Psalm 11

· INTRODUCTION: Good morning GPC! Please turn with me in your Bibles to Psalm 11! We’ll be in Psalm 11 this week, then the next two weeks, we’ll jump back into our Imago Dei series on what it means to be made in the Image of God.

o Announcements (Praise in the Park- FEATURING SOME LEFTOVER GPC ICE CREAM, 3rd Wednesday, Annual Meeting, FTC Conference- in KC from September 11 at 1 PM to September 12 at 4 PM- A Glorious Calling: Why Everday Ministry Matters- big group sessions and workshops, worship led by the Worship Initiative- Let me know if you are interested in coming! Don’t let cost stop you!).

o Would you please stand with me for the reading of God’s word? This is God’s Holy Word!

§ (Read passage, pray, you may be seated, drink)

· This week I have been heavily considering and meditating on how the Psalms lead our worship. As we know God, as we know truly who our great God is, we want to worship God! And on the other hand, as we truly WORSHIP God, we find ourselves desiring to KNOW GOD MORE!

· Our God is literally perfect and is worthy of all our praise! We see this throughout scripture and Psalm 11 paints such a CLEAR PICTURE of WHO OUR GOD IS AND WHY WE SHOULD PRAISE GOD!

o This week I was reading, “Does God Care How We Worship” by Ligon Duncan. In it, he makes a number of good points, but there’s one that really stuck out to me. He writes in it, “God’s nature and revelation are to control our worship of Him.”- Ligon Duncan

§ In other words, psalms such as this one inform our worship because they teach us more about WHO GOD IS! DAVID SHOWS US WHO OUR GOD IS AND OUR RESPONSE SHOULD BE DEEPENED PRAISE FOR GOD!

· Listen to what Ligon says just a page later. “The Bible is to be our rule for how we worship God, because the bible is our rule for how we are to think about God- and how we worship in turn impacts our concept of God.”

o I know there’s a lot in there, but I want to challenge us this morning; no matter where you are at this morning, what David is writing about IS TRUE! God is RULING IN HIS HOLY TEMPLE TODAY!

§ We want this truth about God to shape our worship! It’s why we preach the way we do, it’s why we sing what we sing, it’s why we do what we do! So, be encouraged today by the truth we will study and TAKE IT WITH YOU, LET IT CONTINUE ENCOURAGING YOU THIS WEEK!

§ We’ve talked a lot this summer about how our worship is not limited only to Sunday mornings or singing along to K-Love. We can instead APPLY WHAT WE LEARN ABOUT GOD TODAY and let it shape our lives in so many ways! It can shape how we pray, how we approach trials, how we talk to others, the confidence that we have and so much more!

This morning, our main point is: THE LORD OUR GOD IS PERSONAL, RIGHTEOUS AND HOLY, REIGNING IN HEAVEN TODAY, WHICH SHOULD INSPIRE US TO WORSHIP!

· BODY: This psalm is absolutely loaded! It should lead us to more amazement about WHO WE WORSHIP IN EVERY SINGLE VERSE!

o David introduces this psalm by titling it, “THE LORD IS IN HIS HOLY TEMPLE.”

§ He writes this to the choirmaster; meaning that it is designed for corporate worship! These words would have been sung by the people of Israel as they worshipped together! Consider what a beautiful sound that must have been!

· This psalm is structured as a declaration of faith in the first part of verse 1, then there is picture of evil that we see in the last half of verse 1 through verse 3. Then, there is another declaration of faith from verses 4-7.

· Looking at verse 1, just the first line, David cries out, “In the Lord I take refuge;”- Psalm 11:1A

o That’s what this psalm is all about! It’s all about our refuge being in the Lord! No matter what we face, the LORD IS OUR REFUGE!

§ We’ve talked a lot this summer about the different names for God that David uses throughout the psalms. In Psalm 11, he exclusively uses YAHWEH, which you’ll see in your bibles as “LORD” all capitalized.

· YAHWEH is the personal name of God. It literally means, “I AM.”

o YAHWEH very famously is said to be the name of God because of Exodus 3:15. God addresses Moses and says, “God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations.”

o YAHWEH, or I AM is the name given to Israel to address God, BY GOD HIMSELF!

§ David exclusively uses YAHWEH in this psalm which both emphasizes the personal nature of his relationship to GOD WHILE ALSO ensuring that everyone knows EXACTLY WHO DAVID IS TALKING ABOUT!

· David is not talking about Baal, or any other idol. David is only talking about THE ONE TRUE, LIVING GOD!

o IT’S IN YAHWEH, WHO DAVID PERSONALLY KNOWS THAT HE TAKES REFUGE!

o No matter what storm comes against him, David is safe and secure BECAUSE OF THE LORD!

§ THE SAME SHOULD BE TRUE FOR US! Before we see the temptation that comes along, let me just challenge you; do you have this confidence in God?

§ Do you know that in all situations, in all trials, in all storms, THE LORD IS YOUR REFUGE?

§ Let me promise you, there will be challenges. BUT GOD IS IN THOSE WITH YOU! IT DOESN’T MAKE IT EASY TO FACE TRIALS, BUT TRUST ME, GOD LOVES YOU AND IS WITH YOU, EVEN IN THOSE!

· Now, as I mentioned, after David’s declaration of faith, he paints a picture of evil. Let’s look at that for a second. David says, “Flee like a bird to your mountain, 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; if the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?”- Psalm 11:1B-3

o Behold! SEE THIS TRUTH! The wicked will attack! There will be those who tell us to flee! There will be those who attack us! There will be those who attempt to destroy our foundations!

§ Those who destroy seek to shoot the upright in the heart with arrows, to destroy their foundation; to remove them from all that matters!

· People will question whether God cares, or whether God is real. David is promising us that! We will face attacks, we will face persecution.

o We’ve seen this type of feeling in a number of places throughout the psalms. I think this makes a ton of sense!

§ LIFE IS HARD! Life is tough! It’s something that we can all relate to as humans!

§ We may not all face people trying to kill us; some propose that David wrote this psalm as Saul hunted him down, but we will all face tough times!

· We will face disappointment, we will face frustration, hurt, pain, suffering! We will face sorrow, loss, we will face grief! We will go through dark times that strike us where it hurts!

· Not only will we face those dark times; we will face times where we stray from God! We’ll face times where we wander away from God!

o We’ll face times where we struggle to understand what is going on in our lives! We’ll face times where we hurt and where we yearn for something different!

o We’ll face times where we don’t handle these things as we should and where we choose to despair!

· At Hope and I’s wedding, we chose to commemorate our covenant through a cord of three strands, representing each of us tied to God!

o It was a sweet memorial. As we did this, we chose to have “Before the Throne of God Above” playing in the background.

§ Listen to the start of the second verse of that song that we sung earlier. “When satan tempts me to despair, and tells me of the guilt within.”

· That’s something we can all relate to! Let’s be honest; think back even just a few weeks to the storm that came through! It was easy to despair! It was easy to feel overwhelmed!

o Yet, listen to what the next line says, “upward I look and see Him there, who made an end of all my sin.”

It’s not just a line in a song, it’s drawn almost directly from Hebrews 4:16! When we face trial; when we face temptation, RUN TO THE THRONE OF GOD! TRULY, GOD IS THERE!

§ That’s truly the glorious message that we have! Although we will face sorrow and be tempted to despair just as David was in verses 1-3, we have a far greater hope!

§ Our hope is not found in a temporary human solution, our hope is found in GOD!

· Let’s look at verse 4 as we see why we hope in God! Verse 4 says, “The Lord is in his holy temple; the Lord's throne is in heaven; his eyes see, his eyelids test the children of man.”- Psalm 11:4

o YAHWEH IS IN HIS HOLY TEMPLE, YAHWEH’S THRONE IS IN HEAVEN, YAHWEH’S EYES SEE, YAHWEH TESTS MEN!

§ Don’t miss the personal nature of what David is saying! This is true for us today too! THE LORD RULES AND REIGNS TODAY! GOD IS IN CHARGE AT THIS EXACT MOMENT!

§ This is the central push of this entire psalm.

o And don’t miss the cultural context of this. The temple hasn’t been built yet! So why would David talk about the Lord being in HIS TEMPLE if it isn’t built yet?

§ BECAUSE DAVID KNOWS THAT GOD’S HOME ISN’T AN EARTHLY TEMPLE, GOD RULES IN HEAVEN AND HIS MAJESTY IS KNOWN I THE SKIES AND THE WORLD AROUND US!

· David is really emphasizing here that God rules over all things!

o That’s why he also emphasizes that YAHWEH’S throne is in heaven! THE LORD’S THRONE IS IN HEAVEN, OVER ALL THINGS!

o Don’t miss this. Don’t overlook the power and the splendor that we see in this description! GOD IS OVER ALL AND GOD SEES ALL!

§ Which is exactly what David proposes in that last phrase! GOD SEES AND TESTS THE CHILDREN OF MAN!

§ God sees our lives, the right and the wrong! Remember, in Psalm 10, the wicked man said that God didn’t see. But, that isn’t true! GOD VERY MUCH SEES!

· This isn’t just an Old Testament idea; this is also very clear in Matthew 6:4! Our God sees!

o OUR GOD SEES WHAT WE DO IN THE OPEN AND IN PRIVATE!

o And our God doesn’t just see, he tests!

§ Our God tests our actions and judges what we do! God can judge because our God is perfectly HOLY AND JUST!

o This is why we so badly need salvation! There’s no way that we can ever pass judgement! Our actions are sinful; our hearts are full of sin; and WE NEED A SAVIOR!

§ PRAISE GOD that he made a way for us to be saved! PRAISE GOD THAT HE GAVE US JESUS!

· Let’s consider verses 5-6 as David continues to declare his faith.

o We read, “The Lord tests the righteous, but his soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence. Let him rain coals on the wicked; fire and sulfur and a scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup.”- Psalm 11:5-6

o The Lord tests the righteous and this has been a common thread throughout our study of psalms this summer! We will face tests, we will face struggles, but that is not cause for despair!

§ This week, that has hit close to my heart. We will face seasons where we may struggle, we will face hardship, but THE LORD, YAHWEH, OUR GREAT GOD IS WITH US IN IT!

· We also see that the LORD HATES THE WICKED! This is very similar to Psalm 10. There is a significance to the order of the psalms; they tend to have similar themes

o And this is very similar to Psalm 10! The wicked are hated by God and they will be punished! They may escape earthly punishment, but they will not escape eternal punishment.

§ God will punish and will avenge, which is exactly what David says in verse 6!

· The Lord will judge and punish; He is the judge, the jury and the executioner.

o The Lord will punish all who do not have faith in HIM and have not repented and believed!

§ This isn’t what our world wants to talk about, but this is the truth! Being a “good moral person” or being nice, or going to church isn’t enough! ONLY THROUGH THE LIFE, DEATH, AND RESURRECTION OF JESUS CAN WE BE SAVED!

§ We NEED WHAT JESUS HAS GIVEN US! HIS GIFT IS THE FORGIVENESS OF OUR SINS; THE FORGIVENESS FOR OUR WICKEDNESS, FOR ALL THE WRONG THINGS THAT WE HAVE DONE!

· David closes out his psalm in verse 7 saying, “For the Lord is righteous; he loves righteous deeds; the upright shall behold his face.”- Psalm 11:7

o What an important reminder! THE LORD IS RIGHTEOUSNESS AND THE LORD LOVES RIGHTEOUSNESS! The Lord is able to judge in verses 5-6 because this is true! HE CAN JUDGE BECAUSE HE IS RIGHTEOUS! GOD IS TRULY WITHOUT GUILT!

§ That is not true for any of us, but it IS true for God! GOD IS TRULY WITHOUT GUILT OF ANY TYPE! GOD IS COMPLETELY SIN FREE! That’s what makes the gospel all the more striking!

§ It hits extra hard because our sinless savior GAVE UP HIS POSITION TO COME TO EARTH TO LIVE AMONG US! That’s what Philippians 2 tells us! Jesus HUMBLED HIMSELF and CAME TO LIVE AMONGST US! HE WAS SPAT ON, HE WAS DESPISED AND HE DID IT FOR US OUT OF HIS LOVE!

· WHAT AN AMAZING LOVE THAT IS! THE LORD WHO IS RIGHTEOUS AND WHO LOVES RIGHTEOUSNESS, MADE A WAY FOR US TO BE SAVED!

o Not only does David declare the Lord’s love for righteousness, David says, “The upright shall behold his face.”

§ This statement so personal! Not only is it personal, its meaning may not be clear from a quick reading. Not only will the righteous one day see God in heaven one day, A DAY WE SHOULD AWAIT WITH EAGERNESS AND REJOICING, we need to understand that this also has to do with God’s view of us!

· Brothers and sisters, regardless of the trial, or the discouragement, GOD WILL NEVER LOSE SIGHT OF YOU! GOD DOES NOT LET THE RIGHTEOUS OUT OF HIS SIGHT!

o I know you may be in a hard time right now, but GOD HAS NOT LOST SIGHT OF YOU!

o I know that can be hard to believe, but that is so important! GOD HAS NOT AND WILL NOT LOSE SIGHT OF YOU!

o I love what John Calvin says here. He says, “David means that God graciously exercises a special care over the upright and the sincere, takes them under his protection, and keeps them in perfect safety.”

§ GOD HAS YOU! GOD IS PROTECTING YOU AND GOD WILL KEEP YOU SAFE!

§ This doesn’t mean it’s the easiest route; I can’t stress that enough! BUT, GOD IS WITH YOU!

· CONCLUSION: Today, as we’ve examined Psalm 11, we’ve seen that, THE LORD OUR GOD IS PERSONAL, RIGHTEOUS AND HOLY, REIGNING IN HEAVEN TODAY, WHICH SHOULD INSPIRE US TO WORSHIP!

· As we begin to apply this psalm to our lives, I want to read us the closing statement that Matthew Henry wrote about this psalm. Matthew Henry wrote, “In singing this psalm we must encourage and engage ourselves to trust in God at all times, must depend upon him to protect our innocence and make us happy, must dread his frowns as worse than death and desire his favour as better than life.” - Matthew Henry

o Honestly, I think that is a great summary of what we’ve seen! We must count on God at all times; in all situations, for ALL OF OUR NEEDS! Not only that, we must SEEK TO PLEASE GOD AND TO RUN TO GOD!

§ In other words, our earthly success is fully reliant on God! Psalm 11 is very GOD-CENTERED in its theology! It isn’t about how great man is and what we bring to the table; it is almost exclusively about HOW GREAT OUR GOD IS!

· And let me encourage you, you are in the right place to have your eyes transfixed on God! That’s our goal here every week. Just as we talked about at the beginning of our time together, we want to LEARN ABOUT GOD AND LET THAT FORM OUR WORSHIP! We want every verse that is read, every word that is said and every lyric that is sung to direct us MORE TOWARDS GOD! THAT’S OUR GOAL BROTHERS AND SISTERS!

o We’ve talked a lot today about how knowing God should shape our worship. Today, as we gather here together, I want to challenge us to remember that OUR GOD IS SO BIG AND OUR GOD IS SO STRONG! We must cling to God in all situations!

§ I’m not saying that lightly. I’m not saying that flippantly. I’m saying that because it is the truth of Psalm 11! We must rely on God! That’s what David shows us time and time again! Our own strength, our own efforts, our own attempts WILL NEVER BE ENOUGH!

§ So here is my plea with us this week. My plea is simple. If you have not placed your faith in Jesus, DO IT! On the other hand, if you have, CLING TO JESUS! CLING TO THE LORD THROUGH PRAYER AND JOIN US IN COMMUNITY, LETTING OTHERS IN SO THAT WE CAN SUPPORT ONE ANOTHER AS the author of Hebrews challenges us to do in Hebrews 10:24-25.

· Salvation isn’t just about a one time decision that gets you out of jail free, salvation is something that shapes our daily lives! We are to submit to God’s plan on a DAILY BASIS, TRUSTING GOD AND TRUSTING IN WHO GOD IS!

o As we’ve seen today, that’s exactly what we should ALWAYS DO! We should ALWAYS cling to our great God and savior! TRULY, as we sang, OUR GOD IS A MIGHTY FORTRESS!

§ A Mighty Fortress is our God was written by Martin Luther. Luther is probably best known for kicking off what we call “the reformation.” When he split from the corruption of the catholic church, he lost everything.

§ He was threatened, arrested, he was persecuted and he was an outcast. But it was from those experiences that he learned what a MIGHTY FORTRESS OUR GOD IS!

· And the same is true for us. So, today, I want to call on you, OUR GOD IS A MIGHTY FORTRESS! TRULY, OUR GOD IS A BULWARK NEVER FAILING; a FORTIFICATION TO KEEP US SAFE AT ALL TIMES! IN THE MIDST OF THE STORM, in the midst of the literal spiritual war that we live in, RUN TO HIM!

· As we close in song, I just want to take a second and make clear, if something is on your heart this morning, if you are hurting, if you want some prayer, I’d love to talk to you after service and we can go to our great God who is over everything and is protecting us at all times, together!

o Let’s pray! FOCUS ON PRAISING GOD IN PRAYER DANIEL!

Benediction: Jude 20-21- “But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, 21 keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life.”

Persevere dear brothers and sisters! OUR LORD REIGNS IN HEAVEN TODAY!