Psalms 14:2

WEB

The Lord looked down from heaven on the children of men, to see if there were any who did understand, who did seek after God.

KJV

The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God.

Commentary

The Lord looked down from heaven upon the children of men,.... As he did when all flesh had corrupted its way, and before he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly, Gen 6:12 . This is said in direct opposition to the atheistic thoughts and reasonings of wicked men, in Psa 14:1 . There is a God, and he takes notice of the children of men, and of what is done by them; though his th rone is in the heavens, and his dwelling there, yet he looks down from thence, and takes cognizance of all human affairs. This must be understood consistent with the omniscience and omnipresence of God; it is an anthropopathy, or a speaking after the manner of men; and denotes the exact notice which God takes, and distinct observation he makes, and the perfect and accurate knowledge he has of men and their actions; see Gen 11:5 ; to see if there were any that did understand: not things natural, civil, and moral, but things spiritual as the Apostle Paul interprets the words, Rom 3:11 . For though man has not lost the natural faculty of his understanding, and may have an understanding of the things of nature, yet not of the things of God, until a supernatural light is put into him; not any spiritual experimental knowledge of God in Christ, nor of the way of salvation by Christ, nor of the work of the Spirit of God upon the heart, nor of the doctrines of the Gospel, nor any true sight and sense of his own state and condition; and seek God; that is, "after God"; as the apostle in the same place explains it; after the knowledge of him and his ways, and communion with him; after the things of God, his interest and his glory: they do not seek after him in prayer, or by an attendance on his worship and ordinances; at least with their whole hearts, earnestly, diligently, constantly, and in the first place; nor do they seek after him in Christ, where he is only to be found; nor under the influence, and with the assistance of the blessed Spirit.