Salmos 14

VBL · Chapter 14/150

1Para el director del coro. Un salmo de David. Solo los tontos se dicen a sí mismos “Dios no existe”. Son completamente inmorales; cometen terribles pecados; ni uno solo de ellos hace algo bien.

2El Señor observa desde el cielo para ver si hay alguien, siquiera uno, que entienda. Si hay alguien que quiera venir a Dios.

3Todos se han ido por sus propios caminos, están totalmente depravados; ninguno de ellos hace algo bien, ni siquiera uno.

4¿Nunca aprenderán estas personas que hacen el mal? Consumen a mi pueblo como si estuvieran comiendo pan, y se niegan a orar al Señor.

5Miren cómo quedarán aterrorizados, porque Dios está con los que viven en rectitud.

6Los malvados desestiman y rechazan los planes de los pobres, pero el Señor cuida de ellos.

7¡Si tan solo la salvación de Dios viniera de Sión! Cuando el Señor restaure a su pueblo, el pueblo de Jacob celebrará y el pueblo de Israel se alegrará.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

The psalm describes humanity's universal corruption, which has turned away from God and oppresses the poor, and expresses the longing for salvation to come and restore God's people.

Explanation

This psalm (nearly identical to Psalm 53) describes the human condition quite directly: 'there is none that doeth good, no, not one' — a statement the apostle Paul quotes in Romans 3:10-12 to describe the universal need for grace. The 'fool' here is not someone intellectually limited, but morally senseless, who lives in practice as if God did not exist, even without formally denying Him. The application for today: living 'in practice' without considering God in day-to-day decisions is the most common form of this foolishness described by the psalmist.

Fun facts

  • This psalm is nearly identical to Psalm 53, with small variations — a rare example of duplication within the Psalter itself, suggesting that different collections of psalms were gathered into the final book.
  • It is extensively quoted by Paul in Romans 3:10-12 as part of his argument about the universality of human sin.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Salmos 14:1The fool, in Hebrew wisdom literature, isn't someone lacking intelligence, but someone who ignores God in practice, living as though He didn't exist, even without necessarily denying Him in theory. It's more about moral conduct than a philosophical thesis.
  2. Salmos 14:2It describes God looking down from above, like someone conducting a careful search among all human beings, trying to find at least one who truly understands and seeks Him.
  3. Salmos 14:3It's the sad result of that search: no one passed the test, everyone turned aside together, without exception — a verse Paul later quotes in Romans to speak of the human condition in general.
  4. Salmos 14:4Comparing the exploitation of the poor to eating bread shows how routine and casual it has become, with no weight at all on the conscience of the one doing it, like someone eating an ordinary meal without a second thought.
  5. Salmos 14:5It describes sudden dread overtaking the wicked, precisely because they realize God is present among the righteous, even though before they acted as if He didn't exist.
  6. Salmos 14:6It speaks directly to those who mock the plans and the hope of the poor, reminding them that this hope has solid ground: God Himself is their refuge.
  7. Salmos 14:7This line speaks of a return from captivity, which leads some scholars to think the verse was added later, during or after the exile in Babylon, as an updated hope attached to David's original psalm. Others think the expression may be more general, about reversing any bad turn of fortune for the people.

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