A well-known—and I would argue, often misunderstood—line of Scripture is Psalm 14:1a: The fool says in his heart, “There is no God” (ESV).

This passage is often misinterpreted because people forget (or don’t realize) that, strictly speaking, atheism as we know it didn’t exist in the world of the Psalms. What I mean is, they didn’t really have a category for a worldview that denied the existence of God, a god, or multiple gods in principle.

So the point of the thing wasn’t really about telling atheists they’re stupid.

First of all, the Hebrew word translated fool in our Bibles doesn’t just mean someone who’s not very bright. That’s only part of it. Fool was a term that also denoted moral perversity. The fool is not only thick-headed, but also hard-hearted. They are, as St. Paul would say later: lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God (2 Timothy‬ ‭3‬:‭2‬-‭4‬ ‭ESV‬‬).

To understand the point of, The fool says in his heart, “There is no God”; you need to sort of look at the behaviors of the fool as the Psalm progresses; and understand that the first verse reveals why they act this way.

Why are they corrupt? Why do they do vile deeds (v1b, 3)? Why do they devour others like bread (v4)? Why do they mock the poor in their distress (v6)?

They do these things because there is no fear of God in them. Because they say in their heart, “There is no God.”

You see, if someone has even a smidge of belief in God, and respect for Him, that alone will constrain many cruel vices. Understanding that there is a day of reckoning coming—if not in this life, then afterwards—will keep the worst impulses in check.

So when you encounter someone who habitually abuses others; who preys on those they consider weaker than themselves—the OT often mentions such vulnerable groups together as the widow, the orphan, and the sojourner; and who generally relishes in cruelty; then no matter what religion that person might claim, you can be sure they have said in their heart, “There is no God.”

That’s why they behave like that. Because they ultimately don’t believe that there’s someone more powerful than them who’s going to hold them accountable.

If you believe you’re unaccountable and untouchable, injustice comes easy. Injustice devolves into depravity, which eventually festers into mindless cruelty becoming common as fleas on dogs for you.

But this Psalm also assures us that things will end very badly for the fool: There they are in great terror, for God is with the generation of the righteous (Psalm‬ ‭14‬:‭5‬ ‭ESV‬‬). God will not forever be mocked by the fool. They will go out with a whimper.