Committed to 150: Should I Flee? My trust is in the LORD. Psalm 11

I asked my husband to write a bit about this Psalm this week. It has been really helpful to me, and I hope that it will be for you too.

Psalm 11

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 throw 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 up.
7 For the LORD is righteous;
he loves righteous deeds;
the upright shall behold his face.'"

A Psalm of David, when he's fleeing from Saul, likely during some events like those described in the second half of 1 Samuel 8.

As an imprecatory Psalm, Psalm 11 showcases David's response to the persecution of Saul. As we will see, David rejects the advice of his friends to run and hide, and decides instead to trust in God to save him. The Psalm breaks down simple into two 3 verse sections with a single verse to conclude David's thoughts.

David is in hiding, likely after one of Saul's outbursts, and we get a glimpse of his heart in the opening statement. He lets us know that, whatever his circumstances and wherever he might be, he is going to trust in Yahweh. 

In marked contrast to David's confidence is the advice of his friends and counselors in v. 1b - 3. They recommend he run far away, trusting in himself to provide safety from Saul. They reason that the wicked (i.e. Saul and others in the court who are angry at his quick rise) are upending all of society, so what is to be done but run away?

Lest we be concerned that David is going to start losing his faith in God, he responds to his friends with what must sound like a completely irrelevant statement: "Yahweh is in His holy temple." Rather than finding someplace "safe" to flee where Saul can't find him, he instead reminds his friends that Yahweh sits on His throne. I'm reminded of David's declaration in Ps 115:3 that God is in the heavens and does whatever He pleases. After all, if Yahweh sits on His throne, gazing on all that men do, we can be confident He sees us wherever we are.

David goes on to say that while God may "test" the righteous, He will rain down fire and sulfur and hot wind, which gives David confidence that Yahweh will deliver him from his present circumstances. This is the imprecatory part of our Psalm, where David recites what awaits the wicked as the just recompense for their sin. There's almost a note of satisfaction in David's voice as he rehearses how not just fire, not just sulphur, but even roasting heat await the wicked. And they can't even complain, because Yahweh is just and is only giving the wicked what they have earned.

While it's unlikely that you or I will face an angry, spear-wielding king seeking to end our lives, we all struggle with sin, which we definitely can't get away from by hiding in the mountains. However, God's people will never find their confidence misplaced if they look to the cross and, like the author of Hebrews says, "lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, ... looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith." We find our true and eternal refuge in Jesus (his life, suffering, death, resurrection, and ascension). The refuge we receive is God's presence through the forgiveness of sins. We can have God's presence and find in Him our true solace because he was despised and rejected as I should have been. The only reason that the fire of God's wrath is not poured out on me (because that is what I deserve) is because of the cross of Christ who bore all the wrath in my stead. 

That brings us to the final verse of our Psalm, which brings us back to where we started: David trusts in his Savior to deliver him, not just from Saul, but from the sin that leaves the wicked facing His wrath. David is confident that not only will God see the righteous from His throne, but that He will ensure that the righteous will see Him. ... the righteousness found only through Jesus. 

Tips, Tricks, and Resources

• We sang 11B from The Book of Psalms for Worship
• I have been unable to find a coloring page for this Psalm (shocking that an imprecatory Psalm would be overlooked, right? :) I hope to find something still that my children can color even if it is just bubble letters. I'm hoping to post something with a coloring sheet for all 150 Psalms soon!