Psalms 14 - Introduction

XIV.

With some variations (for which see Notes), this psalm appears again as Psalms 53. The most striking variation consists in the change of Jehovah into Elohim. For this change, see General Introduction.

In this poem the dramatic element blends with the lyric. In the great drama of the world, as unfolding before the psalmist’s eyes, God is seen to look from the windows of His heaven down on the races of men, as He did before the flood, and He finds no vestige of good left, except in the oppressed nation of Israel; all the rest are hopelessly corrupt. Then (Psalms 14:4) comes His voice in some ancient oracular saying, proverbial in its form, and so associated with the visible tokens of Divine vengeance, that the foes of the chosen people are instantly cowed and thrown into panic. Possibly Babylon, the great representative of the giant powers of the heathen world, and the devourer of other nations, now itself already on the verge of ruin, was in the poet’s thought. There is nothing to indicate a date anterior to the fall of Jerusalem, even if the last verse be treated as a liturgical addition.

The rhythm is uneven, but fine in the opening verses.