Heading (Psalms 53:1 a).
‘For the Chief Musician; set to Mahalath. Maschil of David.'
The Psalm is once again dedicated to the Choirmaster or Chief Musician, and is set to the tune of Mahalath (which possibly means ‘sickness', and may be the opening word of another Psalm for which this tune was first composed. Or it may be a mournful tune bewailing the sickness of mankind in his sins). It is again a Maschil of David. This last may refer to the original Psalm and not to the adaptation.
The World's Verdict On The Living God And God's Verdict On Them (Psalms 53:1-3).
The man who is corrupt and sins in a way which is an abomination to God (a concept regularly found in Proverbs) is here described as ‘a fool. By his actions he has foolishly treated God as though He does not exist.
‘The fool has said in his heart,
“There is no God.”
Corrupt are they, and have done abominable iniquity,
There is none who does good.'
In these words a general verdict is passed by God on mankind. None are good. All are in one way or another corrupt. They behave like fools because they reject the idea of Him as the One Who is, and the One to Whom they are accountable. They may do this by having many gods, and worshipping idols who but represent aspects of creation (compare Romans 1:18-23), or simply by gross disobedience to the covenant with God (the Law of Moses), but the underlying fact is that in their hearts they reject the living God who speaks to them through the wonder of creation and through their consciences. They say that there is no such God. It is expressive of those who do outwardly worship YHWH, but who in their hearts ignore Him. They worship Him outwardly in the Temple area, but in their lives they live as though He does not exist.
‘The fool.' This is describing the morally perverse person who rejects the idea of living a godly life. ‘Folly' in the Old Testament is a term used to describe the person who behaves foolishly in that he forgets or misrepresents God or refuses to do His will (Deuteronomy 32:6; Deuteronomy 32:21; Job 42:8; Psalms 74:18; Psalms 74:22), he commits gross offences against morality (2 Samuel 13:12-13) or sacrilege (Joshua 7:15), or he behaves churlishly and unwisely (1 Samuel 25:25). See also Isaiah 32:5-6. Under other Hebrew words for ‘fool' he is prominent in Proverbs. Inevitably he always sees himself as wise.
‘In his heart.' It is not his intellect that rejects the idea of God, but his mind, will and emotions. He may ‘believe in God', but he does not want to have to face up to God because of what it might involve in a transformed life. He likes living as he is. See Psalms 73:11; Jeremiah 5:12; Zephaniah 1:12.
‘They are corrupt, they have done abominable iniquity.' Compare Genesis 6:11. They are corrupt within and their lives reveal what they really are, sinful, violent, idolatrous, and/or sexually perverted. See Romans 1:18-32.
‘There is none who does good.' This is the final verdict on the world. They are cited in Romans 3:10 in order to demonstrate that all men are sinners. All mankind are fools in this sense, for sin is folly. The difference is that some have found forgiveness, and have begun to live in a new way. God is declaring that there is no true, positive, untainted goodness in the world. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). All are likewise guilty.
God looked down from heaven on the children of men,
To see if there were any who understood, Who sought after God.'
But God would not judge men without a fair examination, and so He looked down to see if there were any who understood and who sought after Him. (In Jeremiah 5:1 ff. he challenges Jeremiah to do the same). 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. He examines men in depth testing out, not what they say to Him, but their true understanding, and response
‘Every one of them is gone back, they are together become filthy,
There is no one who does good, no, not one.'
He declares that all have turned aside, even the best; all have walked in ways that are sinful, all have become morally tainted (compare Job 15:16). There was not one man on earth who continually did good and did not sin (Ecclesiastes 7:20). (For the thought of the one man Who would come Who would not sin see Isaiah 50:2 with Isaiah 50:4-9; Isaiah 52:13 to Isaiah 53:12).