RIGHTEOUSNESS RULES
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Opening Prayer
Gracious God, thank you for always welcoming me into your presence, ready to receive my thanksgiving and praise, my confessions and concerns, my questions and doubts. Thank you that your Spirit even intercedes for me when I don’t know what to pray.
Read PSALM 11
For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.
Psalm 11
For the director of music. Of David.
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.
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.
7 For the Lord is righteous,
he loves justice;
the upright will see his face.
Reflect
May your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven.
Do you ever feel like the foundations of the world are being shaken? When corruption is rife in society or the rule of law is threatened? It can be tempting to give up and hide from the moral, spiritual, or physical collapse.
This psalm depicts such a viewpoint—only to challenge it forcefully. The voice of despair urges flight, in dismay at the forces threatening destruction (vv. 1–3). The psalmist, however, remains defiantly hopeful. Yes, he seeks refuge, but he seeks it in the Lord (v. 1). He does so because he has utter confidence in God and his nature for three reasons. First, God is above all things and can see into the hearts of all people. The psalmist describes him as being like an enthroned king, observing his subjects (vv. 4–6). Nothing and no one is hidden from his gaze—including those culpable of destructive behavior. Second, God’s essential identity is righteous and just (v. 7). It would be utterly contradictory for him to be otherwise. Third, therefore, he is committed to action that blesses the righteous and punishes the wicked.1 The psalmist depicts him as pouring ‘fiery coals and burning sulphur’ onto the wicked (v. 6). As the psalms often do, this psalm uses hyperbole to exaggerate the distinction between the upright, who ‘will see [God’s] face’ (v. 7) and ‘those who love violence,’ whom ‘he hates with a passion’ (v. 5). We are left with a very clear sense of the psalmist’s confidence in God and in his righteousness.
Of course, on this earth, we don’t always see the righteous vindicated, but this psalm restores our hope that this is the direction in which we are heading.
Apply
What shapes your responses to the world’s challenges, corruption, and discord?
Closing prayer
Father, forgive me where I have been quick to despair. Give me fresh confidence in you and hope for your kingdom to come.
1 Robert Davidson, The Vitality of Worship (Eerdmans, 1998), 48.
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