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.

2 The Lord looks down from heaven
    on all mankind
to see if there are any who understand,
    any who seek God.
3 All have turned away, all have become corrupt;
    there is no one who does good,
    not even one.

4 Do all these evildoers know nothing?

They devour my people as though eating bread;
    they never call on the Lord.
5 But there they are, overwhelmed with dread,
    for God is present in the company of the righteous.
6 You evildoers frustrate the plans of the poor,
    but the Lord is their refuge.

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

We should not be surprised when atheism fails to result in good lives. (A footnote on verse 1, in the NIV, says, ” The Hebrew words rendered fool in Psalms denote one who is morally deficient”). In one way or another, sin (2,3), which has infected us all, manifests itself in a form of atheism: not necessarily always disbelief in God, but nevertheless living without reference to Him – acting as if He’s irrelevant and unimportant; failing to seek Him, to consider Him, to honour Him, to give Him His rightful place. It is, as we have noted before, a practical atheism.

But this God, who is disbelieved, is, all the same, manifested among His people (5,6). He is active on behalf of His own, and He is to be reckoned with. Alec Motyer says the occasion which gave rise to this psalm was ‘some situation where atheism came face to face with the reality of the presence of God among his people.’ He goes on to say that the answer to practical atheists ‘…is not argument but the unmistakable reality of God’s presence among his people (5b) and their experience of finding him a sufficient refuge in every need (6b). The reply to unspirituality is true spirituality.’

”…God takes the side of victims.
Do you think you can mess
    with the dreams of the poor?
You can’t, for God
    makes their dreams come true.

 Is there anyone around to save Israel?
    Yes. God is around; God turns life around.
Turned-around Jacob skips rope,
    turned-around Israel sings laughter. The Message (vv.5-7)