Psalm 53

“The fool says in his heart, "There is no God" (v1).  The psalmist was amazed that Israel’s enemies could oppress them (v4) with no fear of God’s retribution.  But all humans have a powerful capacity to ignore God and convince ourselves that our actions are just, even when we are hurting others.  The psalmist declared that “there is none who does good” (v1), because from God’s perspective, we are all equally sinful.

“Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!” (v6).  Israel’s worst enemy was not a foreign army, but sin itself.   We give thanks that “out of Zion” came Jesus, salvation for Israel and the whole world.