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PSALM 14

To Him that presides over the Choir. A Psalm of David.

1. The fool has said in his heart, There is no God. They have corrupted, they have made abominable, their actions: there is none that does good.
2. jehovah has looked down from heaven upon the sons of men, to see if there were any that is intelligent, that seeks god.
3. All are gone aside; together are they become corrupt: there is none that does good, not even one.
4. Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge, who eat up my people as they eat bread, and call not on jehovah?
5. Then shall they be in great fear; for god is in the generation of the just.
6. You have despised the counsel of the poor; because jehovah is his refuge.
7. O that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion! When jehovah brings back the captivity of his people, Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad.

Verse 1. They have corrupted—That to corrupt has relation to persuasions, is manifest from Isaiah: "They shall not do hurt, and they shall not corrupt, in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of jehovah" Is 11:9; where to do hurt his relation to the will or lusts, to corrupt to the understanding, or the persuasions of what is false. Again: "Ah! sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evil doers, children that are corrupters," Is i, 4. And in David: "They have corrupted, they have made abominable, their actions; Psalm 14:1;" where they have corrupted relates to the dire persuasions, and they have made abominable, to the filthy lusts, which are in their works, or from which their works are done. AC 622.

Verse 5. god is in the generation of the just. That generation in the word signifies those things which are of faith and charity, is because no other generation than what is spiritual can be understood in the internal sense; this is meant by generation in David; "They shall be in great fear, for god is in the generation of the just;" Psalm 14:5; the generation of the just denotes truths derived from good, for justice is predicated of good. AC 6239.

Verse 7. O that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion! When jehovah brings back the captivity of his people, Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad.—by Zion are here meant those who are in the good of love from the lord. Deliverance from evils by the Lord, and salvation, is understood by the words, O that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion! By bringing back the captivity of his people, is meant from falsities and evils. By Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad, is understood joy on account of deliverance with those who are in the external church, and in the internal: those of the external church are understood by Jacob, and those of the internal church by Israel: and by both are meant the Gentiles. That by captivity in the Word is signified spiritual captivity, as denoting the being secluded from divine truths, namely from the understanding of them in the Word; also, the destruction of them by evils and falsities; may be manifest from passages in the Word, where mention is made of captivity; as in the following, "They shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations; and Jerusalem shall be trodden down; Luke 21:24. "In this chapter the consummation of the age is treated of, which is the last time of the church, when truth shall no longer remain. By falling at that time by the edge of the sword, is signified the destruction of truth by falsities: the sword, signifies the combat of what is false against what is true, and likewise the destruction of truth by falsities. By their being led away captive into all nations, are signified the persuasions and consequent obsessions of evils of every kind; for when truths are destroyed, not only falsities succeed in their place, but also evils: all nations, signify all kinds of evil. By Jerusalem being trodden down, is signified the plenary destruction and perversion of the doctrine of the church; Jerusalem signifying the church as to doctrine, and to tread down signifying altogether to destroy; which is principally effected by falsifications and adulterations of the Word. AE 811.

Verse 7. When jehovah brings back the captivity of his people, Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad—The people of the lord, we know, are sometimes called Jacob, and sometimes Israel; but what is involved in this difference of names can only be known from a serious and attentive consideration of its origin, as it is recorded in Gen. xxxii. where mention is made of Jacob's wrestling with an angel; for from this history we learn, that Jacob was called Israel in consequence of prevailing, or gaining the victory in that wrestling; and since this wrestling has manifest relation to those temptation-combats, which every man is call to undergo in the progress of his regeneration, with a view, and for the blessed purpose, of subduing in himself the powers of darkness, called the devil, the world, and the flesh; therefore, it may be established as a sure conclusion, that under every state of temptation-combat, in which man gains the victory, he acquires a new name, in other words a new quality, inasmuch us a new name cannot possibly have any meaning, only so far as it is indicative of a new quality. But what shall we say is the new quality which man derives from victory in his spiritual struggles? Let the experience of every devout Christian answer this question. For previous to this victory, do not the principles of religious speculation in the understanding exalt themselves, and gain the ascendancy, over the principles of religious love and life in the will? Is not faith made of more account than charity; knowledge than obedience; the brightness and splendour of intellectual truth than the simplicity and purity of voluntary good? The two names, then, Jacob and Israel, are striking and edifying figures, the former of truth, in its temporary exaltation above good in the regenerating mind; and the latter, of good, when the work of spiritual combat has been fully and successfully accomplished, and thus truth is brought into due submission to, and conjunction with, its legitimate lord and husband.