Read Psalm 14 and 53 at Bible Gateway.
I am still in Psa 14. I realized that Psa 53 is a near repeat of it:
Psa 14
For the Leader. A psalm of David.
Psa 14:1a The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” {n}
Psa 14:1b They are corrupt, They have done abominable works, There is none who does good.
Psa 14:2a The Lord looks down from heaven upon the children of men, {n}
Psa 14:2bTo see if there are any who understand, who seek God.
Psa 14:3 They have all turned aside, They have together become corrupt; There is none who does good, No, not one.
Psa 14:4 Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge, Who eat up my people as they eat bread, And do not call on the Lord?
Psa 14:5 There they are in great fear, For God is with the generation of the righteous.
Psa 14:6 You shame the counsel of the poor, But the Lord is his refuge.
Psa 14:7a Oh, that the salvation of Israel {n}
Psa 14:7b Would come out of Zion! When the Lord brings back the captivity of His people, Let Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad. {p}
Psa 53
For the Leader. Upon Mahalath. A contemplation of David.
Psa 53:1a The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” {n}
Psa 53:1b They are corrupt, and have done abominable iniquity; There is none who does good.
Psa 53:2a God looks down from heaven upon the children of men, {n}
Psa 53:2b To see if there are any who understand, who seek God.
Psa 53:3 Every one of them has turned aside; They have together become corrupt; There is none who does good, No, not one.
Psa 53:4 Have the workers of iniquity no knowledge, Who eat up my people as they eat bread, And do not call upon God?
Psa 53:5a There they are in great fear Where no fear was, {n}
Psa 53:5b For God has scattered the bones of him who encamps against you; You have put them to shame, Because God has despised them.
Psa 53:6a Oh, that the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion! {n}
Psa 53:6b When God brings back the captivity of His people, Let Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad. {p}
They make the following point for point matching elements:
Psa 14:1-7, The folly of the wicked + the hope of Israel
1) Psa 14:1a, The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God;”
2) Psa 14:1b-3, There are none who seek God + there are none who do good;
3) Psa 14:4, The workers of iniquity have no knowledge who eat up people as they eat bread;
4) Psa 14:5a, There they are in great fear;
5) Psa 14:5b, For God is with the generation of the righteous;
6) Psa 14:6, The wicked shame the counsel of the poor but the LORD is his refuge;
7) Psa 14:7, Salvation of Israel comes out of Zion + LORD brings back the captivity of His people.
Psa 53:1-6, The folly of the wicked + the hope of Israel
1) Psa 53:1, The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God;”
2) Psa 53:2-3, There are none who seek God + there are none who do good;
3) Psa 53:4, The workers of iniquity have no knowledge who eat up people as they eat bread;
4) Psa 53:5a, There they are in great fear;
5) Psa 53:5b, For God has scattered the bones of him who encamps against you;
6) Psa 53:5c, You have put the wicked to shame because God has despised them;
7) Psa 53:6, Salvation of Israel comes out of Zion + God brings back the captivity of His people.
With these differences:
4) They are in great fear, where no fear was. Meaning, they are caught in fear (anxiety, dread) when there is no discernable cause or reason for it.
5) God is with the generation of the righteous / God has scattered the bones of him who encamps against you. (Assuming the “you” of Psa 53 is the people of God, “the righteous” of Psa 14:) He is with the righteous, conversely, He is against those who are against the righteous.
6) The wicked shame the counsel of the poor but the LORD is his refuge / You put the wicked to shame because God has despised them. The tables are turned. It is “you,” the poor in spirit or righteous of Psa 14, who puts the wicked to shame, because God enables him to do so.
The sense here is that the righteous does not shame the wicked by humiliating him, denigrating him, or in any of the ways that the wicked shame the righteous. The righteous do not act in such ways, but they have a care for the dignity of others. But the wicked are put to shame when their hope, their words, their ways are shown to be in egregious error, a false hope, false beliefs and words, a shifting foundation that does not stand.
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