The Lord Looks Down from Heaven

Is There Any Who Seeks God?

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In Romans 3 Paul writes, “There is none righteous, no, not one” (Romans 3:10). He is quoting an old song from the Bible. It is Psalm 14.

What the fool says. “The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God’” (Psalm 14:1). In the Bible, a fool is not someone who is bad at schoolwork. A fool is someone who lives as if God is not there.

In his heart. The fool may never say these words out loud. He says them in his heart. He acts as if no one will ever see what he does.

Not a name to call people. This verse does not give us a name to call anyone. It describes a heart that shuts God out. Any of us can act that way when we want our own way.

What follows. “They are corrupt, They have done abominable works, There is none who does good” (14:1). Abominable means very wrong and ugly. When God is pushed out, the rest of life goes wrong too.

God looks down. “The Lord looks down from heaven upon the children of men, To see if there are any who understand, who seek God” (14:2). God is not far away or too busy. He sees every person on earth.

What God is looking for. God looks for people who understand and seek Him. To seek God means to look to Him, ask Him for help and want to know Him.

What God found. “They have all turned aside, They have together become corrupt; There is none who does good, No, not one” (14:3). Turned aside means stepped off the right road. Corrupt means spoiled, like fruit that has gone bad.

Said again. Psalm 53 says almost the same thing: “God looks down from heaven upon the children of men” (53:2).

Paul uses it. Paul quotes these words in Romans 3:10-12. He shows that everyone, the Jews and people from every nation, has the same problem. Everyone needs a Savior.

Our own way. When we tell lies, are unkind or want our own way, we are turning aside from God’s road too.

The God who seeks. We did not go looking for God. But God came looking for us. Jesus said, “for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10).

The gospel. Jesus never turned aside from God’s way. He died on the cross for our sins and rose again on the third day (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). Everyone who trusts Him is forgiven and brought back to God.

What to do. God sees you right now, and He loves you. Talk to Him in prayer. Read His Word. Turn back to Him and trust Jesus.

Paul’s charge that “There is none righteous, no, not one” (Romans 3:10) comes from Psalm 14, which appears again almost word for word as Psalm 53.

Nabal (14:1). “The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God.’” The Hebrew word for fool is nabal (say: nah-VAHL). It does not mean someone with a weak mind. It means someone who lives as if God has no claim on his life.

In the heart. The fool’s denial is “in his heart.” Many people who would never say there is no God still live as though He will never see or judge. That is unbelief in practice.

What follows (14:1). “They are corrupt, They have done abominable works, There is none who does good.” When God is pushed out, the rest of life spoils. Romans 1:21-25 traces the same path.

The view from heaven (14:2). “The Lord looks down from heaven upon the children of men, To see if there are any who understand, who seek God.” God is not a distant observer. He looks closely at every person.

What God is looking for. To understand is to see life as it really is, with God at the center. To seek God is to turn toward Him, asking, trusting and longing to know Him.

The search result (14:3). “They have all turned aside, They have together become corrupt; There is none who does good, No, not one.” “Turned aside” is the language of leaving a path. “Become corrupt” describes something that has spoiled.

A second witness (53:2). “God looks down from heaven upon the children of men.” The same God looks at the same world.

Paul’s use (Romans 3:9-12). Paul applies the psalm to “both Jews and Greeks” (3:9). The problem is universal, so the remedy must be universal too.

Who seeks whom? Left to ourselves, we turn aside. The gospel is the story of God seeking people who were not seeking Him: “for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10).

The gospel. Jesus is the one Man who never turned aside. He died on the cross for our sins and “rose again the third day according to the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:4). Everyone who trusts Him is made right with God.

Application. The fool says in his heart that there is no God. Faith answers God from the heart. God is looking; answer Him by turning to Christ.

The Lord Is His Refuge

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Psalm 14 does not stop with “No, not one” (14:3). It keeps going, and it ends with hope.

People who hurt others. “Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge, Who eat up my people as they eat bread, And do not call on the Lord?” (14:4). Workers of iniquity are people who keep doing wrong. They hurt God’s people as easily as eating a meal.

They do not pray. The end of 14:4 shows their deepest problem. They “do not call on the Lord.” They never ask God for help.

God is with His people. “There they are in great fear, For God is with the generation of the righteous” (14:5). In the end, the people who did wrong will be afraid, because God stands with His people.

Who are the righteous? If “there is none who does good,” who are the righteous? They are not people who never sinned. They are people who call on the Lord and trust Him to make them right.

A refuge. “You shame the counsel of the poor, But the Lord is his refuge” (14:6). A refuge is a safe place to run to, like a strong shelter in a storm. When people laugh at someone for trusting God, God is still his safe place.

Another psalm. “God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble” (Psalm 46:1). A very present help means a help who is always near.

A prayer for rescue. “Oh, that the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion!” (14:7). Zion is the hill in Jerusalem where God’s temple stood. The psalm ends with a prayer: Lord, come and save Your people!

Joy at the end. “When the Lord brings back the captivity of His people, Let Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad” (14:7). God would bring His people home and make them glad again.

Call on the Lord. “For whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Romans 10:13).

When someone is unkind. If someone is hurting you or making fun of you, tell a parent or a trusted grown-up. God is your refuge, and He gives grown-ups to help keep you safe.

The gospel. We have all sinned and cannot save ourselves. Jesus died on the cross for our sins and rose again on the third day. Everyone who trusts Him is safe with God forever.

What to do. Call on the Lord today. Tell Him you need Him, and run to Him when you are afraid.

After the verdict. “No, not one” (14:3) is not God’s last word. Psalm 14:4-7 speaks of God’s people and God’s rescue.

The wicked (14:4). “Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge, Who eat up my people as they eat bread, And do not call on the Lord?” Their cruelty is casual, as ordinary to them as a meal.

Calling on God. To call on the Lord is to cry out to Him by name for help. The deepest problem of the wicked is not a lack of knowledge but a refusal to call on God.

God with the righteous (14:5). “There they are in great fear, For God is with the generation of the righteous.” Psalm 53:5 adds that their terror came “Where no fear was.”

Who are the righteous? The psalm has just said “There is none who does good.” So the righteous are not the sinless. They are those who call on the Lord and take refuge in Him. The next lessons in Romans show how God makes such people right through faith in Jesus.

Refuge (14:6). “You shame the counsel of the poor, But the Lord is his refuge.” The poor here are those with no power to protect themselves. Their plans are mocked, but they have a shelter no one can take away.

The prayer (14:7). “Oh, that the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion! When the Lord brings back the captivity of His people, Let Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad.” Zion was the hill of God’s house in Jerusalem. Salvation would not come from human strength but from God Himself.

Calling on the Lord now. Paul later writes, “For whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Romans 10:13).

A safety word. If anyone is hurting you or mocking you, God is your refuge, and He also gives you parents and trusted grown-ups. Tell one of them.

The gospel. Every person has turned aside. Christ “died for our sins according to the Scriptures” and “rose again the third day” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). On the cross He took the punishment for sin, so He is the refuge for every sinner who trusts Him.

Application. The difference between the fool and the righteous is not that one sinned and the other did not. One shut God out; the other called on Him. Call on the Lord, and make Him your refuge.

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