Psalms 11

Psalms 11:1-3

David, in this psalm, repels the temptation which his fearful friends infest him with, to shake his confidence in God, advising him to fly his country, to avoid Saul’s pursuit. 1. He tells what the temptation was, ver. 1—3. 2. He repels it with the confederation of God’s love to the righteous, and his wrath kept in store for the wicked, ver. 4—7.

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 firing: that they may privily shoot at the upright in heart. 3. If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?

Temptation and prayer brighten the christian’s soul; more were ever more exercised with the one, or abundant in the other, than the son of Jesus. We have him here,

1. Expressing his confidence in God, as an answer to the temptation suggested to him. In the Lord put I my trust, not to any human contrivances, nor human help, but solely on him,

Vol. I.

whose faithfulness and truth shall be my shield and buckler. Note, Fixed and abiding faith in God, like an anchor, sure and steadfast, keeps the soul unmoved in every storm.

2. Repealing the temptation suggested to him by his fearful friends. How joy ye to my soul, for as a bird to your mountain, to some place of safety from Saul’s attempt, or from his mountain, from the mountain where he deserved himself in Judea, to some more distant country. For lo’ the wicked bend their bow, Saul, thy avowed enemy; they make ready the arrow upon the firing, that they may privily shoot at the upright in heart, at thon, innocent as thou art, and thy friends who adhere to thee; and all attempts to plead against such unrealistic men, are vain; for if the foundations are destroyed of all equity and upright administration, what can the righteous do? there is no hope of redress, and innocence must suffer. Note, (1.) Our fourth temptations come as often from our friends as foes. (2.) Uprightness is no protection from perfection; the most shameful characters must expect in the world to meet the greatest malignity. No marvel: they testify of the world, that its deeds are evil.

3. The LORD is in his holy temple; the LORD’s throne is in heaven: his eyes behold, his eye-lists 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; tharers, fire and brimstone, and an horrible tempest: this shall be the portion of their cup. 7. For the righteous, the LORD loveth righteousness, his countenance doth behold the upright.

Psalms 11:4-7

The Psalmist suggests here the solid grounds on which his trust was founded, in opposition to all unbelieving feast.

The Lord is in his holy temple, high and lifted up, able to see and to defeat the councils of the wicked: the Lord’s throne is in heaven, a throne of grace for all the needy supplicants; a throne of justice, for all who are oppressed with wrong; a throne of judgment, to condemn and sentence the wicked to his deserved punishment. His eyes behold, he is acquainted with all the difficulties and distresses of his suffering people; his eyelids try the children of men, piercing the secret recesses of their bosoms, and beholding every device conceived against his chosen ones; and therefore having such a guardian, they may contentedly trust him. For the Lord trieth the righteous, your them in the furnace of addiction, not to consume, but purify them, to strengthen their faith, exercise their patience, and make his great love more known to them. But the wicked, and him that loveth violence, his soul hateth; however at present they may seem prosperous, and not plagued like other men, there is a learning cloud over their head, ready to burst in an eternal storm. The day is near, even at the door, when upon the wicked, those who persist in their iniquities, and die as they live, servants of corruption, he shall raise fear, fire and brimstone, and a horrible tempest; sudden as a snare it shall seize them, and horrible, yea infinitely more horrible than that storm of vengeance which broke upon the devoted cities of Sudan and Gomorrah shall this tempest of Divine wrath overtake them; the scorching fire consuming the body, curb only with immensility to be tormented, and furious blasts of his displeasure beating upon his guilty soul, with anguish unutterable and eternal. Read, sinner, and tremble, for this is the portion of thy cup. The sweet draughts of sin that now intoxicate thee, will put into thy hand this cup of trembling, to be thy portion for ever and for ever. For the righteous Lord heath righteousness, and delights to manifest it by such exemplary punishment on the sinner, and protection of those, who from a divine principle of faith and love, walk in holiness before him. His countenance doth behold the upright, he regrets them with the tokens of his favour, lifts up now the light of his countenance to comfort and support them, and will bring them to that beatific vision, where in glory they shall see him face to face. Happy the people that are in such a case!