God's Solution to the Problem of Evil

Beginning with the problem of evil, the Psalmist introduces us to the “functional atheist.” The functional atheist might attend church with you every Sunday, but outside of that, he lies, seeks vengeance, indulges illicit pleasures, and lives as though God does not exist. In short, his actions belie his true beliefs. In the Bible belt, and in a room this size, some of us could likely be labeled, “functional atheist.” May the Lord reveal it. Now, let’s read the verse: “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’ They are corrupt, doing abominable iniquity; there is none who does good.”

At first glance, it seems like God is mocking the atheist’s intelligence (“You fool, you moron”), but “fool” in Scripture is not an intellectual category; it is a moral category. That’s why the rest of the verse says he is “corrupt” (his heart is sinful), he does “abominable iniquity” (his actions are sinful), and he does nothing good (his inaction is sinful). To explain the last one: sin comprises not just that which we commit, but also that which we omit. For instance, in Matthew 25, Jesus judges the world in for sins of omission: never feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, or visiting the sick and imprisoned. Putting these descriptions together, the “functional atheist” denies God with his sinful heart, sinful action, and sinful inaction.

Now, why do I call him a “functional atheist”? Because nobody in that culture denied God’s existence with their lips. While the fool says with his lips, “praise God,” he says with his heart, “there is no God.” He doesn’t own the label, “atheist,” but he lives as though he is one.

You say, “But I’ve known atheists, and some of them are good people.” The problem with this is that it defines goodness relative to people instead of God. This is like considering myself a basketball star because I play against eight-year-olds. Or like the friend of mine who, before he got saved, judged himself a “nice drug dealer.” Relative to Sinful Suzy, Atheist Al might be a good person, but that’s not how God defines goodness. Romans 3:23 says, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” We define goodness (and its opposite) not by comparing ourselves with people but with a gloriously holy God. Next to Him, we all fall short.

Now, let’s move to the next section: God’s Evaluation. Here, the perspective shifts from that of the Psalmist to that of God. God looks down from heaven, not only on the functional atheist, but now on the whole human race. Let’s read verses 2-3: “God looks down from heaven on the children of man to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God. They have all fallen away; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one.”

To be clear, God does not need to look down from heaven to evaluate a situation. He’s already omniscient (all-knowing). The Psalmist is poetically applying human characteristics to God (an “anthropomorphism”) to communicate: God sees everything, and His review scathes. Not just the functional atheist, but all “the children of man” have failed to “understand” or “seek God” or “do good”. Lest we miss the point, he emphasizes it: “there is none who does good, not even one.” Paul quotes these verses in Romans 3:9-18: “For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, as it is written: ‘None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.’ ‘Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.’ ‘The venom of asps is under their lips.’ ‘Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.’ ‘Their feet are swift to shed blood; in their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not known.’ ‘There is no fear of God before their eyes.’ After the initial quote of Psalm 53, Paul proceeds to address the “throat… tongue… lips… mouth… eyes… [and] feet…” of those “under sin.” His point is that humans are corrupt from head-to-toe. This does not mean that we are all as evil as we could be, but it does mean that sin has infected our total being like a virus. Not one aspect of our body, will, or personality escaped the corruption of Adam.

Some have sought to escape this conclusion, claiming that sin affected our body and heart but not our will. By our untainted free will, they say, unbelievers might objectively “seek” God. But Romans 3:11 says “no one even seeks for God.” Left to ourselves, we always choose ourselves. If anyone does seek God, it is because God sought that person first. As it says in John 6:44, “No one can come to Me unless the Father draws him.” We seek because He first sought us. The point of Psalm 53 and Romans 3, then, is not that nobody ever seeks God but that nobody seeks God on their own. We must be prompted by grace. God always takes the initiative.

In verse 4, God’s evaluation continues, but this time He speaks in the first-person because this is the center of the song. It reads, “Have those who work evil no knowledge, who eat up my people as they eat bread, and do not call upon God?” First, note God’s astonishment. This is the only time God speaks in the first person, and it comes as a question. It’s like God is saying, “Can you believe what these people are doing?” It takes a lot to shock an omniscient being. Actually, you can’t. This is another “anthropomorphism.” The Psalmist again paints God in human terms, not to teach us that God can be shocked, but that the insanity of our sin revolts Him. It’s positively insane to choose a life apart from God. It’s like an infant saying, “I don’t need my mommy.” Worse, it’s like an infant attempting to stage a rebellion against mommy. Our response would not only be, “That’s ridiculous, she gave you life,” but also, “That’s impossible, you’re an infant.” Welcome to how God feels everyday about weak little humans that He gave life. The most astonishing thing anyone can do is to live as a functional atheist.

Not everyone lives like a functional atheist, though. When God refers to “my people,” He distinguishes them from “those who work evil.” Sin is universal, but “my people” refers to those who have confessed their sinfulness and turned to God. When we turn to Him, He reverses the downward spiral of sin in our hearts. But when we refuse to turn to Him, the cycle of sin trends only down. Its worst form includes persecution (“they eat up my people as they eat bread”). Instead of a world getting better and better, without God, it only gets worse and worse.

At the beginning, I quoted Beatrice Webb, but I didn’t say much about her. Based on her belief in the goodness of man, she became the architect of Britain’s welfare state. After the bloodbath of a world war, however, she felt disillusioned and changed her tune. Here’s her full quotation: “In my diary in 1890 I wrote, ‘I have staked all on the essential goodness of human nature.’ Now, 35 years later, I realize how permanent are the evil impulses and evil instincts in man and how little you can count on changing them, like the greed for wealth or power, by any change in the social machinery. We must ask better things of human nature, but will we get a response? Without this, how will we get better social institutions? No amount of knowledge or science will be of any avail unless we can curb the bad impulses of the human heart.”

No matter whom we vote into office, and no matter what technologies we develop, the problem of evil is too insidious and universal for us to resolve. While it’s right to aim at improving our world, only Jesus can save the world. Let’s talk now about God’s solution to the problem of evil. As we said at the start, the problem of evil is all-encompassing, but so is God’s solution.

God’s solution comes in the final two verses. It comes in the form of judgment (verse 5) and salvation (verse 6). Let’s first read about God’s judgment in verse 5: “There they are, in great terror, where there is no terror! For God scatters the bones of him who encamps against you; you put them to shame, for God has rejected them.” There are some translational difficulties with the first part of the verse about terror, but the last half clarifies that this is the emotional reaction of a godless world to the judgment of God. When we read that “God scatters the bones” of His enemies, it’s talking about the improper burial associated with dying in battle. The Psalmist is apparently surrounded by military foes—those who devour God’s people like bread—but then God intervenes to judge the wicked, handing victory to the righteous.

This brings us to verse 6 about God’s salvation: “Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion! When God restores the fortunes of his people, let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.” As you can see, judgment and salvation hold hands. You can’t have one without the other. Only in vanquishing the wicked can God save the righteous. Only in smiting the oppressor can oppression cease. So many of the Psalms pin their hope on a future judgment because without it, this world is the best it ever gets. God’s solution to the problem of evil is to judge IT so He can save US. There is no other way.

The question is, when are verses 5-6 about judgment and salvation fulfilled? There are three fulfillments. First, they were fulfilled in ancient Israel. Many times throughout Israel’s history, God saved her by judging her enemies. We don’t know which occasion Psalm 53 refers to, but the song expresses faith that deliverance is around the corner, and we expect that it was.

For these next two fulfillments, let me give you a little tip. Anytime you observe judgment and salvation in the Psalms, it usually has a near-term fulfillment in Israel’s history, but a long-term fulfillment in Christ. Let’s observe the principle now.

Second, this was fulfilled in Christ’s first coming. In a preliminary way, Christ judged our greatest enemies—sin, death, and the devil. He conquered sin by never sinning and paying the price for it on the Cross. He conquered death by rising above it. And He conquered the devil by luring him with the bait of omnipotence crucified, pinning his talons to the mat, and then seizing his authority in the resurrection and ascension. Christ’s preliminary judgment means believers in Christ are no longer slaves to sin, death, and the devil, but rather friends of God. To borrow language from the Psalmist, God restored our fortunes. When you believe this, it makes you “rejoice” and “be glad”. Sometimes, it even makes you deliriously happy.

The final fulfillment of these verses is in Christ’s second coming, which is our hope. When Jesus returns to the earth, He’ll complete what He started. He’ll eliminate sin by judging all unforgiven sinners. He’ll eliminate death by redeeming the two homes we live in—our bodies and our world—so that neither one wears out or yields frustration. Last, He’ll eliminate the devil, once and for all, by throwing him into an eternal lake of fire along with all the unredeemed. In this way, Jesus will judge—fully and finally—and restore our fortunes eternally.

The problem of evil is all-encompassing, but so is God’s solution. God’s solution is Jesus, who came to judge and save, and who one day comes again, to judge and to save. If we stake all on the essential goodness of human nature, we’ll be disillusioned. But if we stake all on the essential goodness of God, we will rejoice and be glad--now and forever.