Singled Out For Mercy

Psalm 14

For the choir director: A psalm of David.

1Only fools say in their hearts,

“There is no God.”

They are corrupt, and their actions are evil;

no one does good!

2The LORD looks down from heaven

on the entire human race;

he looks to see if there is even one with real understanding,

one who seeks for God.

3But no, all have turned away from God;

all have become corrupt.

No one does good,

not even one!

4Will those who do evil never learn?

They eat up my people like bread;

they wouldn’t think of praying to the LORD.

5Terror will grip them,

for God is with those who obey him.

6The wicked frustrate the plans of the oppressed,

but the LORD will protect his people.

7Oh, that salvation would come from Mount Zion to rescue Israel!

For when the LORD restores his people,

Jacob will shout with joy, and Israel will rejoice.

Young John Newton called himself an atheist, and his life demonstrated his lack of belief in God. Even the coarsest sailors aboard his slave-trading ship could not stand his filthy speech. He brutalized the male slaves and sexually abused the women, and he prodded other sailors to do the same. The ship’s captain finally put him ashore on the coast of Africa, and there he became a servant of slavers.

Finally rescued by another merchant ship, Newton once again fouled the ship with his presence. In a drunken stupor he almost plunged overboard, and the captain wished that he had. Then, amazingly in the midst of a vicious ocean storm in 1748, God touched his heart. Years after his remarkable conversion, Newton commented, “I see no reason why the Lord singled me out for mercy . . . unless it was to show that with him nothing is impossible.”

The fool who had said in his heart that there was no God was now transformed. He became famous throughout England, both as a preacher and a writer of hymns. Without a doubt, the best-known hymn of this former atheist is the following:

Amazing grace! how sweet the sound

That saved a wretch like me!

I once was lost but now am found,

Was blind but now I see.

JOHN NEWTON

A Word on Words

In Hebrew the word for “fool” is nabal. To read about a fool who bore the name Nabal, see 1 Samuel 25:25, and then read the entire chapter.

Fascinating Fact

In his essay “On Atheism,” Francis Bacon commented that when the fool says in his heart that there is no God, he says it “by rote” in an attempt to convince himself.

Bible Networking

Compare Psalm 14 with Psalm 53. What differences do you find?