Psalm Chapter 11

Psalm 11: The Refuge That Does Not Run

Everyone around David is giving sensible advice: flee, run, the arrows are nocked and the wicked have their bowstrings taut. And who could blame him for listening? When the foundations are destroyed — when the very ground rules of decency and justice have been pulled up like tent pegs — what can the righteous do? It is one of the most haunting questions in all of Scripture, and the psalmist gives it the most counterintuitive answer imaginable: nothing. Or rather, nothing except stay. "In the Lord put I my trust." He does not argue with the danger. He simply refuses to let it set the terms. The Lord is still in his holy temple, still on his throne, and — here is the line that should make every schemer uneasy — "his eyelids try the children of men." Those eyelids: narrowed, attentive, missing nothing. The one who will not flee has seen something the fleers have not. The foundations may crack, but the throne does not move.

00:00 In the Lord I Put My Trust
00:15 Flee as a Bird
00:25 If the Foundations Be Destroyed
00:35 The Lord in His Holy Temple
00:50 Fire and Brimstone for the Wicked
01:00 His Countenance Beholds the Upright