In studying any Passage of the Bible, one needs to determine who is speaking! Some Verses in the Bible record the words of Satan, Genesis 3:4 being an example. “And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die.”
Other Verses (praise the Lord) give us the Words of Jesus. “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.” John 5:24
Psalm 11 is a Chapter that “fell into place” so beautifully once I realized the different speakers involved.
Here are its first three Verses … “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?”
Now, to the speakers. David, the human author, declares: “In the LORD put I my trust.” (Wise words!)
But then someone else (faithless friends, enemies, rationalists, whomever) urges David to … “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?”
Run, David, run!
It’s dangerous here!
Plus, it is hopeless too!
(Things are too far gone!)
But … David stays!
(By the way, there are some things we must do … when and if the foundations are destroyed! Plus, we know the powerful Repairer of the Foundations!)
So David resolves not to flee, but to “continue” trusting the Lord. The LORD Who … “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.” Psalm 11, the rest of the Poem, Hymn.
The Lesson here … do not always listen to others! As a godly old Preacher used to say, “You and God make a majority everywhere you go!”
David meditated on the Lord and did not run!
God can readily “handle” those wicked people of Verse 2, for example. Not only can He, but He will some day!
Paul had not yet written this promise, but it’s as if David knew it ahead of time. “If God be for us, who can be against us?” Romans 8:31
Let’s do less running and more TRUSTING our dear Lord and Saviour!
— Dr. Mike Bagwell
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