Focal Passage: Psalm 8:1-6, 14:1-7
God’s creative purpose for this world and humanity is greater than any fulfillment we can find ourselves. Because of the Fall, however, mankind has rejected God’s ideal and sought selfish ways to find meaning in life. As we studied last week, this only leads to frustration and despair. Only when we seek the Lord shall we find true and lasting purpose in our lives.
God created a world of purpose. The Lord is majestic and magnificent in His creation! The beauty of Psalm 8 is that God finds His glory and majesty in creating humanity. Genesis 1:26 illustrates God’s desire to create man and woman in His image and to maintain an eternal relationship with us. As King David writes this Psalm, he stands in awe of God’s handiwork. The more we observe the heavens, we grow astounded at the grandeur and immensity of the cosmos the Lord has fashioned.
King David looks up in the heavens and then down at humanity and says, “what is a human being that You remember him?” When we peer out into the greatness of God’s creation, we are mindful of how puny we really are. Yet, King David says, “You made him little less than God and crowed him with glory and honor.” Out of all the created order, God desires a relationship with us. He has infused us with purpose and has entrusted us with authority to care for this world. Unfortunately, we squandered that ideal mandate.
Moore
Humanity rejected that purpose. Where Psalm 8 gives hope, the opening to Psalm 14 illustrates the tragedy of mankind’s rejection of God. The fool described in Psalm 14 is not someone who is ignorant. Rather, a fool in the Bible is one who rejects God and His spiritual truth. The fool says, “I don’t need God. I have enough to worry about on my own. I can achieve purpose through my own efforts and legacy.” That is what caused the first sin in the Garden of Eden and has plagued humanity ever since.
Not only does Psalm 14 define the fool, but it also declares that everyone – including you and I – has played the fool. God looks upon the world searching for anyone who shares His righteousness and has found none. All have turned away; all are corrupt; there is no one righteous, no not one. The sad truth of verse three projects through Scripture all the way to the New Testament book of Romans. The Apostle picks up this theme in chapter three quoting this very phrase culminating in the stark verse, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Coming face to face with the fact of our foolish rejection of God is the crucial first step, Paul says, to finding God’s answer to our sinfulness.
God delivers us into His renewed purpose. Psalm 14 continues to outline the trainwreck of the sinful life. A world that rejects God consumes and oppresses people (v. 4), is filled with dread (v. 5), and advances corruption and injustice (v. 6). However, God is with those who seek Him. The great theme of Scripture is that God has provided a deliverance for the sinner through the gospel of Jesus. Sinners live a life of frustration and guilty purposelessness. Yet, the Lord is a sinner’s refuge! Only God can restore the purpose that we have squandered through sin. Only God can give us the renewed hope we so desperately need! B&R
