A FOOL’S COUNSELOR....Understanding important truths from the Bible….

Psalm 14:1 NKJV

The fool has said in his heart,
“There is no God.”
They are corrupt,
They have done abominable works,
There is none who does good.

Psalm 53:1

The fool has said in his heart,
“There is no God.”
They are corrupt, and have done abominable iniquity;
There is none who does good.

We know he is a fool--he seeks his own counsel.  The Lord in Luke 12:16-21 begins in VS 17 to describe a certain man and He says, “He thought within himself” and concludes by saying in VS 20, “But God said to him, Fool!”  It seems as if a sure way to be a fool is to think you have within yourself the answer to those profound questions to which God alone can give you an answer.

Rolf Barnard, a Baptist Evangelist I knew in the 60’s, translated the Psalmist as saying, “No God for me.”  If it can be that this is so that the Hebrew, “No God” is as Barnard said, then I would like to add it might be “No God but me.”

In Psalm 50:16 “God says to the wicked….”VS 21, “You thought I was altogether like you.”  Therefore explaining the common fault of the wicked to be measuring God by themselves, or thinking of God as one with them, “No God but me.”

The Atheist thinks there is no God because he has not been able to find God in the phenomena with which he is familiar.  He is as Elijah on the mountaintop.  Elijah has his expectation of how God must appear in I Kings 18:11-12.  This is not to misinform us.  It is not saying God is never in a great strong wind or an earthquake, or a fire.  It is telling us that God comes in ways man does not expect and he, man, cannot expect God to appear in his prescribed ways.

The fool makes the following demands of God by which he could prove His existence.

1.       He must appear upon the demands of the one who needs Him.  If he, the one making the demand, doesn’t need Him, He can remain hidden.

2.      He must provide what is demanded of Him.  It may be health, or wealth, necessary provision, or deliverance from dire straits.  If He fails to do this then He must not exist.

3.      He must speak, do, and be only those things man can explain “scientifically” or “rationally”.  A miracle or truth that is undesirable quickly establishes “No God for me.”

Listen both carefully and joyfully to the Psalmist’s conclusion in Psalm 5:11-12.

¹¹ But let all those rejoice who put their trust in You;
Let them ever shout for joy, because You defend them;
Let those also who love Your name
Be joyful in You.
¹² For You, O Lord, will bless the righteous;
With favor You will surround him as with a shield.