Verse 7
3. David’s longing for God’s kingdom 14:7
In the context, the enemy of God’s people is all the ungodly of the world from the beginning of history. David longed for God to save His people from these wicked antagonists. Zion was the place where the ark of the covenant and the Lord resided. David spoke of God Himself delivering His people from all their godless enemies. When David wrote, the godly were captive to the wicked in the sense that the wicked were devouring them (Psalms 14:4). Nevertheless the psalmist was confident that the Lord would deliver Israel from the wicked. When He did, Israel would rejoice and be glad. Premillenarians believe this will take place when Jesus Christ returns to earth and sets up His righteous rule for 1,000 years (cf. Zephaniah 3:14-16; Matthew 6:10; Romans 11:26-27; Revelation 20:1-6). [Note: See Allen, Rediscovering Prophecy, pp. 129-49.]
The time is coming when God will put down all wickedness and judge all the ungodly. That revelation helps His people maintain hope as they continue to experience the antagonism and persecution of those who choose to disregard God.
"The intent of Psalms 14 is to counter the temptation that humankind can manage the world in ways better than Yahweh’s way (cf. Isaiah 55:8-9). The alternative of the haughty ones is to reorder life’s good for their own benefit at the expense of the vulnerable ones (cf. Ezekiel 34:20-24). The psalm asserts and guarantees that life will not be so easily reorganized. God’s will endures. God has made the world with some built-in protections for the weak against the strong, and that must not be mocked (cf. Isaiah 10:12-14)." [Note: Brueggemann, p. 45.]
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