• 29:25
  shall be glad. It speaks of profound spiritual
• 29:27
  liberation, freedom from bondage, and overwhelming joy.
• 29:31
  So you have this wonderful picture, Gentile inclusion now
• 29:34
  and future restoration for Israel, all converging in Christ
• 29:37
  and his glorious return. It's a testament to God's
• 29:39
  faithfulness to his overarching plan of redemption.
• 29:42
  We've certainly covered a lot of ground today, really digging
• 29:45
  into Augustine's take on Psalm 14.
• 29:47
  We saw how he starts right from the title to the end, pointing
• 29:50
  directly to Christ, and how the fool isn't just saying words but
• 29:54
  has this internal denial rooted in corrupt affections and loving
• 29:58
  the world more than God. Right.
• 30:00
  And that crucial point about goodness, that humanity apart
• 30:04
  from Christ is incapable of true goodness.
• 30:08
  It has to come from knowing God through Christ, demonstration
• 30:11
  and enabling. We also looked at those stark
• 30:13
  descriptions of spiritual corruption.
• 30:15
  The throat is an open grave, the crafty tongues, the feet swift
• 30:19
  to shed blood. A really vivid portrait.
• 30:21
  Yeah, and the danger of those misplaced fears, being terrified
• 30:24
  of losing worldly things while ignoring the eternal
• 30:27
  consequences. And the contrast between those
• 30:29
  caught up in the world and the just generation where God
• 30:32
  dwells. Agustin's insights really give
• 30:34
  us a clear lens on human sinfulness, our deep need, and
• 30:38
  the absolutely essential role of Christ.
• 30:40
  He shows how he's the only source of true goodness, the
• 30:43
  only real hope for salvation. He connects everything, our
• 30:47
  affections, our thoughts, our words, our actions, back to our
• 30:50
  relationship or lack thereof, with God.
• 30:53
  This deep dive really shows Psalm 14 read with Agustin as
• 30:57
  this powerful statement about the human condition and God's
• 31:00
  amazing plan of redemption in Christ.
• 31:03
  It gives us a clearer view of why we need Christ so
• 31:05
  desperately, and it anchors our hope firmly in his glorious
• 31:09
  return in the final establishment of his Kingdom.
• 31:12
  So for you, our listener, maybe something to think about this
• 31:15
  week is this. How do your own fears stack up
• 31:18
  against God's eternal perspective?
• 31:21
  Are there temporal things you're more afraid of losing than your
• 31:23
  connection to God? Yeah, and are there any corrupt
• 31:26
  affections, subtle loves for this world that might be quietly
• 31:30
  blinding your heart to God's truth?
• 31:33
  Or are you actively seeking Him, placing your hope completely in
• 31:36
  Christ alone? It's definitely something to
• 31:38
  reflect on, examining the true affections of our own hearts.
• 31:41
  Thank you for joining us for this deep dive into truth.
• 31:44
  Until next time, keep seeking wisdom that points to Christ.