November 13
Reading: Psalm 11
To the choirmaster. Of David.
1 In the LORD I take refuge;
how can you say to my soul, “Flee like a bird to your mountain,
2 for behold, the wicked bend the bow;
they have fitted their arrow to the string
to shoot in the dark at the upright in heart;
3 if the foundations are destroyed,
what can the righteous do?”
4 The LORD is in his holy temple;
the LORD’s throne is in heaven;
his eyes see, his eyelids test the children of man.
5 The LORD tests the righteous,
but his soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence.
6 Let him rain coals on the wicked;
fire and sulfur and a scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup.
7 For the LORD is righteous; he loves righteous deeds;
the upright shall behold his face.
The 11th Psalm is short, full of meaning, and powerful. It is imprecatory (a curse on the wicked, vs. 7) and it is a lament (vs. 1) and it is a question that moves to an answer that moves on to praise.
The language that David uses in this psalm are both beautiful and famous. The first three verses constitute one great question involving two metaphorical pictures. The first picture is of my soul that is like a bird on the wing being chased by an arrow in the dark. Have you ever felt like this? According to David, at times, this is the experience of those who are upright in heart.
How uncertain and dangerous life sometimes seems; and how vulnerable we feel. With the next metaphor this feeling moves on to my whole life. If the foundations of this building that I am working on are destroyed… well, what then?
I think of the foundations of our entire society that the wicked have been hammering away at for years and years. We used to know that marriage was for life and we used to know that killing unborn babies was wrong. It used to be clear that there were men and there were women and we used to have respect for our elders. God was honored in our politics and we could pray in public. Now it seems that no one knows what is right and what is wrong. What can the righteous do?
I feel like this almost every day.
But, verse 4 instantly transports us into ultimate, eternal reality. The Lord is in His Temple. God is on His throne. Appearances are deceiving. You and are not looking at the whole picture, but God sees all.
The judgment of the Almighty will destroy the wicked and vindicate the righteous. The person who perseveres in faith, loving God and serving Him will someday see Him face to face. I think of 1 John 3:1-3.
See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.
Do you get discouraged sometimes by the wickedness of the world and the attacks on people who love God? David did as well. This is why you need to be in the Psalms. He answers our struggles.