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But no, all have turned away; all have become corrupt. No one does good, 4 Will those who do evil never learn? They eat up my people like bread and wouldn’t think of praying to the Lord. Psalm 14:3-4 V3 - No one but God is perfect; all of us stand guilty before him (see Romans 3:23) and need his forgiveness. No matter how well we perform or how much we achieve compared to others, none of us can boast of his or her goodness when compared to God’s standard. God not only expects us to obey his laws, but he wants us to love him with all our heart. No one except Jesus Christ has done that perfectly. Because we all fall short, we must turn to Christ to save us (Romans 10:9-11). Have you asked him to save you? V3-4 - David applies these observations to his enemies when he says the evildoers “eat up my people like bread” (14:4). “All have turned away; all have become corrupt. No one does good, not a single one!” (14:3). By contrast, David said, “You have scrutinized me and found nothing wrong” (17:3). There is a clear distinction between those who worship God and those who refuse to worship him. David worshiped God, and under his leadership Israel obeyed God and prospered. Several hundred years later, however, Israel forgot God, and it became difficult to distinguish between God’s followers and those who worshiped idols. When Isaiah called Israel to repentance, he, like David, spoke of people who had gone astray (Isaiah 53:6). But Isaiah was talking about the Israelites themselves. Paul quoted Psalm 14 in Romans 3:10-12. He made the image of straying sheep even more general, referring to all people. The whole human race---Jew and Gentile alike---has turned away from God. --- Life Application Study Bible notes