The fool hath in his heart denied

Verse 1
The Fool hath in his Heart denied (Ps. 14:1, Ps. 53:1)
That Being whom his Deeds defied:
Corrupt is the whole Human Race, (Ps. 14:1)
Not One his Maker-GOD obeys, (Rom. 3:10-12)
Plung’d in the Depth of Adam’s Fall, (Gen. 3:6-19, Rom. 5:12)
Death, Wrath, and Curse o’rewhelm them all.

Verse 2
Jehovah from his Throne survey’d
The Creatures whom his Hands had made, (Ps. 14:2, Ps. 53:2)
Nor could his All-discerning Eye
One less corrupted Soul espy, (Ps. 14:3)
Willing his Sovereign Lord to own,
Or humbly seek a GOD Unknown.

Verse 3
They all have left the Heavenly Way, (Rom. 3:12)
And gone in Actual Sin astray, (Ps. 14:3)
Wholly corrupt and born in Sin, (Ps. 14:3, Ps. 51:5)
Atheists, and Beasts and Fiends within,
Not One, till from above renew’d,
Or does, or wills the smallest Good. (Ps. 14:3, Rom. 3:10-11, Rom. 7:18)

Verse 4
Their Brethren turn’d by Grace Divine
They hate and spitefully malign:
Their Throat is as an open Grave, (Rom. 3:13, Ps. 5:9)
Their Tongues are practis’d to deceive,
Their Lips with Adder’s Poison swell, (Rom. 3:13, Ps. 140:3)
Their Tongues are set on fire of Hell. (James 3:6)

Verse 5
Their Mouth is full of bitterest Lies, (Rom. 3:14)
Slanders, and Oaths, and Perjuries;
Swift are their Feet to shed the Blood (Rom. 3:15, Prov. 6:17, Isa. 59:7)
Of all the faithful Sons of GOD:
They own Apollyon for their King (Rev. 9:11)
And Death is in their Scorpion Sting. (Rev. 9:10)

Verse 6
Their Ways to swift Destruction tend; (Rom. 3:16)
And sure Damnation is their End;
Their Life is Sin and Misery,
Their Hearts are all a troubled Sea, (Isa. 57:20)
Nor can they rest a Moment here,
For GOD they neither love nor fear. (Rom. 3:18, Ps. 36:1)

Verse 7
Poor desperate Souls! they will not know (Ps. 14:4)
That Tophet yawns for them below, (Isa. 30:33, Jer. 7:31-32)
Who exercise their hellish Power
To hurt, my People and devour, (Ps. 14:4, Ps. 53:4)
But e’er to mention GOD disdain, (Ps. 14:4)
Unless to take my Name in vain. (Ex. 20:7, Deut. 5:11, Ps. 139:20)

Verse 8
Poor guilty Souls! they fear, they fly, (Ps. 14:5)
And fall with no Pursuer nigh, (Lev. 26:17, Lev. 26:36, Prov. 28:1)
Who mock’d the Councel of the Poor, (Ps. 14:6)
And vow’d his Ruin to ensure,
Revil’d the Lord’s Afflicted One,
The Man that hop’d in GOD alone. (Ps. 22:7-8)

Verse 9
But O, thou humbled Soul, look up,
A glad Partaker of thy Hope! (I Cor. 9:10)
The Lord hath thy Beseigers shook, (Ps. 14:7)
And all their Bones to pieces broke, (Ps. 53:5)
Thy Foes are put to endless Shame,
And Jesus is thy Saviour’s Name! (Matt. 1:21)

Verse 10
O that to All by Sin opprest
The Lord would give his perfect Rest, (Matt. 11:28-29, Heb. 4:9)
[unfinished]

Hymnal/Album: Originally titled: “Psalm XIV.” This hymn appears in the ca. 1749 manuscript “MS Psalms.” This manuscript is part of the collection of the Methodist Archive and Research Centre in The John Rylands Library, The University of Manchester (accession number MA 1977/553, Charles Wesley Notebooks Box 1). Accessed through the website of The Center for Studies in the Wesleyan Tradition, Duke Divinity School.Introduced in Versions and Paraphrases of Select Psalms. Published in The Poetical Works of John and Charles Wesley, Collected and Arranged by G. Osborn, Vol. 8 (London: Wesleyan-Methodist Conference Office, 1870), page 25.
Publishing: Public Domain