The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God,”

Psalm 53 (NASB) from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Folly and Wickedness of Men.

The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God,”
They are corrupt, and have committed abominable injustice;
There is no one who does good.
² God has looked down from heaven upon the sons of men
To see if there is anyone who understands,
Who seeks after God.
³ Every one of them has turned aside; together they have become corrupt;
There is no one who does good, not even one.

⁴ Have the workers of wickedness no knowledge,
Who eat up My people as though they ate bread
And have not called upon God?
⁵ There they were in great fear where no fear had been;
For God scattered the bones of him who encamped against you;
You put them to shame, because God had rejected them.
⁶ Oh, that the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion!
When God restores His captive people, Let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.

There are many people who say they do not believe there is a God and in particular many who reject the God of the Judeo-Christian faiths. There are though few people if any who are not religious, even those who most vehemently reject religion are often some of the most religious. Look at the definitions of religion, from dictionary.com, below. Pay particular attention to 2,3, and 6. (For some reason the program changed all the numbers to 1 and won't allow me to correct it.)

1. a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, especially when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs.

1. a specific fundamental set of beliefs and practices generally agreed upon by a number of persons or sects:

1. the body of persons adhering to a particular set of beliefs and practices:

1. the life or state of a monk, nun, etc.: to enter religion.

1.   the practice of religious beliefs; ritual observance of faith.

1. something one believes in and follows devotedly; a point or matter of ethics or conscience: to make a religion of fighting prejudice.

When you read the things that people post on their social media page it is easy to see what they are passionate, religious about. People today have many causes they believe in, many points of ethics which affect their words and actions. An atheist is a religious person who rejects God. The psalmist says: The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God,”  In Romans 1:19-20  Paul says: that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. ²⁰ For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.

So what then is the motivation for those who reject or deny God? It is not that they don’t believe in something which controls their thoughts, words and actions. The psalmist begins to explain why men reject or deny God. He says: They are corrupt, and have committed abominable injustice; There is no one who does good. ² God has looked down from heaven upon the sons of men To see if there is anyone who understands, Who seeks after God. ³ Every one of them has turned aside; together they have become corrupt; There is no one who does good, not even one.  Because man is not equal to God and he cannot measure up to God’s standard of holiness, he, having a free will, is left to choose will he accept that God is greater than he is and so be subject to him, or will he refuse to acknowledge God, so that he is not subject to Him?

The reality is that everyone has to acknowledge and recognize that there is an authority and headship that exists in nearly all areas of life. There is the natural order of the animal kingdom seen in the relationships of predator and prey. There are political and legal authorities. There are authorities and chains of command in workplaces. Even in family structure there is a headship and authority in place. These are not always perfect, sometimes they can be quite dysfunctional.   The one who rejects God, as the authority in their life, doesn’t eliminate the headship they simply replace or displace the right authority of God, with someone or something else. Sometimes elevating themselves to God’s place.  Isaiah 14:12-14 describes one who tried to put himself in God’s place.

“How you have fallen from heaven, O star of the morning, son of the dawn! You have been cut down to the earth, You who have weakened the nations! ¹³ “But you said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, And I will sit on the mount of assembly In the recesses of the north. ¹⁴ ‘I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;
I will make myself like the Most High.’

Self exaltation, placing himself equal to or above God is what got satan cast out of heaven. It is one of the primary deceptions he uses against man. It was the motive behind the fall of Adam and Eve.  Genesis 3:4-5 says: The serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die! ⁵ For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

God created us with a free will, an ability to choose for ourselves who or what we will place on the top rung of the ladder of authority in our lives, what thing, what belief system or who we will be subject to. What we place there, what we are subject to we serve and worship. We can choose to worship creation esteeming that as the highest thing in our lives. In Romans 1, Paul continues the description of what happens when we reject the existence of God. Romans 1:21-25

²¹ For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. ²² Professing to be wise, they became fools, ²³ and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures. ²⁴ Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. ²⁵ For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever.

We can choose to worship idols made by human hands or we can make idols of many other things, worshiping money, material riches, power etc. We can be subject to and worship any or all of the philosophies and ideologies of our day, humanism, inclusion, tolerance etc. We can believe the lie of the devil, the lie he himself believed and continues to tell. We can choose to place ourselves at the highest place of authority in our lives. There is a proverb or saying which says: “ A man who is his own lawyer has a fool for his client” I would say the same is true of the one who makes himself his own god, agreeing with the psalmist when he says: The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God,”

As for me, my proverb shall be Proverb 3:5-7.    Trust in the Lord with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding.  In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight.  Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the Lord and turn away from evil.

Thank You Lord. Amen.