Daily in the Psalms : Psalm 11 UNSHAKEN CONFIDENCE IN GOD In the LORD put I my trust: How say ye to my soul, Flee as a bird to your mountain? For, lo, the wicked bend their bow, they make ready their arrow upon the string, that they may privily shoot at the upright in heart. If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do? The LORD is in his holy temple, the LORD’s throne is in heaven: his eyes behold, his eyelids try, the children of men. The LORD trieth the righteous: but the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth. Upon the wicked he shall rain snares, fire and brimstone, and an horrible tempest: this shall be the portion of their cup. For the righteous LORD loveth righteousness; his countenance doth behold the upright. Psalms 11:1-7 In this Psalm we find the Psalmist in circumstances of great moral dilemma and personal danger. With a hero’s confidence, he stands his ground, trusting God. Humanly speaking, there are reasons for the Psalmist to despair and run in the face of conflict. IT IS A DESPERATE SITUATION - He is facing an enemy that is ready to take his life; they are ready to shed his blood. THEIR PLANS ARE EVIL - They will secretly strike in a deadly manner. THERE SEEMS TO BE NO DEFENSE - The question is asked as if everything that could be done has been done and all is lost. The enemy has nothing to fear of him, there is no need for them to pause and consider right or justice. They will come at him with all of their force and there is nothing that he can do about it. He might as well run for his life, the foundations of his hope have been destroyed. The message that Satan gives to the Christian in times of trial is that the way of righteousness has failed and that the way of the wicked has prevailed. This is how the Devil gets to Godly to flee instead of standing and fighting. When we lose our hope in the way of righteousness, there is nothing left but disorder and confusion. There is nothing left for the Christian when he feels that the principles of righteousness are false. We build our faith on the principles of God’s Law and His order for our lives. When that is gone, there is no hope. The Psalmist says, “It might look bad and my enemies may think that they will win, but my feet are on the True Rock. There is no need for me to run or look for safety elsewhere.” The resolve of this man was unshaken, even in his darkest hour. What were the sources of his confidence? It may seem to us that God has deserted His place, but He has not! God is far above all earthly force and Hellish power. God’s is higher and mightier that all! The fixed and penetrating look of God is the foundation of our faith. He sees everything! The mention of His eyelids is significant here because when we want to focus our eyesight, we draw our eyelids together in order that our vision might be more concentrated. When God does that, it is as though it were one mighty ray, piercing completely through an object. Every move of man is open to the all-seeing eye of God. He searches every move of the just and the unjust alike. He knows every action and every thought of the enemy. Not just His enemies, but the enemies of His people also. He knows all their secrets, all their strategies, and in due time he will confound them THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD The LORD trieth the righteous: but the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth. Psalms 11:5 This is not merely a dislike; God hates the wicked with all of His perfect and holy nature. This is where the Christian can find his rest. The righteousness and goodness of all men may fail, but God remains good and righteous. The Church may fail to stand for the truth, the leaders may cease to be just, the priests may cease to be good, and the king may cease to be honorable, but God ever liveth, is all-wise, is completely just, and is incomparably good and in Him we can place our confidence. Upon the wicked he shall rain snares, fire and brimstone, and an horrible tempest: this shall be the portion of their cup. For the righteous LORD loveth righteousness; his countenance doth behold the upright. Psalms 11:6-7 The face of God shall not always be hidden from the Godly by the ungodliness of the wicked. The hope of victory may grow dim in the midst of our trials, the warm rays of His light might become hard for us to see, and our trial may seem like a morning without clouds. But God is still the same and He is still on His throne; He will manifest His glory in His own time. Sooner or later our faith, principles, and hope will be tested. The Bible says that some will be tried by fire. …Flee as a bird to your mountain? Psalms 11:1 We are to flee those that try to tell us that all hope is gone, those that seek to add to our despair. We may have to yield to our circumstances, but we do not have to yield to those that try to persuade us to lose our hope in God. Flee from them as quickly as possible. The man that does not trust in God has a voice of selfishness, is shortsighted and cowardly. He does not ask, “What is right?” The first thing he asks is, “What is safe?” These words may sound good, but they are unworthy of our consideration. Those that place their confidence in God need never count their enemies; we are more than conquerors in Him. Trusting in God, a sparrow can become an eagle, mounting above the storm and delighting in the eternal brightness of His face HOPE LOST If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do? Psalms 11:3 The Psalmist was determined to trust in God, but the voices all around him were hopeless. Because of the shear number of those that lose hope, the confidence of the Christian can seem extreme and unreasonable. That is why Satan sends the trials, to cause us to join the ranks of the hopeless. If we only look at the Egyptians rushing toward the Red Sea, the expectations of the righteous for deliverance can seem a little unreasonable. When we see the seemingly abounding success of the wicked all around us, again our expectations for victory can seem a little premature. The faithless become alarmed and began to cry that the foundations have been destroyed and that the minority has no chance against the vast majority. Their cry is not to fight, but to flee and forsake the battle. They cannot see the logic in struggling against an inevitable defeat. In such a situation it does not seem possible that we and our circumstances can become sanctified and used by God. It does not seem reasonable to love the Lord with all of our heart in the face of overwhelming trouble. If all we can see is sure destruction and even death, is it reasonable to have grand hopes? The hopeless feel as though the foundations are destroyed and that rational confidence should also be destroyed. But the faith and confidence of the true Christian is in the God that never fails. He is our root that is strong and deep. In the world’s eyes, nothing was left, but under those earthly foundations are the eternal foundations of God. The LORD is in his holy temple, the LORD’s throne is in heaven: his eyes behold, his eyelids try, the children of men. The LORD trieth the righteous: but the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth. Psalms 11:4-5 The power of God and the truth of God is the everlasting rock of the saved; upon that Rock does our confidence rest. When the expectations of the Godly seem most wild to the world; that is when we can rest more securely in Him. Our hope is in God who has promised deliverance in our deepest trials. When the wicked seem to triumph, God will vindicate His people. He will shatter the proud with the rod of iron and bring forth His own without spot or wrinkle. He will lift us from the mire of defeat to the glory and honor of Himself. In the LORD put I my trust: How say ye to my soul, Flee as a bird to your mountain? Psalms 11:1 David stands firm: he will not accept the counsel of those that encourage him to flee.
We Must Stand Firm When Trials Come And We Know That Our Path Is The Will Of God Sometimes We Must Withdraw From Some Conflicts As we read the Bible we find that there are times when we need to flee trials – When standing will cause us to get out of God’s will, When the testimony of our faith is already proven, and when the cause of God is best served by not fighting. Our Standards Of Conduct Must Always Be Regulated By God. We must know that He is always in control, we must always obey His Word, and we must always be sensitive to the Holy Spirit.
So Glad To Be So Saved
Danny "Preacher" Bezet |