Psalm 14 Continued…
Psalms 14:4-6 Will evildoers never learn — those who devour my people as men eat bread and who do not call on the Lord? There they are, overwhelmed with dread, for God is present in the company of the righteous. You evildoers frustrate the plans of the poor, but the Lord is their refuge.
It is God who asks this question. True knowledge, says God, would stop them from living out their lives within that vicious circle of sin and rebellion, and would induce them to call on the Lord to do for them what they cannot do for themselves. Their ignorance is apparent in the way they treat God’s people. To devour my people as they eat bread is a biblical metaphor for exploiting the helpless. If they realized how God defends the poor and punishes sin, they would never devour believers as if it were a legitimate, everyday thing, like eating bread! If they knew the goodness and severity of God, they would not go through life without praying. They are oblivious to the fact that God will overwhelm them, because in attacking the people of God they are attacking God.
The evildoers may denote the corruption of the priesthood. Those who lack knowledge of God are perhaps the priests, who eat the showbread and should call upon God. Instead they are becoming “workers of iniquity” (KJV). Instead of leading God’s people, they devour them.
There they are overwhelmed with dread he says in verse 5. Their conduct reveals indifference, rather than ignorance of God; for when He appears in judgment, they are stricken with great fear.
David expressed wonder that they did not see how God favored the righteous. God is in their company (the righteous).
When the Lord takes the part of the innocent, the unrighteous will be greatly terrified. They had always mocked the poor for their simple faith, but now they will see that the God they denied is the refuge of His own. No scheming or counterattacks of the wicked can deprive the poor (meaning here those who are oppressed by the world), from finding refuge in the Lord. They may frustrate the lives of God’s’ people (the poor) for a time, but those people will be vindicated because they trust the Lord.
PRAY
Father Your word says if the way of a man pleases God, He will cause him to find favor in the sight of men. I pray that you will let me find favor in the sight of men and You!