If you would this morning, let's go to Psalm 14. The 14th Psalm, and while you're turning there, always by way of context, I want to remind you that the Psalms are 150 individual songs. It's basically like the Jewish hymn book. Psalms is divided into five divisions, and the first one that we're going through, Psalm 1 through 41, the theme is human suffering and the need for divine deliverance. And really today, in Psalm 14, it is a psalm of deliverance, but it's also a psalm of diagnosis. And it's really the need for being saved from those that are evil, those that are evil in power, but also really from our self-understanding that outside of Christ that we're evil. And so there's just a lot going on in this short psalm. Psalm 14 is known as a community lament in which all of humanity is condemned before God. But really, most specifically, Psalm 14 is talking about wicked leaders who are exploiting and taking advantage of people. And whether that's the Gentiles from outside or whether it's wicked leaders from inside Israel, it's not really clear about that. That's not really the point. But people abuse power because people are wicked. And that's what we see here. Psalm 14 and Psalm 53 are almost identical, very few changes. Verses 2 and 3 of Psalm 14 is quoted directly by Paul in Romans chapter 3 verses 11 and 12. We're actually going to turn to Romans chapter 1 here in a little bit because it ties so directly into what we're looking into here in Psalm 14 that I didn't want to quote just a piece of it. I wanted to see it together. But when we're reading about the cruelty in this psalm, I want to remind you that it's easy to look at these foolish leaders in a condemning way and forget that when we point those fingers, we're pointing right back at ourself. Again, it's kind of humbling to get up in arms and call for the death or the judgment of somebody else and realize that we're guilty of the same things. Let's read this psalm together with that in context. Let's read the word of God. It says, the fool has said in his heart, there is no God. They are corrupt. They have done abominable works. There is none that doeth good. The Lord looked down from heaven upon the children of men to see if there were any that did understand and seek God. They are all gone aside. They are all together become filthy. There is none that doeth good, no, not one. Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge, who eat up my people as they eat bread, and call not upon the Lord? There were they in great fear, for God is in the generation of the righteous. Ye have shamed the counsel of the poor, because the Lord is his refuge. O that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion, when the Lord bringeth back the captivity of his people, Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we just come to you in Jesus' name. Lord, we ask forgiveness where we failed you. Thank you for your goodness to us. And Lord, I just pray that you would fill me with your Holy Spirit. I'm never capable. I'm never qualified. Lord, I'm never able to preach your word. certainly in the way that does it justice, Lord, but certainly not when my mind is clouded. Lord, I pray that you would just intimate a sin in self and fill me with your Holy Spirit that you would help your people. Lord, that you would draw those who maybe are not saved. Lord, I pray that you would draw them to saving faith in Jesus Christ. Lord, I just pray that your word would be preached with power and clarity in spite of me and not because of me. Because in Christ's name I pray these things, amen. So I want to preach on the thought this morning of the fixations of a fool. The fixations of a fool. A fixation is like an obsession. Something that you're really passionate about. Something that you're really putting your energy and time and money into. It's an obsession. And it's important to realize, you know, that when God looks down on the world, we're going to look at this several times in this text. But you know, He's never not one time looked down and found a righteous person. That's why He had to send one. And so again, as we read this psalm, it ought to humble us and not puff us up. It ought not cause us to go amen at somebody else's sin, but to look inward to see where we have fallen short. So what are the fixations of a fool? I mean, this psalm, yes, it is a psalm of deliverance. We're going to see that by the time we get to verse 7. But man, what a diagnosis of the human heart. What a diagnosis of a person who is outside of Jesus Christ, who is walking around in their lostness, in the vanity and the darkness of their mind and their heart. What are the fixations of a fool? Number one, guaranteed. The number one fixation of a fool is self. Their self. Look at the first part of verse 1. The fool has said in his heart there is no God. There is such a mouthful in that one statement that I could probably do an entire series on it. But I'll just say this. In our culture, in our language, we use the term fool in the sense of somebody that lacks intelligence. or that somebody that's ignorant, they're just not very smart. You know, like that person that cuts you off in traffic, you might call them a fool because they don't know how to drive, they got no common sense at all, then all of God's children sin. And if that was you that I horn-cussed, I'm sorry. We use that term in the sense that somebody's just dumb. But that is not the way that the Bible uses this word. The term fool in the Bible is always connected to moral failure. It's somebody who lacks morals. They are morally depraved. That is what a fool is. And so we need to understand how the Bible is using that word in this text and really throughout all the Scripture. We find here in the opening words of this psalm that, listen to this, the fool is taking counsel in his own heart concerning spiritual matters. Well, that's always going to turn out well, isn't it? When we start with ourself, we're always going to end with ourself. And the fool here is taking counsel in his own heart, and he is saying in his own heart of all the things he could come up with. And what does he come up with? There is no God. That's not good counsel, is it? I think about what Jeremiah said, that the heart is desperately wicked. The heart is depraved. You better not follow your heart. Our hearts can lie to us. Even it saves people. We better watch that flesh. And we better be submissive to the Word of God and the Holy Spirit of God. But see, this is one of the hallmarks of a fool, that his entire being begins and ends with self. His opinion, his logic, his morals, his desires, his values, his theology, the way that he views others always begins and ends with self. What a narcissistic world if everybody bought into this thought process. You would have 8 billion narcissists walking around with themselves as the ultimate moral compass and moral authority. What a mess. But that's what our society pushes today. That's exactly what we hear. Follow your heart. Follow your desires. If you desire it, it must be a good thing. But where does this, it's interesting to me, where does this counsel and logic of the natural man always lead to? The conclusion that there is no God. Now listen, I understand that not everybody that's lost would consider themselves an atheist. But if all they have done is created a God in their own mind, after their own lust and imaginations, and they're worshipping a God that they have created in their image, what are they actually worshipping? Self. So the atheist says, there is no God, and myself is the ultimate authority. Well, that other person who may not claim to be an atheist, but they have created a God in their own image and worship that God, they're just one step removed from that. They're still worshiping self. They're just doing it under different terminology, different headings. It's the same thing. It's the same thing. The conclusion that there is no true God. That the self is the highest authority. Now that conclusion that there is no God doesn't come from any serious evidence or investigation. It's a faith decision brought about by a person's wicked desire to be their own God. I mean, if somebody comes to the conclusion there is no God, they really want to believe that. That's why it says here even in the text, they said in their heart, I've said a lot of things in my heart that weren't true. I've wanted a lot of things to be true that weren't true. I mean, if you can even so much as walk outside, look around at God's creation, if you can feel that heartbeat in your chest, if you can understand that there are over 30 million nerve endings in your eyes that allows you to see me right now, the complexity of your ears to be able to hear and process the language, the message of what's being said, and all that just came out, if you can believe that came from nothing, that is a faith choice. And the reason behind that faith choice is because people want to be their own God. This goes all the way back to the Garden of Eden. It is the original lie from Satan, is that if you disobey God and eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, you'll be as God's, like He is, knowing good and evil. By the way, that's still a promise in a lot of religions today, that you can be your own God. Men and women in their natural sinful state, they want to be autonomous from God. The reason that an atheist is determined to be an atheist is because he wants to sign his own declaration of independence apart from God. In our sinfulness, the creature wants to be independent from the Creator. They want to remove God from the equation and declare their independence. And the truth is, if there is no God, then that makes man the highest and only authority. If there is no God, man is the highest on the pecking order. He's the highest up on the ladder. That's what people want to believe. But again, this is a faith decision that comes through suppressing the obvious and clear truth. I want you to put your marker in Psalms 14, because we will come back, and I want you to go to Romans 1. Romans 1. I want to read a little chunk of Scripture this morning. It's good to read Scripture and it's good to read it together. Romans chapter 1. If you were to take the first three chapters of Romans, I've often described it like this. The first three chapters of Romans is God taking His judge's gavel and three times going guilty, guilty, guilty. That all mankind may become guilty before God and that every mouth may be stopped. And in Romans 1, it talks about the human heart and mind as a person goes through the course of their life. Now, it's really two-fold. I don't want to get too deep in this. But it talks about the process of corruption really from Adam's sin on. But it's really also about an individual without Jesus Christ throughout the course of their life. Look at verse 18 of Romans 1. For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and the unrighteousness of men who hold the truth in unrighteousness. Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them. That means to be made clear. For God hath showed it unto them. For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen. being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse." We often get asked the question, can God judge those that have never heard the gospel? And the answer is an emphatic yes, not only can He, but He will. And they say, well, how is that fair? How can God cast somebody into hell for all eternity that never even heard the Gospel, that never read a Bible, that never saw a missionary, that never heard the name of Jesus, and it's because of what we just read. It's because God, even though He has revealed Himself specifically in the Scripture, He has revealed Himself generally in His creation and also in our conscience. Romans 2 talks about that. We're not going to get into that. But here's the thing, anybody can understand that all of this came from something. It had a cause. And God is that cause. There is an intelligent designer. There is an unmoved mover. There is an uncaused cause. There is a Creator because there is a creation. And if somebody would deny those obvious and plain facts about God, then it means they didn't want to know anymore to begin with. And if somebody stands before God at the judgment and says, hey listen, I'm innocent here. I never even heard the name of Jesus. He's going to say, you didn't want to. If you didn't even accept the 2% of God that you knew about, and you rejected that, why would you want anything to do with the 98% that you never heard? That's why they're not innocent. That's why it says right here, so that they are without excuse because the evidence and the reality of God is in them and it's all around them. Verse 21, Because that when they knew God, this is not talking about salvation. This is a head knowledge that there is a God. When they knew God, they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful, but became vain in their own imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible men, and to birds, and to four-footed beasts, and creeping things." So now they have exchanged the true God for false gods that they created in their image. So it gets back to the self that we're talking about. Verse 24, Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, the lust of their own hearts, to dishonor their own bodies between themselves, who changed the truth of God into a lie. It's not that they didn't have the truth, they just suppressed the truth they had and exchanged it for a lie. And worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. Now when it says that they worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is the creature there? Singular. It's that person you look at in the mirror. Now, I understand that in various cultures and religions, they can make statues and idols, certainly out of animals. There's, I mean, in India, the Hindus worship cows. You know, they won't even eat cows because they're afraid that they might be their grandma or somebody, you know, they believe in reincarnation, you know. And I've often thought, what a great hope, you know. Some glad morning. When this life is over, I'll be a cow. But they do. But that's not what it's talking about. It's talking about us. We exchange the true God for the false God, which is me, myself, and I. Exactly what Psalm 14 is talking about. and God continues to give them over. Let's skip down to verse 28 for time's sake. Verse 28 says, Even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge. You cannot retain something that you never had. They had it at one time. They had something. God lighteth every man that cometh into the world. Because they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind to do those things which are not convenient or not proper is what that means. And it goes on to give an entire list of sins that God turns people over to when they completely reject Him. A reprobate mind, talking about cows again, the word reprobate, it means to be dead or to be hardened. And when a rancher takes that hot branding iron out of the fire, that red hot glowing iron, and he brands his cattle, when he sticks that cow with that hot iron, I mean, that cow is going to react. I mean, he's going to jerk and move and You know, probably Bella or Moo really loud. But what happens is that skin that was burned becomes hardened. And from that point on, that cow can't feel a thing in that one spot. That is what happens to the minds and consciences and hearts of people who suppress the knowledge of God and exchange the truth for a lie. I've often said if you turn away from the light, the only thing left to turn to is darkness. Very dangerous thing to say in your heart there is no God. Very quickly, let's go back to Psalm 14. I'm not going nearly as quickly as I should this morning to get all this in. Psalm 14. The fool is fixated on his or herself as if they are the center of the universe. John Lennon wrote a song entitled Imagine. And if you love that song, I'm sorry to tell you it's one of the most satanic songs ever written. It is the mantra of the Antichrist. They will sing this in the tribulation period. And the opening lines of that song, it says, imagine there's no heaven. It's easy if you try. No hell below us, above us only sky. Imagine all the people living for today. Imagine there's no countries. It isn't hard to do. Nothing to kill or to die for and no religion too. Imagine all the people living life in peace. You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one. I hope someday you'll join us and the world will be as one. You know what he's saying? Let's all join hands and celebrate the fact that there is no God. Let's have peace in the world because there is no God. If we could just rid the world of God and religion, we could unite in peace. It's the most satanic thing I think I've ever heard. And he says, imagine above us there's only sky. Well, if there's only sky above us, guess what there's not? There's no heaven. If there's no heaven, there's no what? Or no who? There's no God. That's what he's saying. There's no hell below us. There's no God to judge us. That's what he's saying. and somehow this is going to bring peace and harmony? Listen, friend, I imagine Hitler would have been a lot better person if he believed there was a God above us and a hell below us. But he didn't. I imagine Mao and all the communist leaders over the past hundred years who've killed over a hundred million people would have been a lot better behaved if they believed there was a God above us and a hell below us. But it's precisely because they didn't that they did those things. They didn't think there was a God waiting for them on this side, but they found out the hard way that He is. It's appointed unto man once to die, and after this, the judgment. If this mantra, this song, imagine actually, if this actually happens, and it's happening right in front of our eyes, it's going to bring worldwide chaos, not worldwide peace. The world would be a much better place if people believed that there's a God above us and a hell below us. but the fool is fixated on self and therefore attempts to push God out of his mind. They want to kill God. They want to think He's dead because they want to do what they want to do. But number two, not only is the fool fixated on self, but he's also fixated on sin that proceeds from self. Look at verse 1 again. The fool has said in his heart, there is no God. Notice the outflow of this. Notice the consequences of that conclusion. They are corrupt. They have done abominable works. There is none that doeth good. The Lord looked down from heaven upon the children of men to see if there were any that did understand and seek God. They are all gone aside. They are all together become filthy. There is none that doeth good. No, not one. Again, before we get on a high horse, Look at this universal language here. No, not, there is none that doeth good. Oh, but I do. There is none righteous, no, not one. Well, I am. That's what people think. And you know, you could compare yourself to other people and you could probably find some people to make you feel better about where you are. But the problem is that we're going to be judged based on the standard of God and His perfectly ferocious holiness, and none of us have ever measured up to that in any 15 minute period in our lifetime. That's not who we are. That's not what we are. That's why Christ had to die for our sin and clothe us in His righteousness. That great exchange of our sin imputed to Christ and His righteousness imputed to us, if that transaction doesn't take place, everybody goes to hell. Everybody. And so it's such a universal language being used here. But notice the natural consequence of someone who has thrown away the knowledge of God is abominable works. This is just par for the course, because once somebody casts aside the knowledge of God, they will live as if there is no God, no judgment, and no eternity. You want to know in one sentence the definition of a fool? A fool is somebody who lives their life as if there is no God. That is the textbook definition of a fool. God is not in their thoughts, He's not in their actions. He's not in their heart. He is not in the equation of how they live their life. A fool lives their life as if there is no God. Greg Epstein, who is a humanist chaplain. How does that even work? A humanist chaplain? I mean, what message of hope could you possibly have as a humanist chaplain? It makes me sick. Greg Epstein, he's a humanist chaplain at Harvard. He has written a book entitled, Good Without God. good without God. And I could say a lot about that. I'll just give you just one paragraph in the description of this book. Epstein's Good Without God provides a constructive, challenging response to the typical atheist manifestos by getting to the heart of humanism and its positive belief in tolerance, community, morality, and good without having to rely on the guidance of a higher being. Boy, it just sounds all warm and fuzzy, doesn't it? But I got news for Mr. Epstein. Not only can you not be good without God, you can't even define good without God. You can't even define what good... I have been doing this for a pretty long time now. I've never found one person at the college campuses that I've been to, at the gay pride events that I've preached at and ministered at, at the abortion clinics, handing out tracts, knocking on doors, preaching in pulpits, and all the other stuff that I've done, I have never found one person who could give me an objective standard for what good and evil are without God. They cannot do it. And when they try, the only thing that they prove is they were actually created in the image of God that they hate. You get away from the objective standard of the Word of God, you cannot even define good. And in fact, like these humanists who all believe in evolution, they can't even give an accounting for why they would want to try to be good. I mean, think about it. Where did this invisible moral code come from anyway? I mean, at what point in the evolutionary process did an ape stand up and decide that it was immoral and indecent not to wear clothes? At what time did the ape rise up and say, you know what, I need to cover myself and put some clothes on? When did that transaction take place? When did the transaction take place to where these colonies of apes decided that they needed to have a court of law and a jury of peers and judges and justices of the peace and a code of laws? When did all that happen? Where did that come from? It doesn't make sense. They don't have an answer for these things. Where do these immaterial and invisible concepts of good and evil come from? C.S. Lewis, who obviously was a famous Christian writer, but he was once an atheist English professor at Oxford University, and he began to ask himself this very question about this invisible moral code that everybody seems to understand and agree that we should adhere to. Here's the thing, if everything in our universe is only material, if we're just molecules in motion, then where do these immaterial and universal concepts of good and evil come from? Here's the argument that C.S. Lewis wrote down, and this is what turned him into a theist, and later he became a Christian, but here was his argument. Premise one. There is a universal moral law. Everybody recognizes it. Everybody sees it. Everybody senses it. That's why we have laws in this country. Because we understand that it is wrong to murder somebody. We understand that it is wrong to steal from somebody. I think I mentioned this before but it bears repeating that R.C. Sproul had a Q&A session one time and they were talking about these issues about the sinfulness of man Somebody asked him, they said, my brother doesn't believe in universal absolute. He doesn't believe in absolute truth. He doesn't believe in right and wrong. And how can I convince him that there is such thing as good and there is such thing as evil? And Sproul just put the mic up to his mouth and said, steal his wallet. That's all he said, steal his wallet. He'll begin to understand the concepts of injustice really quick. There is a universal law. The second premise in C.S. Lewis' argument, if there is a universal moral law, there has to be a moral law giver. Premise three, if there is a moral law giver, it must be something beyond the universe. Conclusion, therefore, there is something beyond the universe, i.e., God. He recognized it. Even as an atheist, he recognized the problem with this. And let me say this, I'm not saying that atheists are incapable of doing moral or good things or showing kindness to their neighbor. I'm just saying that they can give no justification for it. They can't give any accounting for that. They're being inconsistent with their worldview when they value the meaningless lives of other people. This is why you don't see any atheist hospitals, do you? I've heard of Baptist hospital, Methodist hospital, you know, all kind of like parachurch hospitals. I mean, because Christians value people and we have a reason to. Because we're created in the image of God and that gives us all inherent value. We want to ease the suffering of others. You can think of plenty of Christian charities. I can't think of any atheist charities. I can think of plenty of Christian home shelters, orphanages, but no atheist orphanages or homeless shelters because there's no point to it. We all just evolved from fish. We're all just going back to the dust. Our lives are meaningless. There's no point. Eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we die. Why care about our neighbor? They can give no accounting for that. They're being inconsistent with their worldview. Why should we be moral? Why should we show kindness to our neighbor? What is the standard of good and evil? Once someone has pushed God out of the equation, there are no coherent answers to these questions. The natural outflow of someone who has rejected God is sin and selfishness. I will say this too, everyone's sin looks different. Some sin looks worse than others. Some looks cleaner than others. But keep in mind too, there are many very successful people who hate God. Do you know that? A lot of the preaching that I heard as a young Christian It kind of made me think otherwise for a time. I thought, you know, that if you were serving God and had all your T's crossed and all your I's dotted that everything would just fall into place and life would just be this grand blessing and you find out real quick that's not always the case. Don't fall into that trap of believing that. There's many successful people who hate God. But worldly wealth, again, is not an indicator of the favor of God. By the way, it's the mercy of God. It's the mercy of God that any of us are still breathing. Leonard Ravenhill said, Isn't it amazing that God gives breath to a man who is going to blaspheme him all day long? Think about that for a minute. the world will love its own. A fool is fixated on sin and self. What our lusts are, what our desires are, and we're living in a day now where we're so narcissistic that our society, there's actually individuals in our society that think that everybody else ought to celebrate their sin. Ought to bow to their pronouns. Ought to bow to their subjective fantasies. Friend, I'm not going to do it. You don't have to be rude. You don't have to be a jerk for Jesus, but you don't have to bow down before that idol either. I'm not going to play act with them. I'm not going to participate in their fantasy that's going to destroy them. That's not very loving. The fool is fixated on his sin and selfishness. But number three, I've got to move on. Number three, subjection. Look at verse four. Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge, who eat up my people as they eat bread, and call not upon the Lord? There were they in great fear, for God is in the generation of the righteous. You have shamed the counsel of the poor, because the Lord is his refuge." Now, we've given a lot of application in this sermon, but I want to reel it back and remind you that this text has an immediate context. There is an immediate audience. There's an immediate people that are being talked about. And so we need to remember that these wicked leaders are exploiting the poor in Israel. The old adage says that power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. And in verse 4 it says that these leaders were so wicked. Now this is amazing to me. These leaders were so wicked. that they ate up the people as they ate bread. Here's the picture that's being painted. Eating bread is a daily occurrence. We all do it. We don't even really think about it. We just sit down and we eat. It's just something that we do. It's kind of like breathing, just something that we do. And they were so wicked that murdering and killing and exploiting and causing others to suffer, it was just kind of one of those non-events. It was just something they did. Just like you sit at the table and eat something, they were messing people up. It was just something they did. You know, I don't think Hitler regretted one thing that he did. I think he thought he was doing good. He told the people he was doing good. I don't think he regretted it for one instance. And if somebody hadn't have stopped him, he wouldn't have stopped. That's the wickedness of man when God pulls His hand off of somebody. They were subjecting the people. However, apparently, God had intervened in some way, and the Scripture doesn't go into detail as far as to how, but whatever happened, it evidently put these leaders in fear. And let me say this, the quickest fix for the problems in a nation is for the leaders to get a healthy dose of the fear of God. You know how much this country would change overnight? If I'm talking about God did something that struck so much fear into the hearts of our leaders, I'm telling you, it would change overnight. Our problem is not simply political. I mean, we see the stupid things being done. We see the sinful things and the destructive things, but it's all a lack of a fear of God. It's amazing how much they would straighten up. if they had a fear of God, as we as a country had a great fear of God. But when a fool casts aside the knowledge of God, they tend to use it to exploit people for their own purposes. But being created in the image of God is what gives us our inherent value. And without that, we really have no reason to value people. A fool is fixated on sin, self, and subjugation. I'm going to close with some hope this morning. This really doesn't have anything to do with the fool, but I guess if you were to give a fourth point, it would be sudden deliverance. Look at verse 7. Oh, that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion, when the Lord bringeth back the captivity of his people, Jacob shall rejoice and Israel shall be glad. And so here the psalmist closes with a message of hope for the subjected by the wicked. and in the immediate context is talking about Israel's deliverance from exile. You know, in 586 BC, King Nebuchadnezzar and Babylon, they conquered the southern kingdom of Judah. The Syrians had already taken care of the northern tribes, but Babylon and Nebuchadnezzar come along, And they would destroy the temple, destroy Jerusalem, take tens of thousands of people back to Babylon. They would be there for 70 years. And this would have been a great comfort for those in that situation. They would be brought back out of captivity. But in the grand scheme of things, the ultimate fulfillment will be the second coming of Christ when He establishes His kingdom. That's going to be a great day for the saved. And I know that we look at our world and it's messed up and we say, God, where are you and what are you going to do about this? Are you ever going to intervene? Well, the answer is yes to all those. And it's going to be a completely different situation when he gets here. He's going to be the righteous king, the righteous leader. He's not going to exploit people. He's going to rule and reign in perfect justice and peace. It's going to be bad to be a bad guy in the Millennial Kingdom. That's what has to be our hope that we're looking forward to. What a great encouragement to know that the clowns won't be allowed to run the show for much longer. The question is though, which side are you on? Are you fixated on self? Or are you fixated on Christ? Because what we do for Christ is the only thing that's going to matter in the end. That's all that's going to matter. As we come to a close, I wonder how you really do live your life. What criteria are you using to make your decisions? Is it, I want to be pleasing to Christ, I want to be obedient to the Word of God, I want to share the gospel, I want to honor Christ with my life, or is it all about you? I want this, I want to do that. Well, you know, this has settled in my heart, so I want to do this. It must be right. If it feels right, do it. That's garbage. It's not anywhere in the Bible. Who is your God? Who is your King? Because the fool has said in his heart, there is no God. And when we live our lives as if there is no God, we are practical atheists. You know that every time we sin, in that moment we're living as if there is no God. because the eyes of the Lord are in every place beholding the evil and the good. If we tell a lie, we're living like there's no God in that moment. When we sin, when we don't serve him, when our passions consume us and those passions are not related to Christ, we're living as if there is no God. Hopefully that's not you today. I hope and pray that we don't live the life of a fool because even Jesus himself said, what does a prophet demand if he gained the whole world and loses his own soul? What a foolish thing to do. Would you stand as she comes? Heavenly Father, we love you today. We ask forgiveness where we failed you. God, I just pray that your word would find its place in our hearts.