‘YHWH looked down from heaven on the children of men,
To see if there were any that did understand, that did seek after God.
They are all gone aside; They are together become morally corrupt,
There is no one who does good, no, not one.'
But God would not judge men without a fair examination, and so He looked down to see if there were any who understood and sought after Him. The vivid anthropomorphism brings out the truth of God's constant examination and assessment of the human race (compare Genesis 11:5), and His call to accountability. But all had turned aside, even the best; all had become morally tainted (compare Job 15:16). There was not one man on earth who did good and did not sin (Ecclesiastes 7:20). (For the thought of the one man Who would come see Isaiah 50:2 with Psalms 14:4-7; Isaiah 52:13 to Isaiah 53:12).