The Threefold Denial of God

The fool/atheist denies God in three ways: that God exists, that he rules and provides, and that he is perfect in part or all. The second denial is subtle in that it is tantamount to actual or pure atheism; it is born out of a desire to do as the fool pleases, without being held to account, and ends up in denying God's existence out of wish-fulfillment. This sort of a man wants the lights extinguished so that he can indulge his lusts in secret, in the dark, where no one can see them. I am reminded of Jean-Paul Sartre's expressed disgust at what he called the "voyeur God," whose prying eye saw all and allowed no privacy for indulgence whatsoever. I am also reminded of the behavior of cockroaches--they go about their sordid business in the dark and instantly scatter when the light is flicked on. Not a very flattering analogy.

Charnock will develop each of these thoughts further, but first he pauses to examine the second half of Psalm 14:1.

1) They are corrupt. This is the outworking of a denial of God. Impure men desperately deny a holy God. They cannot bear to be in his presence.

2) They have done abominable works. This follows from their corruption. As a man thinks in his heart, so he is, and by his fruits you shall know him.

3) There is none that does good. Ouch. This is the universal condemnation of fallen man. Painful as it may be to accept, there is some atheism in all of us; even professing believers are subject to it (Titus 1:16). By our sins we deny God. For his part, God's judgment for our sins also entails us being given over to our evil passions so that we confirm ourselves in our condemnation (Romans 1).

The entire text is an indictment of man's corruption, complete and extensive. And lest anyone thinks he can escape, Paul (to whose exegesis we must submit) extends the embrace of this verse to everyone, Jew and Gentile (Romans 3).