This purports to be one of David's psalms, and there is no reason to doubt the correctness of the superscription. Yet we are entirely ignorant of the time and the circumstances of its composition. There is nothing in the psalm that throws any light on this point, and conjecture would be vain. It would seem to have been composed under the influence of an affecting conviction of the depth and extent of human depravity, and in view of prevalent impiety and neglect of God; but such a state of things was not confined to any one period of the life of David, as it is not to any one country or period of the world. Unhappily there has been no country and no age in which, in view of existing facts, such a psalm as this might not have been composed; or in which the entire proof on which the psalmist relies to support his melancholy conclusions, might not have been found.
The psalm embraces the following points:
I. A statement of prevalent depravity, particularly in denying the existence of God, or in expressing the wish that there were no God, Psalm 14:1.
II. The evidence of this, Psalm 14:2-4. This is found in two things:
(a) first, in the representation that the Lord looked down from heaven for the very purpose of ascertaining whether there were any that "understood and sought after God," and that the result of this investigation was that all had gone aside, and had become defiled with sin, Psalm 14:2-3.
(b) The second proof is a prevailing disposition on the part of the wicked to judge severely of the conduct of God's people; to magnify their errors and faults; to make use of their imperfections to sustain themselves in their own course of life - represented by their "eating up the sins of God's people as they eat bread," Psalm 14:4.
There was all utter want of kindness and charity in regard to the imperfections of others; and a desire to find the people of God so offending that they could, by "their" imperfections and faults, sustain and vindicate their own conduct in neglecting religion. The idea is that, in their apprehension, the religion of such persons was not desirable - that the God whom they professed to serve could not be God.
III. Yet, the psalmist says, they were not wholly calm and satisfied with the conclusion which they were endeavoring to reach, that there was no God. Notwithstanding their expressed wish or desire Psalm 14:1, that there was, or that there might be no God, their minds were not at ease in that conclusion or desire.
They were, says the psalmist, "in great fear," for there was evidence which they could not deny or resist that God was "in the generation of the righteous," or that there was a God such as the righteous served, Psalm 14:5. This evidence was found in the manifestation of his favor toward them; in his interposition in their behalf, in the proof which could not be resisted or denied that he was their friend. These facts produced "fear" or apprehension in the minds of the wicked, notwithstanding all their efforts to be calm.
IV. The psalmist says that their course was designed to bring shame upon the counsel or purposes of the "poor" (that is, the people of God, who were mainly among the poor, or the humble and oppressed classes of the community) - because they regarded God as their refuge, Psalm 14:6. As God was their only refuge, as they had no human hope or reliance, as all their hope would fail if their hope in God failed, so the attempt to show that there was no God was adapted and designed to overwhelm them with shame and confusion - still more to aggravate their sufferings by taking away their only hope, and leaving them to die. Their religion was their only consolation and the purpose of those who wished that there were no God was to take even this last comfort away.
V. The psalm closes, in view of these thoughts, with an earnest prayer that God would interpose to deliver his poor and oppressed people, and with the statement that when this should occur, his people would rejoice, Psalm 14:7. Instead of their low and oppressed condition - a condition wherein their enemies triumphed over them, and endeavored still further to aggravate their sorrows by taking away even their faith in God - they would rejoice in him, and in the full proof of his existence and of his favor toward them.
The psalm, therefore, is designed to describe a condition of things in which wickedness abounds, and when it takes this form - an attempt to show that there is no God; that is, when there is a prevalence of atheism, and when the design of this is to aggravate the sufferings and the trials of the professed friends by unsettling their faith in the divine existence.
The title is the same as in Psalm 11:1-7; Psalm 12:1-8. Compare the note at the title to Psalm 4:1-8.

The sentiments of atheists and deists, who deny the doctrine of a Divine providence. Their character: they are corrupt, foolish, abominable, and cruel, Psalm 14:1-4. God fills them with terror, Psalm 14:5; reproaches them for their oppression of the poor, Psalm 14:6. The psalmist prays for the restoration of Israel, Psalm 14:7.
There is nothing particular in the title; only it is probable that the word לדוד ledavid, of David, is improperly prefixed, as it is sufficiently evident, from the construction of the Psalm, that it speaks of the Babylonish captivity. The author, whoever he was, (some say Haggai, others Daniel, etc)., probably lived beyond the Euphrates. He describes here, in fervid colors, the iniquity of the Chaldeans. He predicts their terror and destruction; he consoles himself with the prospect of a speedy return from his exile; and hopes soon to witness the reunion of the tribes of Israel and Judah. It may be applied to unbelievers in general.

INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 14
To the chief Musician, a Psalm of David. The argument of this psalm, according to Theodoret, is Sennacherib's invasion of Judea, when he sent Rabshakeh to Hezekiah, with menaces and curses; upon which Hezekiah implored divine help, and obtained it, and the Assyrian army was destroyed by an angel; of all which he thinks this psalm was prophetic.

A description of the depravity of human nature, and the deplorable corruption of a great part of mankind.

The Prevailing Corruption and the Redemption Desired
Just as the general lamentation of Psalm 12:1-8 assumes a personal character in Psalm 13:1-6, so in Psalm 14:1-7 it becomes again general; and the personal desire יגל לבּי, Psalm 13:5, so full of hope, corresponds to יגל יעקב, which is extended to the whole people of God in Psalm 14:7. Moreover, Psalm 14:1-7, as being a gloomy picture of the times in which the dawn of the divine day is discernible in the background, is more closely allied to Psalm 12:1-8 than to Psalm 13:1-6, although this latter is not inserted between them without some recognised reason. In the reprobation of the moral and religious character of the men of the age, which Psalm 14:1-7 has in common with Psalm 12:1-8, we at once have a confirmation of the לדוד. But Psalm 14:7 does not necessitate our coming down to the time of the Exile.
In Psalm 53:1-6 we find this Psalm which is Jehovic, occurring again as Elohimic. The position of Psalm 14:1-7 in the primary collection favours the presumption, that it is the earlier and more original composition. And since this presumption will bear the test of a critical comparison of the two Psalm, we may leave the treatment of Psalm 53:1-6 to its proper place, without bringing it forward here. It is not as though Psalm 14:1-7 were intact. It is marked out as seven three-line verses, but Psalm 14:5 and Psalm 14:6, which ought to be the fifth and sixth three lines, are only two; and the original form appears to be destroyed by some deficiency. The difficulty is got over in Psalm 53:1-6, by making the two two-line verses into one three-line verse, so that it consists only of six three-line verses. And in that Psalm the announcement of judgment is applied to foreign enemies, a circumstance which has influenced some critics and led them astray in the interpretation of Psalm 14:1-7.