The Seeker's Network

They Ignore God

4 The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts."


The wicked persecutes the poor and blesses others like himself, he boasts of his sins, and his wickedness is revealed in his face. There was a recent T.V. program that my wife enjoyed called (ie To Me. It was about a man whose agency's business was to read facial expressions and body language in order to get to the truth of a matter. The face is like a living lie detector that is always telling the truth whether we want it to or not, and he was an expert at reading it.

So the countenance or face of a person reveals his pride and sinfulness. You and I may not be able to read the signs displayed there, but God can. Yet, if anyone is around a prideful person for very long, they will get a quick sense of the pride that resides in his heart. Much of it comes to us through his facial expressions, even though we may not realize it.

Man's pride and God do not mix very well. "The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day." (Isaiah 2:11)

But, why does pride keep man from thinking about God? "In the first place, it renders God a disagreeable object of contemplation to the wicked, and a knowledge of him as undesirable. Pride consists in an unduly exalted opinion of one's self. It is, therefore, impatient of a rival, hates a superior, and cannot endure a master. In proportion as it prevails in the heart, it makes us wish to see nothing above us, to acknowledge no law but our own will, to follow no rule but our own inclinations. Thus it led Satan to rebel against his Creator, and our first parents to desire to be as gods. Since such are the effects of pride, it is evident that nothing can be more painful to a proud heart than the thoughts of such a being as God; one who is infinitely powerful, just, and holy; who can neither be resisted, deceived, nor deluded; who disposes, according to his own sovereign pleasure, of all creatures and events; and who, in an especial manner, hates pride, and is determined to abase and punish it. Such a prideful being can contemplate God only with feelings of dread, aversion, and abhorrence. It must look upon him as its natural enemy, the great enemy, whom it has to fear." (Edward Payson, D.D., 1783-1827 as quoted in The Treasury of David)

The proud man thinks he does not need a God and that God is just an imaginary concept that the weak use as a crutch to get them through life. His problem is that he is so weak himself that he is unable to see and admit his own weaknesses, his own needs.

The proud man will admit to no mistakes. To admit to having done anything wrong is to admit that there is someone else with the authority to make the rules. The proud person makes his own rules and breaks them whenever he wants. He expects others to see everything his way, because he can never be wrong. The idea of sin is a foreign idea, which he is never allowed to contemplate.

If he could admit to having committed even one sin, he would be too stubborn to accept forgiveness through God's grace. He would insist on saving himself from the penalty of sin by doing some works that would make up for it. Accepting a free gift would obligate him to the One who gives it. He would never do that.

All this pride results in the need to block out any thought of God. Some scholars have translated the last part of our verse to read, "All his thoughts are, there is no God;" This actually makes more sense to me, because the atheists I know spend more time thinking about God than many Christians do. They are obsessed with a need to formulate arguments against the evidence that He exists. "The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good." (Psalms 14:1) Yet, there is no man who can truly believe that there is no God. Every culture on earth has recognized that there is something greater than man or greater than life. Every culture has its deities. They may not believe in the right God, but there is a general, natural inborn need for God and a belief that He exists. It takes an effort to put Him out of one's thoughts and that is what makes pride such an evil sin.

Won't you set aside your pride today and admit that there is a God, that you have sinned against Him, and that only He can save you? Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life; No man comes to the Father but by me." He paid for your sins when He died on the cross. Now, He expects you to put away your pride, humble yourself before Him and receive the free gift of salvation. Your pride tells you that you must earn His love, but the only way to be forgiven and saved is by His grace. There is no other way.

Before The Throne:

Put aside your pride and humble yourself in the presence of your Lord. Confess your sins and be assured that He will forgive you. Praise Him for being a sovereign God who has control over all things, for being the One to whom you can turn for the solutions to any problems. Thank Him for the honor of being His servant. Ask Him to help you be more serious about serving Him. Spend some time meditating on His word and acknowledging all of His supernatural attributes. Bow down and worship Him, for there is no other like Him.

For Further Study:

(v.4) ** the pride. Psa 18:27; 101:5; Prov 6:17; 21:4; 30:13; Isa 2:11; 3:9; ** will not. Psa 14:2; 27:8; Exod 5:2; Deut 8:14; Job 22:17; Prov 30:9; Jer 2:31; Dan 5:22-23; Zeph 2:3; ** God. Psa 14:1; 53:1; Eph 2:12; ** thoughts. Gen 6:5; Isa 59:7; 65:2; Jer 4:14; Mark 7:21; Acts 8:22; Rom 1:21, 28;