(upbeat music)
- Welcome to Drive Time Devotions
and our look today at Psalm 53.
Let's start, let me just read for you to begin
the six verses of Psalm 53.
Psalm 53, one says, "The fool says in his heart,
"there is no God.
"They are corrupt and their ways are vile
"and there is no one who does good.
"God looks down from heaven on the sons of men
"to see if there are any who understand,
"any who seek God.
"Everyone has turned away.
"They have together become corrupt.
"There is no one who does good, not even one.
"Will the evildoers never learn?
"Those who devour my people as men eat bread
"or who do not call on God?
"There they were, overwhelmed with dread,
"where there was nothing to dread.
"God scattered the bones of those who attacked you
"and put them to shame, for God despised them.
"Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion
"when God restores the fortunes of his people.
"Let Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad."
That's Psalm 53, one to six.
And if you're thinking, wait a minute,
there's something about this Psalm
that seems familiar to me.
I'm giving you huge Bible study points right now
because Psalm 53, with just a few changes,
is an exact repeat of Psalm 14.
Same Psalm, with just a few things added in Psalm 53.
Same words, fool says in his heart, there is no God.
So my question is, why would God put the same Psalm twice
in the book of Psalms?
It says to me that we really need to hear this.
Don't miss this one, he's saying.
It's the foolishness of a no-God life.
Even when saying there is a God,
the truth is I can live like there is no God.
I can depend on myself and not choose to pray,
or I can depend on myself and trust in my circumstances.
And so if you think this is a Psalm about somebody else
who says there is no God, there are many times in my life,
and if you're honest with yourself,
probably more times than you'd like to admit in your life
when you're living and acting as if there is no God, life.
And the truth is, we've all turned away.
While we were his enemies, Christ died for us.
Paul quotes from this Psalm in Psalm 14
in Romans three, nine to 12.
What shall we conclude then?
Are we any better?
Not at all.
We've already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike
are all under sin.
As it's written, there's no one righteous,
not even one, from this Psalm.
There's no one who understands, no one who seeks God.
All have turned away.
They have together become worthless.
There's no one who does good, not even one.
So we could apply this to atheists
and feel good about ourselves,
but I'm saying there are many times
when we are practical atheists.
When we foolishly act as if there's no God.
We have to admit then that we've been fools.
So let me give you a list of eight things
that I hate to admit.
Eight ways I hate to admit that I've been a fool
in almost every one of these ways
in acting as if there is no God.
It's the same as we looked at in Psalm 14,
'cause I figured if God put the Psalm in twice,
there's a truth we need to look at together twice.
So eight ways I'm acting like there's no God.
I'm acting like there's no God
when I, number one, continue to sin
as if there will be no consequences.
I take advantage of the grace of God.
I act as if it's not hurting me, it's not hurting others,
it's not hurting God's kingdom.
Of course God can forgive us of our sins,
but to act like it's just okay
because nothing bad has happened yet,
that's being a fool.
Number two, I am acting as if there is no God
when I seek first my goals and my plans.
Jesus told us to seek first God's kingdom
and his righteousness,
and then all the other things would be added to us.
But sometimes I seek first my goals and my plans
and then try to add in all the God things into my life.
I've got it backwards, and it's a foolish thing to do,
and I've acted like a fool many times in that way.
Maybe you have too.
You just confess it.
I'm acting like there's no God when I do that.
I'm acting like there's no God,
number three, when I try to find comfort
in my entertainment and hobbies instead of in the Lord.
Now, entertainment, it's meant to do
what it says in the word.
It's meant to entertain, meant to make you laugh.
Hobbies are meant to divert you, help you to relax.
But when you're depressed, when you're discouraged,
when you need hope, the Lord is the one who comforts you.
So trying to escape into my entertainments,
hoping that it will give me hope, that's foolish.
And entertainment can't give you what only God can give.
The Lord is the one who comforts.
The Lord is the one who gives us hope.
So stop running away from the Lord
when you need hope in the entertainments
and start running to him first.
Number four, I'm acting like a fool
when I depend only on myself to get it done,
as if I could do it all by myself,
if I'm not a creation of God.
I know that's true when I do the work without prayer.
I rush into it without taking the time
to talk to God about it.
Number five, it's foolish when I put my hope
in people or things.
I'm acting like there's no God when I do that,
like they're the source of hope.
So you look for security because of the house
that you're in or the neighborhood
that you've been able to move into.
Or you look for hope for the future
that's built on your trust in a person
instead of your trust in God.
Number six, I'm acting like there's no God
when I let worry continue to consume my thoughts.
We're all gonna be attacked by worry,
tempted to worry.
But do I take those worries and be anxious for nothing,
as Philippians tells us to do,
but instead turn my thoughts and prayer to God
and praise to God so that he can comfort my heart,
give strength to my heart like nobody else.
Give me a peace that passes understanding.
Number seven, I'm acting as if there's no God
when I go days and weeks without reading the Bible.
God wrote this book for me.
He laid out the truth for me
so he could give me encouragement on a daily basis,
give me direction on a daily basis,
show me the direction I should take
and the decisions that I should make,
and also the heart that I should have for him.
And when I ignore what he has written to me
day after day after day after day,
I'm acting like there is no God.
It's like being in your house
with your husband or your wife if you're married
and not listening to them day after day,
week after week as if they're not there.
Number eight, last one, I'm acting like there's no God
when I become so concerned about myself
that I don't have time to give to others,
when it becomes just about me.
I become worried, I become caught up in myself
like I have to do it.
It's a matter of trust in God
when you give your time to serve others,
but it's the best life.
Now I don't want to be a fool, I want to be wise
and I think the same is true of every one of us.
So let's be wise together right now.
I don't want to end with that list of eight negative things,
I want to end with a list of eight positive things.
What does it mean to act like there is a God?
Let's look at the reverse of those eight.
I'm acting like there is a God when I repent of my sin.
That's acting like there is a God
'cause he will forgive me of that sin.
I'm acting like there is a God
when I seek first God's kingdom
because when I seek God's kingdom, as I just said,
then all those other things are added to me as well.
I'm acting number three like there is a God
when I find comfort from God's spirit,
from God's word, from God's love
and not from my entertainments.
I'm acting like there is a God when I pray right now
about what I'm looking to get done
and as I pray I recognize, wait a minute,
is this what I'm looking to get done
or is this what God's wanting to get done?
And in that moment of prayer I realize
I want to do what God wants, not what I want.
I'm acting like there is a God number five
when I put my hope in God alone, God alone.
There is no one else that we can hope in,
no circumstance, no person.
There is nothing else that you can hope in but God alone.
So put all your hope there.
Number six, I'm acting like there is a God
when I give my worries to God, I ask for his peace.
Number seven, I'm acting like there is a God
when I spend time today in God's word.
Well, you're doing that right now,
acting like there is a God.
And number eight, I'm acting like there is a God
when I love my neighbor as I love myself.
Let's pray together.
Father, I have to confess that I have been a fool
and am still a fool so many times
but I act like you're not there.
But I act like the world around me is all that there is
or the thoughts within me is all that I have
or the feelings that I have right now
are all that's gonna last.
None of that's true.
And I take the time right now to recognize that,
who you are, the power of who you are.
And I know that when I do that,
you're gonna give a wisdom into my life
that was not there before.
I ask for it.
Give me your wisdom today
to live the life that you have for me today.
I ask it in Jesus' name, amen.
(upbeat music)