Psalm 11

To the chief musician,
A Psalm of David.

1 In the LORD put I my trust;
how say ye to my soul,
"Flee as a bird to your mountain"?
2 For, lo, the wicked bend their bow,
they make ready their arrow upon the string,
that they may privily shoot at the upright in heart.
3 If the foundations be destroyed,
what can the righteous do?

4 The LORD is in his holy temple,
the LORD's throne is in heaven:
his eyes behold, his eyelids try, the children of men.
5 The LORD trieth the righteous,
but the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth.
6 Upon the wicked he shall rain snares,
fire and brimstone, and an horrible tempest:
this shall be the portion of their cup.
7 For the righteous LORD loveth righteousness;
his countenance doth behold the upright.

JW: David encourages himself in God, against the attempts of his enemies, ver. 1-3; asserts the dominion and providence of God, ver. 4-7.

[On verse 2:] 'For lo' - David having directed his speech to his enemies, now turns it to God, and pours out before him his complaints. 'Ready' - they lay designs for my destruction and make all things ready to execute them.

[On verse 3:] 'Foundations' - piety, justice, fidelity, and mercy, which are the pillars or foundations of a state or kingdom. 'What' - the condition of all righteous men will be desperate.

[On verse 4:] 'Temple' - in heaven; which is mentioned as an evidence of his glorious majesty, of his sovereign power and dominion over all men and things, and of his accurate inspection into all men and their actions. 'Throne' - where he sits to examine all causes, and to give righteous sentence according to every man's works. 'Try' - he thoroughly discerns all men, their most inward and secret actions: and therefore he sees and will reward my innocency, notwithstanding all the calumnies of mine enemies; and withal he sees all their secret designs, and will discover and defeat them.

[On verse 5:] 'Trieth' - He chastens even righteous persons, yet he still loves them, and therefore will in due time deliver them.

Not an uncommon thread in the Psalms is to see movement from trust in God (v. 1) - to bewilderment that the wicked are allowed to attack the righteous (v. 2-3) - to a sure confidence that God will bring justice for and uphold the righteous and judgment upon the wicked (v. 4-7).

St. Chrysostom aptly has pointed out the reference to the bird is a metaphor for those who trust in the things of this world. A sparrow, he says, "relies on the wilderness and is prey to all. People who put their hope in money are like that...always taking to flight and migrating..." The proper stance, comes in placing our hope in God. Those who "cling to this anchor are invincible."

We also have in this Psalm references that portray God as Priest (temple), King (throne), and most notably Judge. The reference to God's hatred is inescapable and I have to admit that at times I have difficulty with this notion, especially when so much of the Bible speaks of our God as having a universal love. Anger is understandable, because it can mean to be grounded in God's love or directed toward drawing us to repentance. Wrath is similar in that it is (or at least can be) appeased. But hatred? Is it just my problem? Or is the English language or Western concepts missing something when it comes to God's reactions, tempers, whatever this may be? Is this "hatred" merely an expression of the final judgment against those who have eternally rejected God's grace? Many preachers and evangelists from my upbringing wouldn't have a problem at all with this Psalm, especially the reference to fire and brimstone. How literal or metaphorical are we to take the description of these judgments? Sorry to end with questions on this, but I am confessing that I have difficulty with this hatred language.