Psalm 11
I really hope that each of you has a study Bible with notes that can help your understanding of the Psalms. I regularly look to my two or three study Bibles for guidance and understanding. Such was the case today, and punctuation is the key. David is writing this Psalm; in the first verse “you” is not capitalized in any translation that I read, so David is speaking to someone else – individual or group. Then beginning in verse 1b we have quotation marks around David’s speech until the end of verse 3. Putting it all together, it seems clear to me that David is speaking to his followers who want him to flee from imminent danger, to go hide in the mountains. But David’s confidence in the Lord shows up in the rest of the Psalm. He knows that he may be getting tested (see verse 5), but he also knows that he is among the righteous and that the Lord is on his side.
So David occasionally gets tested; soon we’ll be reading Job where Job endures some serious testing; and last year we read of Jesus being tested – initially in the wilderness, then regularly by the scribes and Pharisees, then finally that ultimate test that He faced in the Garden of Gethsemane. What do we learn from all that? We are not immune from testing! How we respond is the key. Look at David’s immediate response to those who are suggesting flight: The LORD is in His holy temple; the LORD’s throne is in heaven; His eyes see, His eyelids test the children of man. (v. 4) Our Lord knows everything that is going on in our lives. Rest. Pray. Wait.