The Word: Psalm 11:1-7
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 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 sulfur;
a scorching wind will be their lot.
7 For the Lord is righteous,
he loves justice;
the upright will see his face.
By Jason Scherzer
Background.
David, the author of Psalm 11, was the first good king of Israel, in the human sense. But David was not the first king of Israel. King Saul, the first, became jealous of David, to the point of an obsession, when David became known as exceedingly successful in battle. After David had killed the Philistine in battle, the women came out from all the towns to meet King Saul with singing and dancing. What king would not be pleased with the celebration? The problem for Saul was, the song went like this: “Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands.” -1 Samuel 18:7.
Saul became very angry and jealous toward David because David was receiving more recognition, more honor, more credit. Saul started to worry that David would get the kingdom from him, and he started to watch David closely. Do you remember when Saul threw a spear at David, thinking he could pin him to the wall, on two occasions, that David escaped? Very possibly it was at this time that the LORD gave David these words:
“For look, the wicked bend their bows;
they set their arrows against the strings
to shoot from the shadows
at the upright in heart. (Psalm 11:2)
they set their arrows against the strings
to shoot from the shadows
at the upright in heart. (Psalm 11:2)
Saul’s heart goes from bad to worse against David. He was afraid of David, because clearly the Lord was with David, and had departed from Saul for his previous deliberate disobedience and rejection of the way of the Lord. First Saul tries to ensnare David by giving him a daughter in marriage. Next Saul plots how to have David killed by the Philistines in battle. When this doesn’t pan out according to plan, Saul tries to convince his son Jonathan to go against David.
David’s response to all of this opposition and plotting against his life is not our typical, fallen human nature, which would seek revenge. Actually, David had several opportunities in which he could have taken Saul’s life, but he determined not to touch the Lord’s anointed one. In Psalm 11:1, the psalmist (David! A very imperfect man, yet the psalmist) makes a declaration that he has taken refuge in the Lord, and therefore he has no need to flee like a scared bird. It is a perfect, beautiful response of both humility (the Lord is the refuge, not David), and confidence: Since the Lord is like a fortress, David is fearless whether he is on the battlefield fighting Philistines, or dancing before the Lord with all the people. The Living Bible (a paraphrase), renders Psalm 11:1 quite emphatically: “HOW DARE YOU to tell me, ‘Flee to the mountains for safety,’ when I am trusting in the Lord?” The psalmist shows how trustworthy, strong, and right the Lord is the one who makes the Lord their refuge.
But it was not so easy for David to keep his confidence in the Lord at all times: the wicked shot arrows at him “from the shadows”, or from a position of ambush. David had hundreds of warrior men faithful to him, that would have followed him to fight against Saul if David had so commanded. How tempting it must have been to take vengeance against such a wrong, misguided, murderous king. Yet David kept his head lifted up, gaze fixed upon the Lord, because he knew, “The Lord is in His holy temple” Psalm 11:4, not just a temple made by human hands, but the very dwelling of the Lord in heaven, that He shares with those who love Him.
Indeed, “There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells. God is within her, she will not fall. God will help her at break of day.” -Psalm 46:4-5
David realized by the Spirit of God, that it was not his place to fight, judge, and punish his enemies, whether they be Saul’s group, or Philistines, or others. (Psalm 11:5-6).
The meditation, day and night of this psalmist, is 3 distinct truths that are contained in verse 7:
1. God is righteous
Every action of God is thoroughly right from start to finish. There is no hiding in the shadows with God. There is no trying to trap enemies. He makes the sun to shine on the righteous and the wicked; He is fair in all His dealings.
2. God loves justice
By His perfect character, beyond what we can fully comprehend, God perfectly love justice, and carries it out in His timing, in His way. He does what is fair, and we ought not to think that God has dealt unfairly with us in any way at all. He can deal justly in every case because He never lacks wisdom. The end result was that Saul was removed from being king, and David was anointed as king by the prophet Samuel.
3. The upright will see His face
David wanted to seek the Lord in His temple, to behold the beauty of the Lord (Psalm 63:2) – Saul wanted to see himself recognized.
Application
Is God still good when good people face opposition, trouble, and heartaches? You bet He is! He has never changed, and He never will change. Immutable means that God is constant in every aspect of His character and attributes. Today, people who reject the ways of the Lord are not so much using bow and arrow. But the sinfulness of the human heart is the same: try to ensnare, trap, and harm anyone who is perceived to be the enemy, while pursuing selfish gain.
Have you been treated unfairly by someone who should know better? Don’t they know that God plans to bless you? We will not be able to convince someone to stop mistreating us. Instead, real strength is proven by a true worshipper of God who gives God enough space to do His mighty works: What is beyond what we can ask or imagine, according to His mighty power working in us. (Ephesians 3:20)
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