The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, doing abominable iniquity; there is none who does good.
PSALM 53 This psalm being almost identical with the fourteenth, it has not been considered necessary to subjoin any distinct commentary. Some slight differences will be found, on comparison, between this and the 14th psalm; the chief of which is in the 5th verse. For Calvin’s explanation of this verse, see volume 1, p. 199.
Commenting on Psalm 53:1-6
The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. And this he does because he is a fool. Being a fool he speaks according to his nature; being a great fool he meddles with a great subject, and comes to a wild conclusion.
Sin springs from a corrupt thought: men say in their hearts there is no God to account for them, and their bad practices flow from this evil fountain. Atheists, whether in opinion or practice, are the greatest fools alive, for they deny the very faculty that distinguishes man from brute beasts, his capacity for religion.
AI summary
Commenting on Psalm 53:1-6