Charles Ellicott Commentary Psalms 14:5

"There were they in great fear; For God is in the generation of the righteous." — Psalms 14:5 (ASV)

There were they. —Literally, there they feared a fear, that is, terror overtook them. Psalms 53:5 adds, which was no fear. The local word “there” brings the scene before us as if in a picture. We see them there before us, these wicked men; there, in the midst of their intrigues, their exactions, or their pleasures, the hand of God seizes them, and behold, they are struck with fear. Evidently, we do not have any indication here to identify a particular event. Whether the addition in Psalm 53:5 provides any such indication is discussed in the commentary on that psalm.

For God is. —For the singular variation in Psalm 53:5, consult the note on Psalm 14:5 in the commentary on Psalm 53. The uneasy sense that, after all, the good have God on their side—this general truth is implied in the phrase “generations of the righteous,” even if first applied to faithful Israel—is always a cause of fear to the wicked.