The Song of Foundations

Psalm 11 brings us into a conversation that David is having with someone, likely his advisors but maybe it’s an internal wrestling in his own soul. We eavesdrop in just as David says, “In the LORD I take refuge; how can you say…?” The advice of the counselors is that David should flee to safety in the mountains, to run away from evil people who want to take David down. “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…” The advisors are worried about either literal or metaphorical assassins lying in ambush and waiting for the right moment to take David down before he can see it coming. You can just imagine these friends wringing their hands and pleading with David to hide. They end their fearful counsel with this poignant line in verse 3: “if the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?” In other words, if the very ground you are standing on is taken out from under you, if everything you know and believe in is obliterated, if every place of safety is gone, where will that leave you? Some of us don’t need to imagine that scenario because we’ve lived it. We’ve been at rock bottom. We know what it’s like to live in free fall. David’s initial answer in verse 1 was that the LORD, the God who has made a covenant with his people, will be David’s refuge. But when we hear about the threats and dangers, the question still lingers in the air: if the foundations are destroyed, what can you do?

Fully aware of the danger around him and the enemies that wish him harm, David gives the reason for the confidence he stated in verse 1 that God is his refuge. Verse 4: “The LORD is in his holy temple; the LORD’s throne is in heaven; his eyes see, his eyelids test the children of man. The LORD tests the righteous, but his soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence.” God is neither shocked nor shaken by world-ending events. When our foundations are destroyed, his temple and his throne is steady. When we are in the dark and can’t see the threats around us, God sees it all. In fact the emphasis on God’s eyes and eyelids give the sense that God is watching human history closely, fully focused on what the righteous and the wicked do. One commentator put it this way: “His stillness is not inertia but concentration, and his patience gives opportunity to both righteous and wicked to show what they are made of.” We learn a lot about God’s character here. He is omnipotent, all-powerful. He is omniscient, all-knowing. He is holy, revulsed by those who love violence. Violence can mean a lot of things, from physical harm to verbal insults to social injustice to ethnic genocide. God opposes anything that destroys people and destroys the foundations of society. And in verse 6, David longs for God to put an end to abuse, assaults, and ambushes: “Let him rain coals on the wicked; fire and sulfur and a scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup.” This is a clear reference to Sodom and Gomorrah, the epitome of God’s swift judgment on human evil. God is patient, not passive, but one day the wicked will drink the cup that they have poured for themselves and reap the consequences for their rebellion against God and violence against his people.

Five times in seven verses, David uses God’s covenant name (YHWH), and that frequency stresses that Yahweh is a God who is present and close to his people. He does not abandon them, even when everything around them is in ruin. He is present when the threat is approaching, when we feel pressure to choose the fearful way out, and when our foundations crumble. He is present in judgment, and most of all, he is present in his heavenly realm and can never be overthrown from his throne. What’s more, God is in himself goodness and holiness and purity. The true foundations of the righteous life are God’s own character. This is how the psalm ends: “For the LORD is righteous; he loves righteous deeds; the upright shall behold his face.” In his nature, God is good. He loves his people. And he promises them that one day, we will see God face to face. David has looked at the wicked, looked to God, and now he looks ahead to the future. David knows that if we trust God, we will stand face to face before our Creator, Redeemer, Savior, and Friend. God’s eyes see us now, but one day our eyes will see him. In the light of that future, all of our fears and frustrations are answered. What can the righteous do when life falls apart? We trust in the LORD, who is our refuge. This trust won’t take us out of danger, but it will equip us to endure hardships and stand on the stable, firm foundation that is the LORD.