“Hide, or Seek?”

Transcript

JR 27
9/24/2023
“Hide, or Seek?”
Psalm 11
Jesse Randolph

Alright. Well, welcome back. As we look ahead to Jonah, we will be in the Old Testament, as I mentioned tonight. We’ll be in Psalm 11 this evening. And next Sunday night we’ll be in Psalm 93. But, why don’t you go ahead and turn to Psalm 11, and I’ll go ahead and make some preparatory remarks, as we get ready to get into the book. As you know, if you’ve spent any time in the scriptures, the Psalms are really God’s divine Old Testament hymnbook. The Psalter, which is comprised of 150 psalms or songs, is incredibly diverse in its content. You have in the Book of Psalms the wisdom psalms; you have thanksgiving psalms; you have psalms of lament; you have psalms of ascent; you have royal psalms, prophetic psalms, imprecatory psalms. I won’t go through the definitions of each of those, but there’s just a diverse body of literature within the psalms themselves. The psalms were written by various human authors. The Holy Spirit moved each of them. But, you know, King David wrote many psalms. Asaph wrote several psalms. Several psalms were written by the sons of Korah. Solomon wrote two psalms. Moses wrote one psalm. Others were written anonymously. In other words, the psalms really cover the waterfront, in terms of their authorship; and their variety of authorship, their variety of style, their meaning, their purpose, the author’s intent. And that’s going to bring us to where we’ll be tonight, in Psalm 11.

Let’s go ahead and get our eyes on Psalm 11. I’ll read the full psalm, and then we’ll work through it line by line. Psalm 11, God’s word reads “For the choir director. A Psalm of David. In the Lord I take refuge; how can you say to my soul, ‘Flee as a bird to your mountain; for, behold, the wicked bend the bow, they make ready their arrow upon the string to shoot in darkness at the upright in heart. If the foundations are 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 test the sons of men. The Lord tests the righteous and the wicked, and the one who loves violence His soul hates. Upon the wicked He will rain snares; fire and brimstone and burning wind will be the portion of their cup. For the Lord is righteous, He loves righteousness; the upright will behold His face.”

Now, we don’t know the precise context of this Psalm here. We don’t have a date stamp on it. There’s no indication that this Psalm was written on such-and-such date, in such-and-such a year, and such-and-such a place. But the Psalm does indicate that it has an author, David. We see that right above the superscription, right above Psalm 1, where it says, “For the choir director”, that’s inspired scripture, “A Psalm of David.” And as we piece together the history of the life of David from other places in scripture, whether that be in 1 and 2 Samuel, or 1 Chronicles, one specific phase of David’s life stands out. One specific phase of David’s life seems to fit with what’s being described here in Psalm 11, and that would be the earlier days of David’s involvement in King Saul’s court. Right? That was a very brief period in David’s earlier years. And you’ll recall, if you’ve read your Old Testament, that was a season in which David was experiencing the unique blessing and favor of God in many different ways. This was soon after he had slain the giant, Goliath. And that was, of course, a stunning and an unexpected victory, one that made David famous among the people of God at that time. You’ll remember that it was after David’s victory over Goliath that the people of Israel were chanting his name above Saul’s name.
In 1 Samuel 18:7 it says, “The women sang as they played, and said, ‘Saul has slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands’.” Catchy little ditty. And of course Saul, being the prideful ruler that he was, didn’t like that. 1 Samuel 18:9 tells us that “Saul looked at David with suspicion from that day on.”
Not only was Saul suspicious, though. He was angry, and he was insecure, and he was afraid. He was afraid of the love that the Israelite people had for David. He was afraid of the love his own son, Jonathan, had as a friend of David’s. He was afraid of the love that his own daughter had, who married David. And his insecurity and his fear and his anger led Saul to concoct a few different schemes to knock off David. None of which worked. And his anger and his insecurity and his fear led Saul to throw at least a few spears, a few javelins, in David’s direction. None of which stuck. They were all thrown for this young man, David, who was not just any man, but who, at this point, had been set apart as the very anointed of God. And it never worked, because God had anointed David. God had blessed David. Whenever God would bless David, we would see Saul in these accounts, in 1st and 2nd Samuel especially, we’d see in these accounts that Saul’s anger and his insecurity and his fear would ratchet up, leading to even more schemes—and more updated schemes—to try to take David down. And that all is the context, I believe, for what’s happening here in Psalm 11. As David was, yet again, being chased down, either by Saul himself, or by one of Saul’s henchmen.

And then the immediate context of this Psalm, Psalm 11, as we’re about to see as we work through these seven verses, is apparently David had been visited by somebody. A friend of sorts, a counselor of sorts. Somebody who’s anonymous to us but, who is a person who clearly was on David’s side. And this visitor who comes to David here is in a serious state of worry, even frenzy. We can envision this person running up to David’s doorstep, and sort of catching his breath, as he needs to share the news he has to share with David. We can picture his lips, maybe quivering, his words sort of stammering out as he’s trying to get out what he needs to get out. He’s advising David, here in Psalm 11, to flee, to head for the hills, to cut and run.

And this Psalm, in turn, is David’s answer to that person who’s on his doorstep. These words here are David’s answer to his counselor, I would say his friend, and his counselor’s words of despair and discouragement. This Psalm, in other words, represents one man’s, David’s, processing of his options as he decides between faith and flight. As he decides between hiding from men who sought to do him harm, and seeking the God he knew—the God he knew was there. And that’s the title for this evening’s message, “Hide, or Seek?” I’ve been praying all week that this message, this sermon, would challenge and encourage and bless anyone here who is facing any sort of crisis, or trial, or difficulty. And who might be experiencing thoughts, or feelings, or temptations, simply to run and hide. Or to pack it in; or to fold up shop; or to flee. If that describes you, consider the words of David here. Because you really do have an ally in this man, “a man after God’s own heart,” who went through similar seasons of wrestling and battling and struggling. And who came out if it, on the other side, as we’re going to see, with this renewed and resolved trust in God. The same God that we, as followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, obey and worship today.

So, the Psalm we’ll be looking at, Psalm 11, breaks into three parts. In verse 1, we’re going to see the confidence, as in David’s confidence. And then, the end of verse 1 through verse 3, we’ll see the counsel. And then in verses 4-7, we’ll see the conclusion. So, it’s the confidence; then we’ll see the counsel; then we’ll see the conclusion.

Let’s start with the confidence. In the very beginning here, in verse 1, it says, “In the Lord I take refuge.” So, right out of the gate, David leaves no question and no doubt as to where he stands, and as to whose side he’s on. Or, better stated, Who is on his side. To the worried, and frenzied, and doom-and gloom counselor who is about to urge him to flee, it’s almost as if David right here in verse 1, is putting his hand up and saying, “Enough, stop.” He’s putting up the peremptory stop sign and saying, “I know where I stand, and I know what’s happening here.” It’s as though he’s signaling to the person who is going to encourage him to flee, “Why flee when I can trust? Why hide when I can seek?” As we look at this initial assertion there in verse 1, “In the Lord I take refuge,” we note that David begins here by announcing that it is in the Lord in whom he finds refuge; it’s in the Lord in whom he finds his trust. David’s opening words here, there’s only six of them in our English bibles, present these statements of conviction and trust and assurance. He’s testifying here that he is already in the safest place possible. His confidence rests in a God who is faithful to His own name, and faithful to His promises.

Now, people in the world today are seeking confidence in all sorts of other people and places. In relationships, in government leaders, in political parties, in bank accounts, in prescriptions.
In . . . you name it. But the truth is, and has been, from time immemorial, that the God of heaven is man’s one true hope of refuge. Psalm 5:11 says, “But let all who take refuge in You be glad, let them ever sing for joy; and may You shelter them.” Psalm 46:1, familiar psalm, this was the psalm Luther looked at when he wrote “A Mighty Fortress is our God”, says, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore, we will not fear.” Or Psalm 91:1-4 says, “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say to the Lord, ‘My refuge and my fortress, My God, in whom I trust!’ For it is He who delivers you from the snare of the trapper and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with His pinions, and under His wings you may seek refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and a bulwark.” No boyfriend, no bottle, no bank account could ever provide that degree of shelter or safety. God, and God alone, is our shelter, our shade, our covering, our canopy, our refuge. Only those who hide themselves in Him can find true safety.

And look at the next few words of verse 1, David says, “How can you say to my soul.” Those are still the words of David here; David still speaking, more accurately. David is actually questioning them. This is an interrogative question, where David is expressing his wonder. He’s describing a state of being dumbfounded about the counsel that’s about to be offered. “How can you say?” So, it phrases the question here. David really here is making a statement. He’s saying to his counselor here, “you should not say.” David’s words here are directed to this timid or desponding counselor. And, by the way, and I’ve said it already, but this is no enemy that David is addressing here. This is, I believe, a friend. Somebody who apparently believed, for the sake of his friend David, that there is no longer any hope or safety for David. This was an upright person who recognized that David was in a tenuous position of some sort, who believed that David’s life here was in danger. And so he’s telling David, “Get out! It’s time to go. It’s time to flee. It’s time to fly out of here.” The friend here saw David in a position of danger, and he wanted to rescue him and get him out of harm’s way. So, he advises him to run; probably to the wilderness in the south, where David already knew of all the hiding places, where he could protect himself from his enemies.

Well, for David, running was not an option. Look again at verse 1, “In the Lord I take refuge.” That’s David’s way of preemptively repudiating the idea that he would or should flee, or that he would, or he should run. Because to do so, in David’s case, would be to defy his faith in the Lord. In the midst of the trouble he faced, David knew that he didn’t need to run to the hills for safety. He knew, rather, that the one place he could flee for true safety, and for true protection, was to the Lord. He knew, as he said in a different Psalm, Psalm 16:1, that what he needed to do in a situation like this, was to pray. When he actually prayed in that Psalm, “Preserve me, O God, for I take refuge in You.” The point is that David’s confidence was in the Lord, and he was committed to maintaining this unshakeable and unwavering trust in the Lord.

And note, I keep using the word “Lord” here. But it’s not just any “Lord,” or any “God,” in whom David was putting in place, in his trust. No, you’ll see that the name “Lord” there is in all capitals in verse 1. Which is communicating to us that this is “Yahweh” of whom David is speaking. God’s very name. The name God declared was His name to Moses, back in Exodus 3. Meaning, “I Am WHO I AM.” By His very name God revealed that He is all sufficient, that He is in need of nothing. That we have nothing that we can bring to the table that would meet any needs of His, or fill any inadequacies in Him, because there are none. No, God is autonomous; God is independent; God is transcendent. He’s immutable, He’s forever the same. That’s all wrapped up in the meaning of His name, “I Am WHO I AM.” This is a doctrine known as the aseity of God. A-S-E-I-T-Y, the self-existence of God. Which means He’s self-contained, He’s self-sufficient. There are no needs outside of God that a mere earthly creature, like you or I, could fill in Him. We are totally dependent creatures. He is totally independent and self-existent.

It was that “Lord,” Yahweh, that David here says in whom he has taken refuge; in whom he seeks shelter; in whom he has put his trust; in whom he has placed his confidence. God was David’s stronghold, his shield, his fortress, his tower. And though the circumstances were uncertain and perilous, in the face of real enemies who sought to do David real harm, his trust in the Lord was just as real.

And that’s where a person, that’s where people like you and I, where our true trust is proved, right? In circumstances like this. When the rug has been pulled out from under us; when the knife has been plunged in our back; when difficult times have arrived; when the crisis hits. It’s in those times, the difficult times, the trying times, the seemingly hopeless times, where a person’s true source of hope and trust is revealed. So, church, where is your trust? In the midst of upheaval, and in the midst of uncertainty, where does your trust lie? In what, in whom, do you seek refuge? Is it in some temporal solution, like the mountains of David’s day? Or do you truly seek refuge, in circumstances like these, in the living God? The “I Am” that revealed Himself to Moses; the “I Am” who is the same “I Am” today? And the “I Am” who always will be, tomorrow and forever? David goes strong here in verse 1 with his statement of trust, his confidence being expressed here in Yahweh. And his question, here again, “how can you say to my soul”, is really preemptive. He’s really cutting off the counsel that’s about to come in verses 2 and 3, and that’s going to bring us down now to our second point for this evening, the counsel.

So, we’ve looked at the confidence. Now we’ll look at the counsel. And you’ll see the quotation marks there, start at the very end of verse 1, “flee as a bird to your mountain” and they end, all the way down at the end of verse 3, where it ends with “what can the righteous do?” That’s the whole set of words of counsel that this friend is offering David.

Let’s go ahead and read the whole thing, and then we’ll take it piece by piece. It says, “Flee as a bird to your mountain; for behold the wicked bend the bow, they make ready their arrow upon the string, to shoot in darkness at the upright in heart. If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?” So again, context. This is a friendly counselor to David, and he’s giving David this advice to flee. “Flee as a bird,” he says, “to your mountain.” It doesn’t take much for a bird to flee, have you noticed? You walk a few steps in any bird’s direction, unless it’s one of those real city birds that’s just used to people all the time, and suddenly their wings are flapping wildly as they try to escape, right? I mean, that’s half my boys existence is running after birds and getting them to flee. Even then you could step on a branch in the vicinity of a bird and that same thing; they hear a little crack of the branch and they’re gone.

David’s friend here, his counselor here, sees David as such a bird. Surrounded and vexed and out of options with all sorts of crises caving in on him. So the friend is speaking to him here and he’s saying, “Spread your wings, David. Fly away. Take flight. Flee to safety. Get out of here.” That’s the counsel he’s receiving.

And the reference here, by the way, to “your mountain,” where it says “flee as a bird to your mountain,” is not so much in connection with the reference to the bird earlier in that quote as it is recognizing that in these days the surrounding hills and the surrounding mountains were customary places of refuge for persecuted men, which David apparently was at this point. So as his friend, as his counselor saw it, David here was this solitary, helpless fugitive who needed to high tail it out of there and head for the hills. But again, as we’ve already seen, David wasn’t
solitary. David wasn’t alone, and he certainly wasn’t helpless. No, he had shelter. He had help.
And he had hope, all of which came from God. “In the Lord I take refuge.”

Now the warnings from David’s friend continue on in verse 2. He says to David next, “For behold, the wicked bend the bow, they make ready their arrow upon the string.” So there is a real threat here and it comes at the hands of this “wicked” person, this crooked person. The person who is not upright, a person who is morally evil, and David’s counselor here sees the real danger and the real threat which David faces here. This would-be assassin has bent his bow. He’s pulled the string, and they’ve made it “ready,” as it says, “their arrow upon the string.” In other words, the arrow has been strung, the bow has been bent, the target is in sight, and all that’s left to do is for this enemy to release and let the arrow fly. Put in more modern language, the chamber is loaded, the hammer is cocked, the scope is locked in, and the finger is on the trigger.

Not only that, as we continue to read on, we see that all of this is transpiring under the cover of darkness. Look at the last part of verse 2. It says this would-be assassin is standing ready “to shoot in darkness at the upright in heart.” In other words, this would-be assassin is functioning like a modern-day sniper. He’s unseen, he’s undetected under the cover of darkness and with the release of a few fingers that arrow is going to start spinning and hissing through the night air in the direction of its intended target. In this case, David. It’s quite the dramatic scene. It’s quite the fearful scene. It’s quite the tense scene, and bleak scene, and David here doesn’t seem to appreciate what’s happening. He doesn’t seem to care about what’s happening. He doesn’t seem to appreciate the nature and the severity of the peril that awaits him.

Actually, as we’re going to see when we get to verse 4, is that David was already a few steps ahead. What I want to do now is actually have us step out of the immediacy of this scene here in Psalm 11, which pictures this assassin with his arrow preparing to take David out, and I want us to recognize the broader spiritual battle that was portrayed here. A broader spiritual battle that continues to be in play even to this day. This battle that exists between the wicked of the world, the evil of the world, and the righteous of the world, the upright in the world. It’s a battle that is undergirding, even to this day, not just the motives here in Psalm 11 where the person’s bent his bow and the assassin’s arrow is on the string, but it’s a battle that rages on to this day. Even now, in the church age, between those who have been declared righteous by God and received the righteousness of God through Christ, and the “wicked” ones who reject Christ and instead stand for and promote the evil forces and philosophies and so-called “wisdom” of this world.

I mentioned a few seconds ago that David was “a few steps ahead” of his counselor here. I said that because David, of all people, was as clued into this cosmic struggle between wickedness and righteous as anyone. David wrote extensively of that conflict between the righteous and the wicked throughout his writings, including the Psalms. In fact, why don’t you turn with me to Psalm 37 where we’re going to see pictured vividly and repeatedly this contrast between the righteous and the wicked. And this is another Psalm of David. We started early tonight, I’m going to read this entire Psalm just to give us the setting and to give us a picture of how clued in he was to this war between the righteous and the wicked in the world.
“Psalm 37, a Psalm of David,” it says. By the way, I want you, if you are a note taker, just mark or count how many times wickedness and righteousness or evil and righteousness are contrasted in this Psalm. It’s all over the place. I’ll start over. “Do not fret because of evildoers, be not envious toward wrongdoers. For they will wither quickly like the grass and fade like the green herb. Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness. Delight yourself in the LORD; and He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD, trust also in Him, and He will do it. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light
and your judgment as the noonday. Rest in the LORD and wait patiently for Him; do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, because of the man who carries out wicked schemes. Cease from anger and forsake wrath; do not fret; it leads only to evildoing. For evildoers will be cut off, but those who wait for the LORD, they will inherit the land. Yet a little while and the wicked man will be no more; and you will look carefully for his place and he will not be there. But the humble will inherit the land and will delight themselves in abundant prosperity. The wicked plots against the righteous and gnashes at him with his teeth. The Lord laughs at him, For He sees his day is coming. The wicked have drawn the sword and bent their bow to cast down the afflicted and the needy, to slay those who are upright in conduct. Their sword will enter their own heart, and their bows will be broken. Better is the little of the righteous than the abundance of many wicked. For the arms of the wicked will be broken, but the LORD sustains the righteous. The LORD knows the days of the blameless, and their inheritance will be forever. They will not be ashamed in the time of evil, and in the days of famine they will have abundance. But the wicked will perish; and the enemies of the LORD will be like the glory of the pastures, they vanish—like smoke they vanish away. The wicked borrows and does not pay back, but the righteous is gracious and gives. For those blessed by Him will inherit the land, but those cursed by Him will be cut off. The steps of a man are established by the LORD, And He delights in his way. When he falls, he will not be hurled headlong, because the LORD is the One who holds his hand. I have been young and now I am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his descendants begging bread. All day long he is gracious and lends, and his descendants are a blessing. Depart from evil and do good, so you will abide forever. For the LORD loves justice and does not forsake His godly ones; they are preserved forever, but the descendants of the wicked will be cut off. The righteous will inherit the land and dwell in it forever. The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom, and his tongue speaks justice. The law of his God is in his heart; his steps do not slip. The wicked spies upon the righteous and seeks to kill him. The LORD will not leave him in his hand or let him be condemned when he is judged. Wait for the LORD and keep His way, and He will exalt you to inherit the land; when the wicked are cut off, you will see it. I have seen a wicked, violent man spreading himself like a luxuriant tree in its native soil. Then he passed away, and lo, he was no more; I sought for him, but he could not be found. Mark the blameless man, and behold the upright; for the man of peace will have a posterity. But transgressors will be altogether destroyed; the posterity of the wicked will be cut off. But the salvation of the righteous is from the LORD; He is their strength in time of trouble. The LORD helps them and delivers them; He delivers them from the wicked and saves them, because they take refuge in Him.” Alright, now Psalm 38. I’m kidding!

What I wanted to emphasize by doing that very extensive reading of Psalm 37 is the reality that David was attuned and in tune with the truth of this battle between wickedness and righteousness in the world. This was not, in other words, news to David, just as it shouldn’t surprise us. Right? As a church that seeks to honor God by proclaiming Christ and preaching His Word when opposition and resistance and perhaps even persecution come our way one day, that should be no surprise. It’s just the outflow of the battle between righteousness and wickedness in the world.

Alright, back to Psalm 11. As we turn to verse 3 we see that while the threat was here being directed principally at David, the threat now was really borne of a more broad societal and cultural decline that was happening all around him. Look at verse 3. Again, this is still the counselor asking this question of David. He says, “If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?” Now, the word “foundations” there serves as a metaphor. It’s a word picture really of the social order of this day. The “foundations” of a society are what uphold public life, providing security and stability, giving the sense of establishment and law and order and a sense that those who do right will be protected and those who do wrong will suffer consequences for their wrong. Well, David’s counselor here is saying that’s no longer the case. “The foundations” have been destroyed, or are destroyed, meaning in this time of turbulent upheaval that’s happening here where there’s this threat of incivility and anarchy, where righteousness is failing and evil is prevailing. The question that’s on the table is “what can the righteous do?”

And that’s a question we need to grapple with, too, is it not? It’s a question we need to engage with and answer with eyes wide open to all that is happening around us in the world today. And of course, and most importantly, it’s a question that we need to ask and answer and engage with submitted to the will and the word of God. David’s friend here is asking a question, in other words, that has a certain timelessness to it and pertinence and relevance to where we even sit today. He’s asking the question when the bottom has dropped out of society, when everything has seemingly fallen apart, when down is up and up is down, when the fabric of society appears to be in tatters. Sound familiar anybody? “What can the righteous do?” Run to the mountains? Head for the hills? Cross a border? Close ourselves off? Start a cloister or a convent or a compound? Completely isolate ourselves and our children and inoculate them from any degree of influence from the world? This question is timely for today, is it not? It’s perennial and it’s highly relevant. “If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?” So what’s the answer? Is there an answer? Limiting it to David’s context here where he’s considering whether to flee, is fleeing ever the right answer? Is refusing to flee as David did here the only correct answer? Well, we know from Scripture of instances in which, there were instances in which people fled, and were not condemned by God for it. So, it can’t be the case that flight is always an ungodly or unrighteous response. Right? Think of Paul in Acts 9, who was lowered in a basket as he’s facing opposition from some Jews in Damascus so he can escape. Think of David all through the Psalter, in 1 and 2 Samuel. He’s a man on the run throughout his adult life. Or think of the words of the God-Man Himself, our Lord Jesus Christ who told his apostles, in Matthew 10 that when they were persecuted in one town they would need to flee to another. Matthew 10:23 He says, our Lord says, “whenever they persecute you in one city, flee to the next.” So what’s the distinction? What makes one form of “fleeing” righteous? And another form of “fleeing” unrighteous? I think the answer is this, it’s the attitude of faith or lack thereof with which that fleeing is done. When we do flee, when we finally send in that letter of resignation, when we finally pull our kids from that school, when we finally do move from that state has to be done in faith. Not fear or any other motivation. No, the decision to flee must be made through a study of God’s Word in faithful submission to God’s will as it has been revealed in the Word. That could take me eight months to unpack that topic so we’re just going to skip on over that for now. But, speaking of faith and that being the key to whether fleeing is righteous or unrighteous, we get a very direct and clear statement of faith from David in verses 4-7. And if you’re taking notes this evening, this again is our third heading, the conclusion, the conclusion. David is now about to answer the question in his context of what was put before him by his counselor in verse 3 when the counselor asked him, “What can the righteous do?” And at the root of David’s answer in each of these remaining verses is his conviction that he doesn’t need to be looking frantically around the horizon. He doesn’t have to be engaging horizontally with what’s happening all around him. He doesn’t need to be freaking out over his circumstances. He doesn’t need to be sucked into all that was happening around him in his cultural and societal context. He does not need to fly away like a bird. None of those were options for him, and none of those are options for us if we are operating like David was here, in faith. No, the answer given by David here in the remaining four verses of this Psalm is rooted in his commitment to look beyond any temporal, earthly refuge that’s offered by any surrounding hills to a different refuge. To a higher refuge, to a greater refuge, that being God Himself.

Now as we get into this next section of Psalm 11, verses 4-7, I want to turn our attention away from David for just a moment here and turn it on everyone here tonight. Maybe some of you here this evening are going through some personal difficulty right now. Some heartache, some trouble right now; some real or perceived threat right now. You’re on the horns of some sort of dilemma and from where you sit right now you may think it would be easier, and maybe in an earthbound sense it would be easier, to flee from whatever you’re in. To fly away like this counselor suggests, like the bird, and to find some temporal solution to a problem that only the eternal God can solve.

If I’m describing you, if that’s describing you, lock in with me for just a few more minutes here as you consider the example of David who looks to this unseen God. But a God that he knew, as you I know, is there.

Look at how he expresses this in verse 4. Look at how magnificently he is able to capture the transcendence of God and the imminence of God in a single passage. Look at how he is able to capture God’s awesome, transcendent glory and, at the same time, capture His immediate involvement and care for with His creation. He starts here by describing, in verse 4, where the Lord sits. Look at this at the beginning of verse 4 where, “The LORD is in His holy temple; the Lord’s throne is in heaven.” Now from our vantage point, especially in times of trial and especially in times of difficulty, it can feel as though God has somehow abdicated His throne. It can feel like He is just being strangely silent as circumstances decline from bad to worse. But what this verse, verse 4, is reminding us is that no matter what we may think or we may feel may be the case, God is there. He is “in,” it says, “His holy temple.” Now this reference is not a reference to the temple in Jerusalem. And I say that because of the words which follow, which color and modify the context of this phrase, “The LORD’s throne is in heaven.” What’s being focused in on here, in other words, is David looking upward from his circumstances to the heavens. To the transcendent throne room of God. The same heavenly throne room that Isaiah encountered in that infamous vision in Isaiah 6. Remember Isaiah’s statement of his vision. Isaiah 6:1, he says, “I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the…“ what? The “temple.” Or Habakkuk 2:20 pictures this heavenly throne room where it says “But the LORD is in His holy temple. Let all the earth be silent before Him.” And now here, in Psalm 11:4, the same language, “The LORD is in His holy temple; the LORD’s throne is in heaven.” The heavenly throne room is that place where praise is continually being given to God. Where the redeemed of all the ages are gathered around the throne of God and myriads of burning angelic beings are burning in their praise for God.

And bringing it back to our text here in Psalm 11, the idea here is that as David looks up and has this idea of the Lord being in His holy temple and the Lord’s throne being in heaven, the idea here is that God has sovereign sway and supremacy over all the affairs of the earth. Even though the bow is bent, even though the arrow is trembling on top of that string, even though the finger could release that arrow at any moment; none of that changes the fact that, as it says in Psalm 115:3, “our God is in the heavens; and He does whatever He pleases.” And none of that changes the fact that, as it says in Psalm 103:19, “the Lord has established His throne in the heavens, and His sovereignty rules overall.” God rules and reigns and has dominion over all. Even the direction of a singular arrow on the way to its intended target. God rules and reigns and exercises dominion over everything from His heavenly throne. And David here, in verse 4 of Psalm 11, clearly found great comfort in that reality. No matter the turbulence, or the upheaval, or the threats that he was facing, David understood that God was still on His throne, still sovereign. Still causing whatever others meant for wicked or for evil, to be good for David in his life. This is a message, guys, that we need to hear over and over and over, and to allow to sink deeply and more deeply into our hearts even today. That God is sovereign, that God is in control. That God is ruling and reigning over all, all the time. So that’s David’s report on where God sits. He sits “in His holy temple.” He sits on His “throne” “in heaven.”

Next we’re going to see David explaining what the Lord sees. That’s the next part of verse 4 here. It says, “His eyes behold, His eyelids test the sons of men.” Now, does God actually have eyes? No, He does not. Just like He doesn’t have fingers and ankles and the rest. “God is spirit,” John 4:24. But in order that we would understand that God sees everything, that He sees through everything, that He witnesses it all, God reveals Himself to men like David, through the Word, in accommodating what theologians call anthropomorphic language, so that we can understand how He relates to us. And that’s why we see Him here described as having “eyes.” But the point is not that He has eyes, He doesn’t have eyes. The point is that He sees. He sees the wicked, He sees through the darkness, He sees it all. He sees the arrow upon the bow. And not only that, He sees into the heart of the wicked man who is designing to pull that bow and shoot that arrow. He sees into the heart of a child who lies to her parents. He sees into the heart of the adulterous man who makes his plans. He sees into the heart of the abortionist who is preparing the needle. He sees every evil plan which ever has, or will be, concocted. He sees everything. He sees everything that troubles us or worries us or consumes us. You have never said anything to God in prayer that was not something He didn’t already know. He never learns, He never figures anything out, He never acquires information. He knows all because He has always and forever seen all.

Next we are told, it’s not only that “His eyes behold,” it says, “His eyelids test the sons of men.” But, again, just like He doesn’t have actual eyes, God does not have physical eyelids. This instead is another one of these anthropomorphic terms. And what’s being pictured here is God zeroing in on His focus the way that we do when we bring our eyelids together, to do what? Squint, see what’s happening. I’m wearing contacts right now. If I wasn’t wearing my contacts I would be not only blind, but I’d be squinting really heard and trying to make out even where I am. And it would be a challenge at that. But that’s the idea here; is that God is focusing in on all that is happening to David in this moment. There are these wicked men who seek to do David harm, and God not only sees them with these anthropomorphic eyes, “His eyes behold” them. Proverbs 15:3 says this, “The eyes of the LORD are in every place, watching the evil and the good.” But with His eyelids, His anthropomorphic eyelids He squints. God “testing,” it says, “the sons of men.” The picture here is of this unblinking, ever-watchful God who is precise and unfailing in His omniscience. Who, as He sees the arrows that are about to start flying in the darkness, is testing as He zeroes in on the players involved to see who here is wicked and who here is righteous.

And that “testing” then carries over into verse 5 where it says, “The LORD tests the righteous and the wicked.” The image here, with that idea of testing, is of placing metal into a fiery furnace; and the fire is so hot in that furnace that it causes this natural separation between what is pure and what is impure. God “tests,” here, “the righteous and the wicked.” The pure are separated from the impure, the righteous are separated from the wicked. This distinction is made, the line is drawn. Both groups are revealed for what they are. The pure and righteous are highlighted for being pure and righteous, and the impure and unrighteous are highlighted as being impure and unrighteous.

And note underlying all of this, what’s being communicated here, is that God, though transcendent, though “in His holy temple,” though His “throne” is “in heaven,” He’s not distant. He’s not a disinterested Deity, not at all. Though He is sovereignly supreme in His rulership and dominion and authority, He is still very much intimately connected with all the affairs of earth. It’s that kind of God that is now “testing” it says, “the righteous and the wicked” here on earth.

And of the wicked in particular, He makes a value judgment. Look at the next part of verse 5, he says, “And the one who loves violence His soul hates.” “The one who loves violence”? David, you mean like men who play tackle football? Or those who hunt? Or who like to wrestle in the basement? Like that kind of violence? No. The “violence” that’s spoken of here has a very specific referent in view. This is pointing back to the person mentioned back in verse 2, namely, the wicked person who has bent his bow and seeks to shoot at the upright of heart, in the darkness. That’s who’s in view here, and look how God views him. It says, “the one who loves violence His soul hates.” This is a far off from that irresponsible Jesus-is-just-so- crazy-about-you line that is offered in so many, so-called evangelistic conversations today. Sadly this, what we see right here in verse 5, is so far away from what gets passed off in many milk toast, mushy evangelical churches which are so crippled in their fear of offending unregenerate pagans, that they’re afraid to declare unreservedly what God’s Word actually reveals. What this passage reveals, what this passage is telling us, is that God is a holy God who “tests the righteous and the wicked.” Who cannot approve evil, Who does not approve evil, Who rejects evil, and Who even loathes those who do evil. You heard that right. God hates those who do evil. He hates the evil. Surely, He hates the sin. But it’s also telling us that He hates the evildoer, one who commits the sin. Turn with me to Psalm 5. This won’t win me any popularity contests and it won’t get me any invites to any conferences. That’s okay. Look at Psalm 5:4, it says, “You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness; no evil dwells with You. The boastful shall not stand before Your eyes; You hate all who do iniquity.” It doesn’t say, “You hate iniquity,” does it? It says, “You hate all who do iniquity.” Those who do iniquity.

Now, don’t get me wrong, and don’t get this twisted. God does love the world. God does love sinners. John 3:16 is still absolutely in play here. But God is not indifferent to the wicked, either.
In fact, you could say that God has a real love-hate relationship with the wicked. Although God is infinite love, there is more to the story, you could say, than just His love. His soul, this text and others tell us, hates men who practice violence, who do evil, who practice iniquity. We see this not only in Psalm 5, we see it in Psalm 7, just a page or two over. Look at Psalm 7:11. It says, “God is a righteous judge, and a God who has indignation every day.” Now that, by the way, is not a passage that is speaking futuristically about the wrath of God that is to come. We see that in other places. This is referring to the indignation that God experiences, and feels now, every day. Then look at verse 12 of Psalm 7. “If a man does not repent, He will sharpen His sword; He has bent His bow and made it ready.” Did you catch that? “He,” there meaning God, “has bent His bow” toward those to whom He feels those feelings of indignation.

In our text for today, it’s the evildoers who have bent their bow toward the upright. Here, in Psalm 7 though, it is God who has bent His bow. And not only that, look at verse 13, he says “He” has made “His arrows fiery shafts.” The takeaway idea for David, in Psalm 11, getting back to our text and the takeaway idea for us today, is that God sees all the wickedness and all the evil that we see. He sees all the injustices and unfair dealings that we experience. “His soul” Psalm 5 says, “hates” those who seek to do all that evil. And just as their bows may be bent toward us, His far more fearsome bow with His fiery arrows is bent toward them. In other words, we have no reason to take vengeance into our own hands when we face this sort of evil or wickedness, because vengeance, Hebrews 10:30, “He will repay.” We worship a God who always comes to the aid of His people. In His perfect timing, and according to His perfect plans. Speaking of vengeance, in verse 6 of our book, our Psalm, Psalm 11:6, we are given this description of the judgment and the wrath that faces those evildoers who sought to do David harm. Look at verse 6. It says, “Upon the wicked He will rain snares; fire and brimstone and burning wind will be the portion of their cup.” Now, those first three words, “Upon the wicked,” those refer back again to verse 2. Those are, “the wicked bend the bow.” And then it says “He will rain,” and then he proceeds to mention all that will “be portion of their cup.” The “snares,” and the “fire and brimstone,” and the “burning wind.”

But there’s something I want you to note here that you might not see in your NAS translation. The tense of the Hebrew verb here, where it says, “He will rain,” is optative. And all that means is that what is being expressed here is not a certain conclusion, but rather it’s more like a desire, or a wish, or a hope. So I think a better rendering of what we see here, where it says, “He will rain,” would be something like, “may He rain,” or, “let Him rain.” Let Him rain snares, let Him rain fire and brimstone, let Him bring the burning wind. In other words, what David seems to be doing here is petitioning God to bring down on the wicked the judgment that their wickedness deserves. Having just said in verse 5 that God abhors the wicked, His soul hates those who love violence, David is placing himself here in verse 6, you could say, on the Lord’s side. He’s praying for divine retribution on the wicked, on those who seek to do Him harm. He’s praying that “snares” meaning difficulties, and afflictions, and vexations, would fall on their head. He’s praying that “fire and brimstone,” he’s importing the terminology and the scene from Genesis 19, Sodom and Gomorrah, would rain down on them. He’s praying that, that “burning wind” would stoke God’s fires of judgment. That it would be like gas to the fire causing the flames to lick higher and higher, bringing about the maximum combustive effect.

Now, you might be listening to me say this, and hearing this, and looking at this page here, and thinking wow, David, that’s a bit harsh. Aren’t you supposed to love your enemies? But what David was doing here, and what he was saying here, was actually not harsh at all. This was not a matter of personal vindictiveness or spite for David. Instead, what he’s petitioning God to do here is what we all ask God to do at some point in our prayers, which is to ask God to act in a manner that is consistent with His character. See, David was consciously aware of the fact that God in His holiness, and sin in its vileness, cannot coexist for any amount of time. David knew that God is a holy God and that He must punish sin and wickedness and evil doing if He is to be God. Remember, David lived before Calvary when sin and evil would collide with God’s perfect justice on the cross. So David here, reasonably as this devout worshiper of Yahweh, petitioned God to act against this wickedness and this evil that was surrounding him. Not for David’s sake, but for God’s sake.

And the basis of David’s petition here in verse 6, this prayer I think it is, is teased out in the first line of verse 7 where he says, “For the LORD is righteous, He loves righteousness.” This is like Abram when he’s contending for the salvation of Sodom and Gomorrah. “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?” That’s what David is doing, He’s appealing to God’s righteousness as he prays to God to bring righteous judgment upon the wicked. Whatever was unfolding in David’s life, a good reminder here is that whatever was unfolding in David’s life, whatever is unfolding in your life and in my life, is based on the perfect and sovereign will of an all-together righteous God. To say here that, “the Lord is righteous,” as it says in verse 7, is to affirm that God will, in His timing, deal with and judge every sin in the history of the world. Whether that be in the flames of hell, or whether that be at the cross of Jesus Christ. It will be one or the other. No evil, no wickedness will be overlooked. No evil, no wickedness will be forgotten. God is a righteous judge who always judges justly and righteously. “The Lord is righteous.”

Next he says, “He loves righteousness.” God loves righteousness. Of course, He Himself is the perfect standard and benchmark of righteousness. And so, naturally, the Lord approves any righteousness that’s displayed in His people; those who have been made righteous because those righteous deeds, those righteous actions, are a reflection of God’s own righteous character. Not only does God love and approve righteousness though, David gives us these final words as a reminder, at the end of verse 7, that "the upright,” which is a synonym for the righteous, "will behold His face.” What a contrast that is to the plight of the wicked; those whom God’s soul hates, those who face raining snares, and fire, and brimstone, and burning wind. For those who, like the Lord Himself, love righteousness and pursue righteousness; we can only be made righteous, let’s make sure we are being clear here, by trusting in Jesus Christ. Nothing that’s being said up here is about earning or building toward being righteous. We are only made righteous, and receive God’s righteousness, when we trust in Christ. But these righteous ones, the “upright” ones, “will behold His face.” Psalm 34:16 says, “the face of the LORD,” “the face of the LORD is against evildoers, to cut off the memory of them from the earth.” But the upright, here in Psalm 11:7; those who by faith trust in Him and seek to follow His ways, will “behold His face.” Meaning, one day they will be admitted into His presence, and fully enjoy the blessings of having that form of access to Him. Psalm 17:15 says, “As for me, I shall behold Your face in righteousness.” Or Psalm 27:4, familiar to many and a very comforting Psalm says, “One thing I have asked from the LORD, that I shall seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD and to meditate in His temple.” This truth from David, Psalm 11:7, about the upright beholding His face, has been immortalized in a hymn written by William Cowper. It goes like this. It says, “Ye fearful saints fresh courage take, the clouds ye so much dread, are big with mercy and shall fall In blessings on your head. Judge not the Lord by feeble sense, but trust Him for His grace, behind a frowning providence He hides a smiling face.”

So Psalm 11 is this song of trust and faith in a season of crisis for David. And as is true of all of Scripture, its words and its themes here this evening are very timely. And that makes sense, because we know from Hebrews 4:12 that, “the Word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword.” And it does speak to every generation of every people group on every continent, every people in every place no matter what circumstances they find themselves in. And the reality is, I’ve alluded to this a couple of times already, we are living in days like David’s day in which “the foundations are being destroyed.” When the foundations are destroyed, verse 3, “what can the righteous do?” We are living in days, let’s not deny it, where the moral fabric of our society is absolutely unraveling. These are days in which our society is imploding before our very eyes. Notions of biblical morality are being completely abandoned. The God-ordained institution of the family is collapsing. The sexual, and homosexual, and transgender revolutions have run amok. Governing authorities are increasingly hostile to biblical Christianity. The very foundations of society are crumbling beneath our feet. So what do we do?

What to do we do in times like these, like David’s times? What do we do when everything feels uncertain? When moral collapse and deterioration is all around us? When snares and difficulties are all we see? Where those who vocally express their faith in God are ridiculed? Do we cut and run? Or do we trust and persevere? Do we hide, or like David here, do we seek? As David was asked back in, again, chapter 11, verse 3, “What can the righteous do?” In our study of Psalm 11 this evening we’ve seen the answer to that question. The answer is to look heavenward. To acknowledge that “the LORD is in His holy temple.” To acknowledge that “the LORD’s throne is in heaven.” To embrace the fact that God, the righteous King of the universe, sees everything. “His eyes behold,” it says, and “His eyelids test the sons of men.” To recognize that God is able to and does distinguish between the righteous and the wicked; and to accept the reality that while it may be true that the arrows of the wicked are pointed in our direction right now, God’s own arrows, which are far more fearful and far more deadly, are pointed at them. To pray that God would act consistently with His character, that He would do justice. But in our case, knowing that this offer of salvation is extended to the most vile of sinners through the cross of Jesus Christ, that He would also extend His mercy and His grace toward those sinners in bringing more to salvation through Christ. And, last, what we are to do is to remember, that the “LORD is righteous.” The Lord, “He loves righteousness,” and verse 7, that “the upright will behold His face.”

Let’s pray. God, thank you for these timely words from Your word in Psalm 11, from the pen of David. Thank you that You are this God who is righteous. That You are this God who embodies righteousness, and God demands righteousness from Your subjects. God, we know that we live in a world that is not marked by righteousness. It’s a world that’s marked more and more so by unrighteousness. But I pray that we would look to this example of David, this example of faith. This example of confident trust in You, and that would motivate us to respond rightly in a reasonable and similar way to the trials, to the tumult, to the chaos, even that we see all around us today. May we be those who prayerfully come before Your throne and seek Your face and seek justice and seek action and seek redemption and seek forgiveness, even for those who seek to do us the most harm. God, I pray that we would be bright lights in this community for the gospel of Jesus Christ for as long as You would have us here, and that You would be pleased with Your people. We love You. We thank you for this day of worship. It’s in Jesus’ name we pray, amen.