Psalms 53-54: What Do You Sing When Surrounded by Fools?

The fool, according to Psalm 53, is one who says in his heart, “There is no God.” That does not mean that all fools are atheists. The fool may be a professed Christian – but in his heart he says, “there is no God.” He may genuinely and truly believe that God exists, but he does not believe that God is going to do anything. The fool is a practical atheist (or at least a practical deist). The fool says, “God may exist, but his existence is irrelevant to my life.”

When you are surrounded by these sorts of fools, then you need to cry out to God for mercy – because you certainly won’t receive mercy from a fool!

Who are the fools? Part of the reason to connect Psalms 53 and 54 is because David also interacted with a fool in the context surrounding these Psalms. In 1 Samuel 25, David met a man named “Nabal” – which is the Hebrew word for “Fool....”