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Destruction and unhappiness is in their ways and the way of peace have they not known.
-from Psalm 14
Psalm 14 starts off like this: “The fool hath said in his heart: there is no God.” It then continues on, describing these “fools”. This Psalm is really interesting because there are 3 verses that are absent from most modern translations, yet those missing 3 verses are quoted in their entirety in Romans 3:13-18. It turns out that the full version of Psalm 14 is present in the Septuagint, which is the earliest surviving Greek translation of the Old Testament from about 300 years or so before the birth of Christ. You probably won’t find these three in your own Bible but they come right after verse 3:
Their throat is an open sepulcher, with their tongues have they deceived,
The poison of asps is under their lips.
Their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness,
Their feet are swift to shed blood.
Destruction and unhappiness is in their ways and the way of peace have they not known: there is no fear of God before their eyes.
This is followed by verse 4, which you will find in your Bible:
Have they no knowledge that they are all such workers of mischief,
Eating up my people as it were bread and call not upon the Lord?
My first reaction to these verses was to think about people who fit these descriptions. I’m sure all of us know one or more people who seem to know nothing but unhappiness and leave destruction in their wake, be it physical or emotional.
But then I realize, if I’m honest, there are times in my life that I have fit all of these descriptions. I have been full of bitterness before, and, as verse 5 says, I have been brought into great fear, even in places where there is no fear. When I really ponder the words of the Psalm, I realize that it is talking about me. And you. We like to think we have it all figured out by “being” Christians, but God calls us to rise above the many forms that darkness takes in our lives and reach out for the light. The good news is that this light shines brightly in our darkness, and that darkness has not and cannot ever overcome it.
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