Problem: This text says plainly that “these nations feared the Lord” (cf. v. 32). Yet this same passage claims that they “served their own gods” (v. 33). Isn’t this a flat contradiction?

Solution: Not all verbal contradictions are actual contradictions

Expanded from [Ps. 53:5](Psalm_53.5.php:
Psalm 53:5
—Doesn’t this verse contradict itself?
Problem:
The psalmist said, “they are in great fear where no fear was.” But how could they be in fear if there was no fear there?
Solution:
The Bible critic here manifests two serious flaws—utter presumption that the biblical writer was so stupid as to contradict himself in the same sentence, and complete ignorance of the fact that the same word is often used in different senses, even in the same sentence. For example, “You know
perfectly
well that you do not know anything
perfectly.
” (See also comments on
Prov. 26:4–5
and
Phil. 3:15
.) The meaning in this psalm is captured by the
niv
: “There they were, overwhelmed with dread, where there was nothing to dread.”

). This is a good example of using the same word (“fear”) in different senses (see also comments on 1 John 4:18). The contrasting senses in which they feared God is revealed in verse 41: “So these nations feared the Lord, yet served their carved images.” In other words, they feared God in general, but not on this particular matter. They did not cease being monotheists, but they were idolatrous ones.