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Passage of the Day: Reference of Today’s Chronological Bible Study: Psalm 53 … To study these chapters, go to this link -
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Passage of the Day: Reference of Today’s Chronological Bible Study: Psalm 60 … To study these chapters, go to this link -
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Passage of the Day: Reference of Today’s Chronological Bible Study: Psalm 75 … To study these chapters, go to this link -
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Highlight Passage #1: Psalm 53: 1-3 … 1 The fool says in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, and their ways are vile; there is no one who does good. … 2 God looks down from heaven on all mankind to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God. … 3 Everyone has turned away, all have become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.
My Journal for Today: Four more Psalms today in my chronological reading plan, guiding me through the Bible; and all of them, written by David and Asaph, his worship leader, write of God’s judgment on the rebellious ones and the unbelieving fools who proclaim that there is no God. And the highlight passage which jumped out at me today – even personally – was Psalm 53, verses 1-3, which my commentary today reminded me is a restatement of Psalm 14 and was even quoted by the Apostle Paul in is treatise on sin in Roman 3 (verses 10-12, 23).
And hence I titled my blog today, “No, not one,” which, of course, refers to the fact that we’re all sinners and subject to God’s judgment against His created children who have rebelled against him. And above I said that this is personalized in my testimony and witness because, for many of the years of my accountable adult life, I was one of those “fools” who declared that there was no God. And I did so, like many others who proclaim themselves to be “atheists” or “agnostics,” because I needed some way of hiding or defending my chronically sinful life.
My Parsons Commentary on the highlight passage from Psalm 53: 1 today is pertinent and worthy of quoting here in reference to my own atheism as well as the proclamations of others who claim there is no God: ”People may say there is no God in order to cover up their sin, to have an excuse to continue in sin, and/or to ignore the Judge in order to avoid the judgment. “Fools” do not necessarily lack intelligence; many atheists and unbelievers are highly educated. Fools are people who reject God, the only one who can save them.”
And that commentary nails yours truly for all those years when I thought of myself as an “intellectual,” who thought of Christians as hypocrites who sought after a mythical god who would be a panacea of hope for their foolishness; … when, in point of fact, I was the fool and the mega-hypocrite, trying to excuse my own sinful way of life. However, back in those days when I railed and argued with Christians about their hypocrisy, there was a certain element of truth to my observations and claims. Many, if not most, Christians, were hypocritical, proclaiming their faith, but not living it out in their everyday lives.
But there are Christians, and prayerfully that is you and me, who are proclaiming – and prayerfully living - the truth which was expressed by the prophet in Isaiah 53: 6 about the hope and reality of our Messiah Who has come to give us – all of us – THE WAY to be saved from our own sinfulness. I hope you know and have memorized those words from Isaiah; but if not let me quote them here for your meditation.
Is. 53: 6 [NIV]: We all, like sheep, have gone astray; … each one of us has turned to his own way; … and the Lord has laid upon HIM (i.e., the Messiah) the iniquity of us all.
I’ll let you have your own little meditation on these truths from God’s Spirit and His word this morning; and maybe, like me, they will convict you to be so, so, so, so grateful for a Messiah, the Lamb of God, Who came, bled, and died so that a fool like me (or maybe you can identify) can be saved.
Maybe right now, like me, you’re thinking and quoting, from memory, John 3: 16, or maybe that powerful word from Isaiah 53: 6 above. Let us all, if we’re grateful for these truths, proclaim a loud … ”HALLELUJAH” and a resounding “PRAISE YOU, LORD!”
My Prayer Today: … Oh, yes, my Lord, …
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