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An oracle within my heart concerning the transgression of the wicked:
There is no fear of God before his eyes.
2 For he flatters himself in his own eyes,
When he finds out his iniquity and when he hates.
3 The words of his mouth are wickedness and deceit;
He has ceased to be wise and to do good.
4 He devises wickedness on his bed;
He sets himself in a way that is not good;
He does not abhor evil.
5 Your mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens;
Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.
6 Your righteousness is like the great mountains;
Your judgments are a great deep;
O Lord, You preserve man and beast.
7 How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God!
Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of Your wings.
8 They are abundantly satisfied with the fullness of Your house,
And You give them drink from the river of Your pleasures.
9 For with You is the fountain of life;
In Your light we see light.
10 Oh, continue Your lovingkindness to those who know You,
And Your righteousness to the upright in heart.
11 Let not the foot of pride come against me,
And let not the hand of the wicked drive me away.
12 There the workers of iniquity have fallen;
They have been cast down and are not able to rise.
By Mike Chaffin
There is none good, no, not one. Paul picks up on the doctrine of total depravity in Romans 3, a theme David is no stranger to, and uses in many of his Psalms. In similar fashion to this Psalm, Isaiah also contributes to the doctrine of total depravity and God’s answer to it in Isaiah 59.
Until we come to a saving faith in Jesus Christ and let His righteousness cover us, we are dead in our sins. We are consumed with self and the pleasures of the World. We love the world and its paths and walk in darkness. Although the fall of mankind is recorded in Genesis 3 with the sin of Adam and Eve, God looks at mankind in chapter 6 and recognizes how bad we are.
Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. Genesis 6:5
In the psalms David laments, “Behold I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.”
Jeremiah put it plainly that we are always deceitful.
“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; Who can know it? Jeremiah 17:9
But in all these chapters the writer declares there is a way out. God has made a way.
“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, and whose hope is the Lord.
8 For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, which spreads out its roots by the river, and will not fear when heat comes; But its leaf will be green, and will not be anxious in the year of drought, nor will cease from yielding fruit. Jeremiah 17:7-8
So truth fails, and he who departs from evil makes himself a prey. Then the Lord saw it, and it displeased Him that there was no justice.
16 He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor;
Therefore His own arm brought salvation for Him; and His own righteousness, it sustained Him. Isaiah 59:15-16
Paul explains God’s plan for us.
21 But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, 22 even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, 26 to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. Romans 3:21-26
The common refrain you hear when you ask someone why they should go to heaven is they are good or they hope the good they did outweigh the bad. The Bible points out that no one is good, or good enough. It is only through faith in Christ, and becoming his disciple, letting Him lead and guide us, can we live a righteous life.
