We are All Corrupt and Need Salvation

Psalms 53:1-6
To the Chief Musician. Set to "Mahalath." A Contemplation of David.

1 The fool has said in his heart,
"There is no God."
They are corrupt, and have done abominable iniquity;
There is none who does good.

2 God looks down from heaven upon the children of men,
To see if there are any who understand, who seek God.
3 Every one of them has turned aside;
They have together become corrupt;
There is none who does good,
No, not one.

4 Have the workers of iniquity no knowledge,
Who eat up my people as they eat bread,
And do not call upon God?

5 There they are in great fear
Where no fear was,
For God has scattered the bones of him who encamps against you;
You have put them to shame,
Because God has despised them.

6 Oh, that the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion!
When God brings back the captivity of His people,
Let Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad.

As we see also in Psalm 14:1–7, there is nobody who does good born into this word.  All are corrupted by the original sin of Eve and Adam, and we all inherit the responsibility of rebellion from Adam.  Not one does good of himself or willingly seeks God.  These verses are found again in Romans 3:10-12, demonstrating that they apply as equally in David’s day as our own.  God looks down from on high and finds us all in need of a Shepherd to save us from sin’s penalty by leading us to Himself as a good shepherd does out of love and mercy.  Sinful mankind has this inherited trait, to turn away from God and refuse to call on Him for help and deliverance from their fallen state.  We all are born without the knowledge of God, and only have a peripheral understanding of sin because of the conscience we have been given as part of the image of God we have been crafted in by His hand.  The world then lives in fear of death and what follows as God scatters and shames those continuing to rebel and deny Him, especially His work in His Son (John 6:29, 1 John 2:23) to rescue them from themselves.  The psalmist yearned for salvation of God’s people, looking forward to their release from captivity, a picture of a nation in bondage to tell the greater tale of a people called to God in the Messiah who would be released from sin’s bondage (Hebrews 2:15).  This is the truth summed up from the Garden of Eden until Christ’s life, death, burial, and resurrection - that we can have our eyes and ears opened to find deliverance from sin’s servitude and be translated from death into life.  It is not by our righteousness or futile attempts to do enough good to merit forgiveness and release from punishment (Romans 3:23, 6:23), but only through God’s work on our behalf through His Son.  He is the good Shepherd who leads us out of captivity into true freedom from the justice we all deserve from the moment we were born.  This is the grace and mercy of the gospel of Jesus Christ our Lord.  Unfortunately, not all are called and chosen, and many will continue on the wide road (Matthew 7:13-14) to destruction as they continue to say that there is no God.  May we continue to tell the hope of the good news to all in order that those given sight and hearing may see Him and hear His word to find deliverance and life in His light (2 Timothy 1:10).  We are all corrupt and need salvation.  This bad news is the foundation of the Good News!  Amen.