A Devotional Thought From Psalm 11
Psalm 11
To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.
1 In the Lord put I my trust:
How say ye to my soul,
Flee as a bird to your mountain?
2 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.
3 If the foundations be destroyed,
What can the righteous do?
4 The Lord is in his holy temple,
The Lord’s throne is in heaven:
His eyes behold,
His eyelids try, the children of men.
5 The Lord trieth the righteous:
But the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth.
6 Upon the wicked he shall rain snares, fire and brimstone,
And an horrible tempest: this shall be the portion of their cup.
7 For the righteous Lord loveth righteousness;
His countenance doth behold the upright.
What do you do when the foundations fail?
That is the question that David asked in this Psalm
Psalm 11:3
If the foundations be destroyed,
What can the righteous do?
What do you do when the foundations of society are crumbling around you?
What do you say when you can no longer even have a civilized discussion? What happens when everybody hates those with whom they disagree?
How will anything ever get fixed?
When the government can’t function what can be done? Probably a lot more actually, they seem to dirty everything the politicians touch. (Sorry, Let me get back on track.)
When the foundations of your life are crumbling beneath your feet, what is your response?
Your marriage has been shattered on the rocks or your being evicted from your home or the doctor delivered some bad news, what do you do when the foundations are destroyed?
I believe that David answered that question with three possible responses.
Option 1 – When the foundations are destroyed you can flee.
I believe that when David was inspired to pen this Psalm he was being threatened by king Saul. David was given some advice from well meaning friends.
Psalm 11:1
“…How say ye to my soul,
Flee as a bird to your mountain?”
Their advice was run away. Get out of here, run to the mountains, hide in a cave. Surrender the fight and flee, give up and go! What can be done anyway, the foundations are destroyed?
When our world has been shaken we could just stop being salt and light to society and hide under a bushel basket.
We can stop trying to stand for things that are right and avoid the much needed conversations. Why not? The foundations are destroyed.
When our marriage is on the rocks we can find someone else, after all the foundations are destroyed anyway.
People are mean, life is hard. Let’s just quit investing in people and push every difficult person out of our lives.
Perhaps we should sell all our stocks, stock up our basements and hide from the world.
Stop trying, you might get hurt.
Stop investing, you might lose.
Don’t get your hopes up, you might be disappointed.
When our foundations are destroyed we can wipe our hands and say I’m done. That is option 1.
Option 2 – When the foundations are destroyed we can fear
I believe that David’s advisors are warning him in our text about Saul’s attempts upon the psalmist’s life.
Psalm 11: 2
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.
“A concealed assassin could be aiming his arrow at you now David. They could be out of sight and ready to shoot. How could you know? How could you prevent their attack? You couldn’t!”
When the foundations are destroyed, we could live in constant fear. We could worry and stress until our minds are a mess. We can pop pills, build moonshine stills and try to numb our stress filled minds. That is option 2.
Option 3 – If the foundations be destroyed we can find a firm foundation.
Psalm 11:4
The Lord is in his holy temple,
The Lord’s throne is in heaven:
His eyes behold,
His eyelids try, the children of men.
David’s answer to their advice was to reject it. Instead of fleeing in fear he chose to move his life to a firmer foundation.
David observed that God was on his throne. He is unmoved by earth’s quakes.
If your foundation’s be destroyed, then find a foundation that can’t crumble. Build your life on the solid rock!
There is one phrase that I truly love in verse 4.
His eyelids try, the children of men
Whenever we focus, we narrow our eyelids.
I believe this verse is telling us that God is more than observing but focusing, interested in our lives. God is involved and invested in you.
You may not see the archers but he can! You may not know what is around the corner but he does!
Psalm 11: 5 The Lord trieth the righteous:
But the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth.
Your shaken world will be used by your Lord to try you and strengthen your foundations in him.
Psalm 11:6 Upon the wicked he shall rain snares, fire and brimstone,
And an horrible tempest: this shall be the portion of their cup.
God judges the sin for sure, but let us never forget that our Lord took the cup of judgement himself so that all that come to him can share in the firm foundation that only he can provide.
Psalm 11:7 For the righteous Lord loveth righteousness;
His countenance doth behold the upright.
If your foundations are destroyed then by faith glimpse up into Heaven and see that the face of your Father is looking back your way in love!
I choose option 3
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