FOOLISHNESS. In the Bible foolishness means a destructive self-centeredness. Fools cannot bear to have anyone over them, and so they ignore God or deny he exists. Some of this rebellion exists in every heart. Every sin is a kind of practical atheism—it is acting as if God were not there. That also means that belief in God must be a gift. This psalm is famously quoted in Romans 3:11: “There is no one who seeks God.” Left to ourselves, we would never want to find God, much less know him. So take heart . . . If you want God, it is because he wants you to find him.
