Chapter Thirteen

Saul and his companions became so corrupt that the Lord does not find among them even one “doing good” (verses 1-8). Will not these wicked ones take heed? The Lord will strictly punish them because they mocked the faith of the righteous one in Him (verses 4-6).

Psalm 13:1. The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds; there is none who does good. “The fool says in his heart: ‘There is no God.”’ The fool here is understood to be Saul. “To say in one’s heart” means to believe sincerely and to decide. Saul’s denial of God is not a denial of His existence but a non-recognition of God’s determination over David, by which the latter was anointed to be king over Israel. In his persecutions of David, Saul was guided by the view of him as a power-seeker, a greedy aspirant to the throne, and therefore a revolutionary. Saul was mistaken about David but was sincere in his error; his courtly companions, however, consciously and selfishly supported this false view in him and therefore in their slanders against the innocent sufferer they “do abominable deeds.”

Psalm 13:2. The Lord looks down from heaven on all mankind to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God. Psalm 13:3. All have turned away, all have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one. Around Saul gathered people who used their influence over him for personal goals. These goals, as well as the means for their accomplishment, were so unclean that there remained “not even one” “doing good.” The expression is hyperbolic, indicating the degree of widespread abuse and violence in the people.

Psalm 13:4. Will they not learn—all these evildoers, who devour my people as they eat bread, and do not call on the Lord? “Devouring my people like bread and not calling on the Lord.” The enemies of David were not concerned for the welfare of the people but sought to obtain from it all that they considered valuable in life: they devoured it like bread. They did not apply moral evaluation to their actions; they needed only what was advantageous, not what was in accord with God’s Law: they did not call on Him and did not listen.

Psalm 13:5. There they will be seized with dread, for God is with the company of the righteous. Psalm 13:6. You evildoers frustrate the plans of the poor, but the Lord is their refuge. God, who watches carefully over mankind (“The Lord looks down from heaven” Ps 13:2), will not leave them unpunished: there, where the righteous have no fear, the wicked will tremble (“will be seized with dread”). The final judgment over all living belongs to God, and therefore the word “there” means before God, at His judgment, when the Lord will punish the wicked and reward the righteous, since for the latter He is their “refuge” and His favor is only “with the company of the righteous.”