Why the Bad News is So Important (Psalm 53:1-3)

Children's Lesson (click here)

I. That Which is More Important

No one likes bad news. We don't like to give it. We don't like to get it. No one minds being the bearer of good news. But being the bearer of bad news? No thanks. Because this is true, bad news usually tempts us. It tempts us to soften or substitute the badness of that news. Or it tempts us to omit it all together. But what if... what if that bad news comes from God? Does that change... should that change our attitude toward giving it or getting it? Let's think about that more deeply this morning by looking together at Psalm 53.

II. The Passage: “They Have All Fallen Away” (53:1-3)

As you can see, Psalm 53 is a short psalm. You may or may not know this, but this psalm is almost exactly the same as Psalm 14. Just like variations in hymns today, these ancient songs probably represent two different traditions that began with the same song. But by God's design, both of these psalms were preserved and included in holy Scripture. I think that fact (the fact that Psalm 14:1-3 is the same as Psalm 53:1-3) only strengthens my claim that this is a very important passage. But that's like a bonus argument. Let's do this. Let's first read through our main verses and make sure we understand what they're saying, and then we can think about the reasons why this text is so, so important. This is Psalm 53, verses 1 through 3...

The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, doing abominable iniquity; there is none who does good. [2] God looks down from heaven on the children of man to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God. [3] They have all fallen away; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one.

The back half of this psalm, verses 4-6, helps us understand that this ancient song is a cry for God's salvation. As the people are being (v. 4) consumed by their enemies, the psalmist (David) reminds worshipers that (v. 5) God will in fact judge “him who encamps against you”. The cry itself, the writer's plea here, is clear in v 6: “Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!”

Those truths help us understand and recognize that the first half of the psalm is an affirmation and a consolation that God sees... and God understands... and God indicts... the human condition of evil that's described in both halves of this psalm. Let me point out several things that these verses tell us about this human condition...

First, this human condition is the every human condition. That's clear from v. 2 where God is said to “look down from heaven on the children of man”. That phrase, “children of man” is found thirty-six times in the Old Testament (OT), with over half of those instances being in the Psalms. When you look at all these occurrences, there's good reason to believe that this phrase really does refer to every single human being. For example, notice the parallel in Psalm 33:13-14...

The LORD looks down from heaven; he sees all the children of man; [14] from where he sits enthroned he looks out on all the inhabitants of the earth... (Psalm 33:13-14)

That means these truths about the human condition apply to men and women, to blacks and whites, to Asians and Hispanics, to Europeans and Africans, to Democrats, Republicans, and Independents, to the young and the old and everyone in between. To the rich and poor, and everyone in between; these truths apply to those who are straight, queer, or trans; they apply to refugee and the native born. They apply to upstanding citizens and the prisoner on death row; to the church-goer, the mosque-goer, the temple-goer, and to the 'none of the above-ers'. This human condition is the every human condition.

Second, this human condition is a morally depraved condition. In both verse 1 and verse 3, David uses the word “corrupt” to describe first “the fool”, and then all of “the children of man”. This word corrupt is the same word used in Exodus 8 to describe how the plague of flies ruined the land of Egypt. David is declaring here that every human being is morally ruined or spoiled. To use a modern image, we might say our God-designed operating software has become corrupted. This leads to (verse 1) “doing abominable iniquity”. That means we don't simply 'make mistakes' or 'mess up' or do 'dumb things'. No. To more fully explain these Hebrews terms, we deliberately 'deviate' from what is right, from what is just, in ways that are morally revolting; morally disgusting. How does the writer summarize the moral dimensions of this human condition? This is the phrase he uses in verse 1 and verse 3: “there is none who does good”. Our human condition is marked by the absence of what is good and what is right.

Third, this human condition is a spiritually debilitating condition. In the second half of verse 2, along with the first phrase of verse 3, we find a frightening sequence of thoughts. Why is God looking down from heaven on the children of man? To see “if there any who understand.” Who understand what? That God is God. That God is above all. That God calls the shots. That God's way is always right and always best. That's confirmed by the next phrase in verse 2. God is looking down to see if there are any “who [in light of that understanding] seek after God”. The outcome or conclusion of God's inspection is found in verse 3: “They have all fallen away...” (or in Psalm 14, “they have all turned aside”). Though men and women are often religious, even exceedingly religious, given our divinely-diagnosed human condition, not one of them, in and of themselves, is ever truly seeking God. This is why the psalm begins the way it does: “The fool says in his heart, 'There is no God.'” That's not the confession of an atheist (as we would use the term today). It's the confession of someone who does not believe in the kind of God who sees, who cares, and who will hold us accountable for our deeds.

So think about the picture David is painting for us here. But maybe... this psalm is actually more narrow than I'm suggesting. Maybe David is just describing and decrying those really bad people that seem to be present in every society (and that so often made his life really difficult). So how can we know if this is a broad diagnosis or a narrow indictment? Well, we let Scripture interpret Scripture. Turn with me to Romans 3. Beginning in chapter 1, verse 18, of Paul's letter to the disciples in Rome, the Apostle is carefully building his argument for the very same human condition we've already talked about this morning: an every human condition that is both morally depraved and spiritually debilitating. Though some of his Jewish Christian readers might still cling to a special status as God's holy people because of the old covenant, listen to how Paul, starting in Romans 3:9, summarizes his lengthy argument about the fallen, human condition...

What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks [i.e., Gentiles], are under sin, [10] as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; [11] no one understands; no one seeks for God. [12] All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” (Romans 3:9-12)

After a careful and clear argument spanning three chapters, how does Paul finally establish his teaching that every human being being is “under sin”? He cites (or paraphrases) Psalm 14. Thus, it's clear that Paul did not believe Psalms 14 & 53 were just narrow indictments of David's enemies. These passages were and are God's inspired indictment of the whole human race.

III. To Appreciate and Apply

No one like bad news. But this is bad news we have to hear. Why? Why is this so important? Well, if we start with the importance of sound doctrine, then I think we could argue that what you believe about sin affects what you believe about the gospel. If our beliefs about human sin are not wholly biblical, our beliefs about God's rescue will suffer accordingly. Or to put it another way, when we minimize our condition, we minimize God's salvation.

Think about what we've learned from Psalm 53:1-3. Every person is guilty. No one does good. No one seeks God. If those things are true, then 1) not one person deserves God's rescue, and 2) not one person contributes anything to God's rescue. But please remember, there is more to this than right doctrine. That's where it has to begin. But God wants you to find Psalm 53:1-3 important, not simply because of what it reveals about people, but because of what it reveals about you. Psalm 53:1-3 is about you. It's describing you. It's indicting you.

Think about the difference between these two scenes: the first is you sitting in a lecture hall where a researcher is making her case for the serious spread and deadly consequences of a devastating pandemic for which there is no cure. Her data and her conclusions are persuasive. You leave absolutely convinced. Scene #2: you are sitting in an exam room and the same doctor (who has set aside her researcher hat) is speaking to you again. But her message this time is much more concise: “I'm sorry, but the test came back positive. You... are infected.”

Do you recognize the difference between those two scenes? The difference between how you would feel in those two scenes? How you would react? It's the very same difference between agreeing with what Scripture teaches us about sin and accepting that you are a sinner. Psalm 53:1-3 communicates to us a disturbing and life-altering message. That is, if we accept it. And that acceptance will continue to be a battle until the day we die. Sam Allberry put it this way,

“Deep down, every single one of us does not want to come clean about the depth of our sin. That is not just true of the non-Christian; it’s true of the Christian. I’ve never taken any law courses... but there is a little lawyer inside me who is excellent at trying to evade my own guilt.”

This is both doctrinal and personal. Yes, we confess it as true. But also... true of or for me. What happens when we struggle to really and regularly embrace this teaching about our human condition “under sin”? When I struggle to accept the bad news about me, then I absolutely will struggle to appreciate and apply the Good News about Jesus. If you are now right with God through Christ, brother, sister, please appreciate that since you were not seeking God, that He sought you. If you are now right with God through Jesus Christ, please appreciate that since you were corrupt, there was nothing lovely in you that won God over or drew him to you. To the degree that I can truly accept the bad news about the severity and ugliness of my sin, then it's to that degree that I can truly appreciate the Good News concerning the sufficiency and beauty of God's grace. How could that not then produce beautiful things in me? Things like humility, joy, gratitude, trust, and praise.

And the more I can appreciate both the depths and heights of the gospel, the darkness and light of the gospel, the indictment and pardon of the gospel, the desperation and hope of the gospel, the death and life addressed by the gospel message... the more I can appreciate these things, the more I can apply that Good News to my every day. Though that “little lawyer” in us routinely wants to minimize our guilt and neediness, the bad news about sin should keep us sober-minded and dependent on grace, vigilant about sin, prayerful about our need, and clinging to Christ.

“Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!” Did God answer David's plea? He did. Through the son of David, Jesus. No one likes bad news. We don't like to give it. We don't like to get it. But the bad news about our human condition under sin is something for which we should be grateful. On the cross, Jesus did for us through his death and resurrection what we could never do for ourselves. So let's not hesitate to give or get this bad news about sin. For now, not only is there forgiveness for our corruption and abominable iniquity. There's also transformation. Wonderfully, God continues to use the bad news about sin to grow me in the Good News about Jesus; because in doing so... He's growing me in grace.