Psalm 11

Confidence in Desperate Situations

Big Idea: Since the LORD tests the righteous, you must trust Him to find refuge in desperate situations.

Intro

Sometimes friends give bad advice.

They may mean well, but you know that its bad advice.

I remember before I went to seminary asking the advice of a trusted mentor.

David is facing a desperate situation and seeks advice.

But he receives bad advice that seems designed to tempt him to distrust God.

But David is confident, “how can you say to my soul…” and he gives us their advice.

When we sing psalm 11, we learn how to respond with confidence in desperate situations.

So we strengthen our faith as we remind ourselves that the Lord brings us through desperate situations to test our faith.

Psalm 11

It’s all bad—so run!

David is a wise king who has learned the lesson of Psalm 2 and has taken refuge in the Lord.

“Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.” (Ps 2:10–12).

But the wicked, those who taunt and revile David, do so because they “rage” and “plot” against the LORD and His anointed. (Ps. 2:1)

But David’s advisers give him only one option for two reasons, in vv. 2-3

And David finds their advice unsatisfying.

They say flee because the wicked are deadly, and the principles of justice have been overturned.

Flee.

So his advisers warn that flight is the only way out of this desperate situation.

He is told that his only hope of escaping the wicked is to flee.

We are not told in the superscription of the setting of this Psalm.

No doubt there were many occasions when David faced desperate situations.

Maybe when things begin to look troubling when Saul’s envy took over and he begin to want David dead.

David even says on one occasion, after taking Saul’s spear and water jug, he yelled to Saul and Abner from the safety of the nearest mountain saying, “the king of Israel has come out to seek a single flea like one who hunts a partridge in the mountains.” (1 Sam. 26:20)

It’s impossible to know if the advice David is given is neutral, perhaps they give him this advice to make David look like a coward before his enemies.

In battle their are certainly times when it may be strategic to give ground to the enemies.

But often this is a deception deployed to fool the enemy.

[Illustrate:] There is another story in scripture that illustrates this well, it’s the story of Nehemiah and the enemies ploy to get him to look scared:

“Now when I went into the house of Shemaiah the son of Delaiah, son of Mehetabel, who was confined to his home, he said, “Let us meet together in the house of God, within the temple. Let us close the doors of the temple, for they are coming to kill you. They are coming to kill you by night.” But I said, “Should such a man as I run away? And what man such as I could go into the temple and live? I will not go in.” And I understood and saw that God had not sent him, but he had pronounced the prophecy against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him. For this purpose he was hired, that I should be afraid and act in this way and sin, and so they could give me a bad name in order to taunt me. Remember Tobiah and Sanballat, O my God, according to these things that they did, and also the prophetess Noadiah and the rest of the prophets who wanted to make me afraid.” (Ne 6:10–14).

Perhaps you’ve gone through a desperate situation, a problem that was so difficult you couldn’t find a solution.

And maybe your friends said it’s time to flee.

What did you do?

What did you do when they seemed to have compelling reasons for you to listen.

Sometimes scripture tells us to flee, specifically certain temptations.

Flee idolatry (1 Cor. 10:14)

Flee lust (1 Cor 6:18)

Flee youthful passions (2 Tim. 2:22).

But some temptation we are better off staying and fighting.

I’ll give a simple example using chocolate.

If you have decided not to eat chocolate you can do it with the flee method, or the sta-and-fight method.

Flee, would be to get rid of all the chocolate in the house.

Stay-and-fight would be to leave the chocolate, but resist eating it.

If we “fled” those temptations by removing all the chocolate from the house, we might maintain the discipline—but might also lose out on training our will. If my compliance with a discipline is a matter of necessity, rather than choice, then I do not commit myself to it in quite the same way. The original choice to throw all the chocolate out inclines my will in one way, as does my ongoing willingness to not go to the store. But both those choices are not quite as potent as my choice to stare at the piece of chocolate before me, contemplate it, feel the urge to unwrap it until my heart nearly bursts before walking away and going on with my evening.

As C.S. Lewis says somewhere, it is not the person who gives in to temptation who understands it but the person who resists it to the end.

Perhaps your desperate situation is a hard conversation with someone that you would rather avoid.

In that case, flight will not fix the problem.

David understands this and so says, “how can you say to my soul, “flee like a bird to your mountain…”

But these advisers have good reasons for counseling flight, or so they think.

These two are, the character of the wicked and the nature of society (at the time).

The Wicked

“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;” (Ps 11:2).

The wicked are trained warriors.

They have strength to bend a bow

Our labor-saving devices like the compound bows cam system, which allows the holding weight to be 60-90% lighter than the draw weight, creating what they call a let-off effect.

Not so in the Ancient world, you had to have incredible upper body strength to hold a bow at draw and still have accuracy in your aim.

These are not the kind of guys you want to mess with.

Notice also they are ready at in moment to let loose an arrow.

Worse still they are stealth, operating under the cover of darkness.

You may be thinking, no one is trying to kill me, I don’t have enemies that I can describe as David does.

But you do, the world, the flesh, and the devil.

Each can be described as malevolent forces that have one goal–taking down the “upright in heart.”

“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” (Eph 6:12).

“Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.” (1 Pe 5:8–9).

Notice also that resisting our enemies is not fleeing from them.

Half of the battle is with oursleves, against our own flesh, that most deadly of enemies is stealthy and cunning.

We often lose to it because we don’t realize it is our enemy, instead we embrace it as friend. After all it is “me.”

“So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.” (Ro 7:21–23).

So don’t ever think you don’t have enemies, you do.

For some of you the greatest enemy of your soul is actually your phone.

That one device you are tethered to is simultaneously the source of your lusts and envy, your covetousness and greed, but also your anger and malice. A place of intemperate speech, of discontent, and distraction from your various callings.

While you sit glued to your device, thinking that is how you access reality, the real word goes on all around you.

Now some of you need to flee the phone. Extreme porn addiction, for example.

But most of you need to learn to excercize your will by not using it, or using it much less.

If you struggle with anger, then try this get off social media for a couple weeks, and see what that does for your disposition.

If you struggle with cynicism and hopelessness, or are depressed, then try this don’t read the news for a few weeks, instead immersing yourself in the word of God and see what that does for your outlook on life.

David’s advisers paint a bleak picture of the wicked.

At first glance it seems these advisers might offer David wisdom when they counsel flight.

But they add one other reason as well.

What can the Righteous do?

“if the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?”” (Ps 11:3).

You may ask, what foundations are destroyed?

In the Hebrew, it’s actually pillars, but foundations is an apt translation.

It describes the principles of justice that undergird society, the pillars that hold everything up.

This kind of resignation in the face of difficulty often leads people to give up.

To flee injustice, or worse join the wicked.

But is this line of reasoning correct?

Is there nothing the righteous can do when the foundations of justice of been destroyed?

Certainly not.

Before anything else, and certainly before flight, one can pray.

Prayer, before anything else, is the greatest resource given to Christians.

For in prayer we appeal to the sovereign Lord who rules heaven and earth, the one who has the power to save.

We call on Him to deliver us by bringing justice. We have seen that already as the psalmist has pleaded with the Lord for justice on numerous occasions thus far.

When we face desperate situations and receive advice such as is offered in vv. 1-3, we can be tempted to distrust God in three ways.

Three ways

Tempts you to doubt God will deliver you.

Tempts you to think you can find refuge in something other than God (your mountain).

Tempts you to flee before asking for help.

This whole scene reminds us of Jesus and the Disciples on the eve of His death.

Jesus warns them of what was to come, and Peter takes Jesus aside and offers him some pious advice.

“From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.” But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”” (Mt 16:21–23).

While it’s impossible to know the motives of those offering advice to David, it’s easy to see in David’s response that they are not setting their minds on the things of God, but our focused on the schemes of the wicked, including the perversion of Justice.

David essentially retorts back in vv. 4-7 what can’t the righteous do? For I have God on my side.

It’s not all bad—so have faith in the LORD

David, encourages himself by setting his mind on God.

Yes, he is in a desperate situation.

But the Lord is enthroned in heaven in His holy temple.

Holy, reminds us that God is not entangled in the sinful ways of life on earth.

He’s not susceptible to perverting justice because of Sin, but judges justly always.

But he is not just judge, but king with authority over heaven and earth.

Nothing escapes His gaze.

Wicked men may think they shoot in the dark, but the LORD sees them.

As the psalmist declares in Ps. 139,

“If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night,” even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you.” (Ps 139:11–12).

As we considered last week, contrary to what the wicked might think, the Lord sees everything.

And he tests everyone.

Testing is the process of making sure something meets the standards set for them.

When you make something designed for a specific purpose, before it can be used you have to test it to ensure that it works properly.

We were made to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.

He tests you to see if you meet the standard–His standard.

The LORD tests the Righteous

So he tests the righteous by putting you through trials.

In this case the trial of a desperate situation.

Here God is looking at the heart of the righteous, he’s testing their response to the situations that are beyond their control.

He’s testing their faith.

Again not because He doesn’t know, but because we don’t.

“In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” (1 Pe 1:6–7).

This refrain is found throughout the NT, over and over again.

They say “practice makes perfect,” well your faith is “practiced” by trials.

Every trial is an opportunity to prove your faith is genuine.

How has God tried your faith recently.

What areas have you had to learn to rely on Him?

Is it finances, employment, difficult relationships, anxiety, fear?

Where is God testing your faith, testing to see if you will flee, or find refuge in Him.

If you can’t think of any, then you are not paying attention.

Maybe you have not exercised your faith in such a long time that it has grown flabby and weak.

Or maybe you don’t have faith at all.

Maybe the cynicism of thinking the foundations are destroyed, so what can the righteous do, has caused you to flee into yourself and your own resources instead of taking refuge in the Lord?

But that is not why God designs trials for you, so that you will flee from Him.

But rather, he gives you trials so that you will find refuge in Him.

Each desperate situation is then an opportunity for the righteous to renew and deepen their faith.

David was tried in the house of Saul, he was tried in the wilderness, he was tried in battle, and he was tried on the rooftop as he gazed across at Bathsheba.

Each event was meant to test David’s faith, would he cling to the LORD, holding fast to His word, or not?

Even the Lord Jesus was tested.

He was tested in the wilderness after His baptism when he faced the temptations of Satan (Mt. 4).

And he was tested in Gethsemane, when the fear and read of God’s wrath overwhelmed Him.

But he did not flee, instead he took refuge in the LORD, and drew strength and confidence to fight Satan, and defeat death and hell on the cross.

The LORD hates the Wicked

Not so the wicked, they are tried and found wanting.

They do not live according to God’s design, for sin corrupts man so that he does not glorify God, nor enjoy Him.

So the Soul of God hates the wicked.

For wickedness is the very opposite of the character and attributes of God.

V. 7 gives us the only request made by the psalmist.

He calls on the Lord to bring a Sodom and Gomorrah type judgement on the wicked.

And this is the judgment that awaits the wicked, the fires of hell.

“After this I heard what seemed to be the loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, crying out, “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God, for his judgments are true and just; for he has judged the great prostitute who corrupted the earth with her immorality, and has avenged on her the blood of his servants.”” (Re 19:1–2).

“And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison and will come out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle; their number is like the sand of the sea. And they marched up over the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, but fire came down from heaven and consumed them, and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.” (Re 20:7–10).

“And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.” (Re 20:13–15).

It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of an angry God.

Singing this psalm reminds us that we need to make sure that we don’t in any way resemble the wicked.

And don’t think that the wicked are only those who do blatantly evil things.

The wicked are all those who do not take refuge in the LORD.

Who do not have faith in Jesus Christ.

For the most wicked thing you can do is not kill, steal and destroy.

The most wicked thing you can do is not believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.

The most wicked thing you can do is reject Jesus as Lord.

If you do, then God has stored up a fiery judgement for you.

I beg of you, flee from that, and find refuge in the Lord.

The Beatific Vision

David comes finally to His great confession of faith:

“For the LORD is righteous; he loves righteous deeds; the upright shall behold his face.” (Ps 11:7).

What righteous deeds does the Lord love?

Not so much good works, although are pleasing to God; not great heroic feats, although he often empowers men to do them.

But rather, when in desperate situations you find refuge in the Lord, and draw confidence to face down your situation by faith, the Lord loves that.

For that is the very reason that he placed you in that situation.

Not so that you would try to overcome it on your own, but so that you would take refuge in the Lord.

Notice the outcome when the righteous do what the Lord loves:

“the upright shall behold His face.” (7)

The Goal is beholding the face of God.

What theologians call the beatific vision.

This is the goal of all of scripture, of God’s plan of redemption.

To restore us to a place of fellowship and communion with Him.

Adam lost that privileged status when through his sin he was separated from God.

But God made a way, restoring that communion bond.

First through promise and the blessings of His favor, where throughout the old covenant God, dwelled with His people in shadows and types.

But in the fullness of time, God sent His Son who tabernacled among us.

“For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” (2 Co 4:6).

So now, by faith, we see the glory of God shining in the face of Jesus.

But one day faith will give way to sight, and we shall behold His face forever.

“And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”” (Re 21:3–4).

While we wait for that glorious day, we draw strength to when we find refuge in the Lord so that we can confidently face whatever desperate situation comes our way. Amen.

Charge

Since the LORD tests the righteous, you must trust Him to find refuge in desperate situations.