The Foolishness of Atheism (Psalm 14)

CONSIDER THIS

Today’s post is from A Meditative Journey Through the Psalms by Timothy and Julie Tennent. Most recently, he served as the president of Asbury Theological Seminary among other posts he holds across the global church. She is a gifted musician and was one of the driving forces that helped bring to fruition the Seedbed hymnal, Our Great Redeemer’s Praise. We will share some of their writing on the Psalms on Sundays.

Psalm 14 is the only psalm that appears twice in the Psalter, as it appears in almost identical form in Psalm 53. The reason for this is not entirely certain, but we do know (as noted in the introduction) that the Psalms were compiled into five separate books or collections, just as the Law comes to us in five separate books (Genesis–Deuteronomy). This is why, as we noted in Psalm 1, the Psalms are sometimes known as the Sung Torah. Thus, this psalm may have been used in separate books reflecting different liturgical purposes. Psalm 53 appears in the midst of a series of psalms reflecting David’s wilderness wanderings and betrayal at the hands of Saul’s men. Perhaps the final editors of the Psalms, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, did not want to lose the message of this psalm, as it sustained David in the midst of that particular dark period in his life.

It is in Psalm 14 that we first encounter the biblical definition of a fool. A fool is someone who says in his heart, “There is no God” (v. 1). This psalm reminds us that at its root, atheism is not merely an intellectual problem, as is commonly thought in our day. Rather, the folly of atheism is rooted in a determined trajectory of autonomy that seeks to live life on our own terms and to resist the self-revelation of God’s presence and character in the world. Atheism is, in short, not so much an intellectual choice as it is a moral choice. In a larger sense, we are all biblical fools, even though we have not publicly aligned ourselves with the atheist. We are fools when we live and act as if there is no God. We live as functional atheists when we fail to seek God and to live righteously. But this psalm calls us back afresh to the company of the righteous and back to the great moral framework of the universe. Only in this company will salvation and joy be finally ours. It is the resurrected Christ and the empty tomb which alone washes us all of our foolishness and sets our feet firmly with Christ in the way of the righteous.

For the Awakening,
Timothy and Julie Tennent

THE HYMN

Sing Psalm 14 with the Seedbed Psalter today. I suggest the tune “Llangloffan” (“O God of Earth and Altar”). You can hear the tune played online by Julie Tennent here. If you listen to the podcast audio version, I will sing the psalm in this same tune. For your convenience, the words from the Psalter are printed below.