Psalm 11
God-Centered Confidence
There are many in the church who are suffering from cultural whiplash. At one point those who were devoutly Christian were esteemed by the wider population. Then a subtle shift occurred and they were viewed more neutrally. Now those who hold faithfully to the God’s word are seen negatively.
The foundations many in the church were so used to have not just shifted but been torn down.
And what do we do now? Do we retreat? Do we find safety out of sight and in the shadows? Do we hide under the bushel?
This Psalm is built around these same fears of a society in flux, but in it, we see the King confront it with God-centered confidence inviting us to remember our God’s whose reign is eternal and unshakeable.
For the director of music. Of David.
1 In the Lord I take refuge.
How then can you say to me:
‘Flee like a bird to your mountain.
2 For look, the wicked bend their bows;
they set their arrows against the strings
to shoot from the shadows
at the upright in heart.
3 When the foundations are being destroyed,
what can the righteous do?’
4 The Lord is in his holy temple;
the Lord is on his heavenly throne.
He observes everyone on earth;
his eyes examine them.
5 The Lord examines the righteous,
but the wicked, those who love violence,
he hates with a passion.
6 On the wicked he will rain
fiery coals and burning sulphur;
a scorching wind will be their lot.
7 For the Lord is righteous,
he loves justice;
the upright will see his face.
As we begin this Psalm, it’s almost as if we have stepped into a debate between King David and one of his advisers. God’s anointed King is once more under threat. And one of his advisers is counselling him to step away not just from the fight and suffering but also his God-appointed rule.
And when we hear his analysis of the situation, it does seem overwhelming. Arrows are targeted at the hearts of God’s people. The foundations of their shared life are not decaying but being actively destroyed.
Yet David is emphatic. His trust is in his covenant God, the LORD. He knows his God and the purposes to which he has been called.
This is just like Jesus after telling his disciples that he would have to suffer and die. Peter didn’t just try to counsel him away from that path but rebuked Christ. Jesus’s response was striking, “Get behind me Satan” (Matt 16.23).
We can also hear these whispers tempting us to walk away from the ways of Jesus and our heavenly purpose. Even from the well meaning.
The eternal determines our earthly concerns. Never the other way around. David’s advisers and Christ’s disciples showed a lack of understanding about their King’s mission and the God they served.
Unbelief is allergic to suffering for it focuses on the earthly, taking its eye off the eternal. But true faith embraces suffering for Jesus. For it embraces the suffering Christ, who himself embraced the shame of the cross knowing the unbridled joy that awaited him and his people (Hebrews 12.2).
David does not retreat to the mountains but retreats to his Big God theology. He reminds his advisers, his people and his own soul that God is bigger than anything this world can throw at him.
God:
rules from his heavenly throne room (v4a)
knows and sees all things, nothing escaping his attention (v4b)
hates the architects of wicked schemes and authors of violence who corrupt his world (v5)
will purge the evil from the world by punishing the wicked in righteousness (v6; see Genesis 19.24)
is righteous and loves the righteous (v7)
Here David remembers the Reality behind the reality he sees. He knows a truer Truth. It’s like the vision John sees, when the veil is pulled back and God is on his throne ruling and reigning with all authority (Revelation 4). More than that, John sees that the one seated with him on the throne is the Lamb. The Lamb who was slain is now the Lamb who reigns (Revelation 5.6).
But most precious and awesome is that we shall behold the face of God (v7c). We will see him in all his glory and beauty. We will gaze upon his manifold perfections, worshipping him in the multicoloured splendour of his holiness.
Glory be to the Father, the eternal refuge of the righteous.
Glory be to the Son, the suffering King who summons us into his joy.
Glory be to the Spirit, who carries our prayers into the heavenly throne room.