Psalm 14 – Has everyone really turned away from God?

David seems to create an impossible scenario in Psalm 14. In one verse he writes, All have turned aside - meaning all have turned away from God. And yet, later he also writes, God is present in the company of the righteous. How is this possible?

If everyone has turned away from God, then how can there also be righteous people among whom God dwells?

Is there a mistake?

Did David mess up?

Or did something, literally, get lost in the translation?
If so, it wouldn't be the first time.

           Psalm 14               
           14:1-7 pp — Ps 53:1-6 

           For the director of music. Of David

     Ps 14:1 The fool says in his heart, 
             “There is no God.” 
     They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; 
             there is no one who does good. 

     Ps 14:2 The LORD looks down from heaven 
             on the sons of men 
     to see if there are any who understand, 
             any who seek God. 

     Ps 14:3 All have turned aside, 
             they have together become corrupt; 
     there is no one who does good, 
             not even one. 

     Ps 14:4 Will evildoers never learn— 
             those who devour my people as men eat bread 
             and who do not call on the LORD? 

     Ps 14:5 There they are, overwhelmed with dread, 
             for God is present in the company of the righteous. 

     Ps 14:6 You evildoers frustrate the plans of the poor, 
             but the LORD is their refuge. 

     Ps 14:7 Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion! 
             When the LORD restores the fortunes of his people, 
             let Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad!

What does the Psalm appear to say?

It seems like a very straightforward Psalm. Short and to the point.

1. The fool says there's no God, is corrupt and vile. No one does good.
2. God looks down at people for anyone who looks for Him
3. Everyone has turned from God. No one does good.
4. A question is asked - Will evil people ever learn?
5. Those people are full of dread because God is with the righteous.
6. Evil people are against the poor. But the poor take refuge in God.
7. God will restore the fortunes of His people.

Is that really what this Psalm says?

But it's not really as straightforward as it seems. Especially not to Christians. And especially not thousands of years removed from the time, language, culture, and religion of David.

And that's how we could read Psalm 14 and think David's saying everyone has turned their backs on God.

One key is in verse 2.

Who is God looking at - and how?

I'm using the 1984 NIV translation above, where it says:

Ps 14:2 The LORD looks down from heaven
on the sons of men
to see if there are any who understand,
any who seek God.

It says God looks at the "sons of men". That sounds like all of us, doesn't it?

Making the case for it being everyone is the 2010 NIV translation, which now says:

Ps 14:2 The LORD looks down from heaven
on all mankind
to see if there are any who understand,
any who seek God.  ¹The New International Version (Ps 14:2). (2011). Zondervan.

How could it be anything but everyone with that translation?

The Hebrew words, literally, could mean either one. However, there are two words, and they don't one-for-one match up with "all mankind". Here they are:

1121 בֵּן, בְּנׄו, לַבֵּן [ben /bane/] n m. From 1129; TWOT 254; GK 1201 and 1217 and 4240; 4906 occurrences; AV translates as “son” 2978 times, “children” 1568 times, “old” 135 times, “first” 51 times, “man” 20 times, “young” 18 times, “young + 1241” 17 times, “child” 10 times, “stranger” 10 times, “people” five times, and translated miscellaneously 92 times. 1 son, grandson, child, member of a group. 1A son, male child. 1B grandson. 1C children (pl.—male and female). 1D youth, young men (pl.). 1E young (of animals). 1F sons (as characterisation, ie sons of injustice [for un- righteous men] or sons of God [for angels]. 1G people (of a nation) (pl.). 1H of lifeless things, ie sparks, stars, arrows (fig.). 1I a member of a guild, order, class.  ²Strong, J. (1995). In Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon. Woodside Bible Fellowship.

and

120 אָדָם, אָדָם, אָדָם [ʾadam /aw·dawm/] n m. From 119; TWOT 25a; GK 132 and 133 and 135; 552 occurrences; AV translates as “man” 408 times, “men” 121 times, “Adam” 13 times, “person(s)” eight times, “common sort + 7230” once, and “hypocrite” once. 1 man, mankind. 1A man, human being. 1B man, mankind (much more frequently intended sense in OT). 1C Adam, first man. 1D city in Jordan valley.  ³Strong, J. (1995). In Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon. Woodside Bible Fellowship.

You can see, something like son of man is the more common interpretation/translation. However, there's still a possibility that it could mean all mankind. To try to resolve that, let's look at the context.

Some context as to who God is looking at - and how

For context, let's look at verse 5.

Ps 14:5 There they are, overwhelmed with dread,
for God is present in the company of the righteous.

This verse says God is with the righteous. Of course, this is part of the problem. If no one is good, how can God be with the righteous?

No one is good

This is also where Christians can have trouble. After all, we remember that Jesus said no one is good except God alone.

The Rich Young Man - Mark

10:17-31 pp — Mt 19:16-30; Lk 18:18-30