Psalms 11:1-7 - Homilies By C. Clemance

The victory of faith; or, rest amid storm.

In each one of those psalms which represent some historic experience, there is its own differential feature. This feature it is the work of the student and expositor to seize and to utilize. We do not know and have no means of knowing the specific incidents in the writer's life to which reference is here made, £ although, since David was the writer, we should find but little difficulty in fixing on some passages of his history to which the psalm might possibly apply. But although that might furnish some interesting points of history, it would add little or nothing to the value of the psalm. It is one which is far too much overlooked; since it yields us a powerful illustration of a faith which overcomes the world. Let us set to work and see if it be not so.

I. HERE IS A BELIEVER IN GOD EXPOSED TO PERIL FROM DESIGNING FOES . ( Psalms 11:2 .) Those who are upright in heart are hated by the wicked (cf. 1 John 3:12 , 1 John 3:13 ). This is not to be wondered at, for righteous men by their righteousness are a standing condemnation of the ungodly ( Hebrews 11:7 ). The Lord Jesus was pre-eminently the object of hatred by the world ( John 7:7 ; John 15:18-24 ). In the time of the psalmist this hatred was expressed by plots for the destruction of God's servants ( Psalms 11:2 ). £ But, as if conscious of wrong and of the meanness and wickedness of their aims, men sought the cover of darkness for their designs (see Psalms 11:2 , Revised Version). What a mercy there is One to whom the darkness and the light are both alike!

II. HERE ARE WELL - MEANING FRIENDS GIVING THEIR ADVICE . ( Psalms 11:1 , "Flee as a bird," etc.) This is the counsel of timidity. There may possibly be circumstances in which it may be right to take flight (see Matthew 10:23 ). Although our Lord expected his disciples to be prepared, If Need be, to lay down their lives for him, yet he did not wish them unnecessarily to expose themselves to danger. So that at times, flight may be wise. But in the case of the psalmist, the whole tenor of his psalm indicates that it would not have been right, and that the counsels of his friends were those of timidity and even of cowardice. Note:

1 . We may any of us be exposed at some time or other to this temptation

2 . Such temptation may be even harder to resist when it comes from friends than if it came from foes. So our Lord Jesus found it; he felt Peter's effort to dissuade him from the cross far more acutely than he did Satan's (cf. Matthew 16:22 , Matthew 16:23 ).

III. THIS ILL - JUDGED ADVICE MAY BE ENFORCED WITH PLAUSIBLE ARGUMENTS . ( Psalms 11:1 , Psalms 11:3 .) The advice begins with the word "flee" ( Psalms 11:1 ), and ends with the close of the third verse. The arguments for flight are:

1 . The secrecy of the designs of the wicked; since they work under cover of the darkness, it is best to be entirely out of their reach.

2 . The grievous consequences of their success ( Psalms 11:3 ). If the men who are the strength and glory of a state are removed, the righteous therein will be dismayed, £ This is a more specious argument than the former: it is equivalent to, "If you care not to flee for your own sake, you owe it to others to guard yourself; for if you, as one of the supports of the state, are overthrown, what will the righteous people do?" The wicked would rejoice, and would seize the occasion for the purposes of rapine and murder; but the righteous would be in sore dismay.

IV. TO SUCH ADVICE , FAITH HAS A READY ANSWER . ( Psalms 11:4-6 .) The various features of this answer may be summed up in one sentence, "The Lord reigneth!" This is faith's rest and refuge in all times of trouble. Things are not left to the cross-purposes of man. There is a throne above all, and One sitting thereon. This fact has a manifold bearing:

1 . On men generally.

2 . On the righteous.

3 . On the wicked.

The terrible figures used in this verse are probably drawn from the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. What the dread reality may be, of which these words are symbols, God grant that we may never know! More fearful than any physical judgments is the adverse verdict of the Great Supreme ( John 3:19 ). Note: It is all-important for a believer in God, in the midst of the greatest calamities, and of the most serious public disorder, so to maintain his calm serenity of soul, as to enable him thus to rest in what he knows of God and of his revealed mind and will.

V. KNOWING ALL THIS CONCERNING GOD , THE PSALMIST HAD ACTUALLY ANTICIPATED THE ADVICE OF HIS ADVISERS , though in another and a better way ( Psalms 11:1 ): "In the Lord put I my trust;" rather, "To the Lord I have fled for refuge." I need no other. He is mine. He will guard me. I am at rest in him. I will therefore stay where I am, and keep in the path of duty. I can calmly look on the raging storm, and wait till it has passed by. "Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning." Note:

1 . The man who trusts in God has already a Refuge of which the ungodly man knows nothing.

2 . That trust in God gives him the victory over his foes.

3 . The God whom he trusts will be his Shield no% and his exceeding great Reward hereafter and for ever!

How much broader, deeper, and firmer should be our trust, now that we know God's love as revealed in Christ] "Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?" "This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith" ( 1 John 5:4 , 1 John 5:5 ).—C.