Be On God's Side And You Win

Finding God In Our Difficulties

Read Psalm 11:1-4, “

1 In the LORD I take refuge.

How then can you say to me:

“Flee like a bird to your mountain.

2 For look, the wicked bend their bows;

they set their arrows against the strings

to shoot from the shadows

at the upright in heart.

3 When the foundations are being destroyed,

what can the righteous do?”

4 The LORD is in his holy temple;

the LORD is on his heavenly throne.

He observes everyone on earth;

his eyes examine them.

Disruption can be a grace from God, it means you are aware that something is happening. It is a very true thing. That when you grow up, in a nation, with security, with justice, with the knowledge that the police will come to do justice if you are wronged, and also punish you, if you wrong others. If you grow up, in a country that is established in a sense of righteous rules and constitutions, it means, that so long as those things last, that there will be prevailing experience, in that place, of a livelihood that is closer to God’s ways, and kingdom, than otherwise. Israel, was established, but David, as I read in the resources that I used for my study (Evangelical commentary on the Bible and other translations) that the response of David, to flee like a bird to the mountains, is a very natural thing.

He begins the Psalm stating, that he takes refuge in God, in times like this. When evil people are deceived, and think that they can do evil in the dark against good people, and that God doesn’t see it, because its in the dark. But you will not change their mind, even though they live in their madness. This is what they are like.

So David, sets himself, when he, you could say, feels that God’s presence is departing national Israel, that he would seek it, and find his refuge in the one he loves, and knows. David has fled before to God, and finds himself, fleeing again. So David flees the temptation to compromise (vs. 5 - The Msg) to just let the land go, and slide with them and he feels the unrighteousness like it’s an acid and queries the Lord asking what can the righteous do, when the foundations are destroyed? “God, this is acidic, and I cannot live here! I flee to you!”

The Need For National Righteousness

Read Psalm 11:5-6, “ 5 The LORD examines the righteous,

but the wicked, those who love violence,

he hates with a passion.

6 On the wicked he will rain

fiery coals and burning sulfur;

a scorching wind will be their lot.

The soul of the nation, is at stake, when the foundations are opposed. What was established, then is threatened. The rebels, should rightly either submit to the authorities, or to move to a land that represents their aptitudes and ways of living and morals.

David knew of God’s wrath, even evidenced in the present time, or age, and he knows that God judges sin, and national evil at His appointed time, and in his appointed way, being the Sovereign Lord of the prophets, he does as he wants. David has the fear of God within him, on top of the fact that he loves God. And David knows that once a nations turns against what is right, it is only a matter of time that God judges, and sometimes without remedy. David also knows that the people of the land, are valued, and God will make a right judgment, and will not let people cheat, or think that they have a corner on God. David strives against the religious, who think that evil and faith co-exist. David knew God, and he fled, for his life, because God will pour his burning flames on the wicked.

When the Time Passes

Read Psalm :, “

7 For the LORD is righteous,

he loves justice;

the upright will see his face.

When everything has been addressed, in the current situation, that David finds himself in, he teaches his own heart that those who are upright, will see the face of God. It will be a complete transformation of nature and character, by God. God loves justice, he will see that the righteous will be preserved. God is righteous, he will reward those who seek his ways, and God will cause them to stand, and see his glory, and see God’s mysterious ways of justice in his judgment against those who have set themselves against God and his truth. God is the issue here! Be on God’s side, and you win!