Psalm 11; In YHWH I Take Refuge

PastorRodney’s Weblog

2025 06/08 Psalm 11; In YHWH I Take Refuge; Audio available at: http://www.ephraimbible.org/Sermons/20250608_psalm-11.mp3

Psalm 11 is a declaration of faith in YHWH, the Lord.

Psalms help us to pray. Many of the Psalms, like many hymns and contemporary worship songs, are addressed directly to the Lord; while some are addressed to the worshiping community to encourage one another in our faith. This is one of those Psalms; it is a statement of trust in YHWH to stand firm and wait on him in times of trouble, when it seems like the wise thing to do would be to run and hide.

Psalm 11

To The Choirmaster, of David

1 In the LORD I take refuge

how can you say to my soul,

“Flee like a bird to your mountain,
2 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;
3 if the foundations are destroyed,

what can the righteous do?”

Pre-Decide to Trust YHWH

The prescript reminds us that this is a song that is meant to be sung by the gathered congregation; it is ‘for the music director, by David.’

This Psalm opens with a declaration of trust in YHWH; ‘In the LORD I take refuge.’ This is primary. This is essential. Where is your hope? What are you trusting in? When times of trouble come (and they will come), that is not the time to decide who or what you will turn to. It is essential that you pre-decide that before the troubles are upon you, or you will likely make a bad decision in the moment. Where does your hope lie? What are you counting on, depending on, trusting in? Who or what will you run to in times of trouble? There are a lot of things in this world that promise to be a place of refuge when things get rough. But David has already resolved ‘In YHWH I take refuge.’

Well-Meaning Counsel to Flee

He asks the question ‘how can you say to my soul?’ Apparently he has people in his life, friends, counselors, giving him advice. These could be mischievous mockers taunting him to run away, but more likely it is well meaning friends, trusted advisors who see what is coming and are counseling his best course of action. It could be his own fears speaking to him, telling him what he ought to do.

His response is to this advice is almost an expression of shocked disbelief; how can you say that? How can you tempt my soul to trust in anything but YHWH?

1 In the LORD I take refuge

how can you say to my soul,

“Flee like a bird to your mountain,
2 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;
3 if the foundations are destroyed,

what can the righteous do?”

If the Foundation are Destroyed

It is a dark day when the wicked shoot in the dark at the upright in heart. It is difficult to defend yourself when you can’t see where the attacks are coming from. The situation seems imminent; the arrow is fitted to the string, the bow is bent; all the wicked have to do is let their arrows fly. It feels as if the very foundations of society have been demolished. There is no justice, no order, right is wrong and wrong prevails. When the very fabric of society seems to unravel, what can the righteous do? The urge to self preservation is strong. To flee seems the only option.

Fleeing and Trusting

We know David did flee like a bird to the mountains on several occasions, when he was being hunted by Saul, and again later from the coup of his son Absalom. He took refuge in the mountains, but the mountain was not his refuge. There are times to stand firm, and there are times to take wise steps to avoid trouble. Either way, our trust must not be in the action we take, but in the LORD who can grant success or failure to our wise action. Taking refuge in the LORD is not an excuse for inaction; it is a reaffirmation of what it is we are ultimately putting our hope in.

What can the righteous do? If the circumstance is as bad as it is made out to be, it might already be too late to get away. The one who is truly righteous will take refuge in YHWH. In reallity there is no other refuge.

Focus on the Unseen Reality

The counselors are counseling to look at an unseen reality; there are wicked people hiding in the dark ready to shoot.

The Psalmist has his eyes fixed on a different unseen reality. There is an unseen reality much greater than any enemy, seen or unseen, real or imagined. Almost every line of the rest of this Psalm begins with God’s covenant name YHWH. David has his eyes fixed on his God.

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.
5 The LORD tests the righteous,

but his soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence.
6 Let him rain coals on the wicked;

fire and sulfur and a scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup.

The wicked may be lurking in the dark, but YHWH God is still on his throne. YHWH is in his holy temple. This is a Psalm of David, and it wasn’t until David was gone that his son Solomon built the temple in Jerusalem. But David has his eyes not on the earthly replica yet to be built, but on the heavenly reality. YHWH’s throne is in heaven. YHWH is in heaven, but his eyes see even what the wicked do under cover of darkness. He sees all, he knows all; not one thing escapes his notice. The Sovereign Lord is scrutinizing, examining all people.

YHWH Tests the Righteous and Hates the Wicked

YHWH tests the righteous. This is not a test that is pass or fail to determine if someone is righteous; he has already declared them righteous. This is a test in the sense of proving, displaying them as righteous. He knows them to be righteous, but the test gives opportunity to demonstrate what he knows them already to be. More on this in a moment.

Not so the wicked. Verse 5 says that ‘his soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence.’ There’s a common saying ‘God hates the sin but loves the sinner’, and there’s some truth to that. John 3:16 tells us that God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, and Romans 5 tells us that ‘while we were still sinners, Christ died for us’. God has set his love on us sinners, in order to rescue, redeem, transform us from sinners to saints. But there is also a sense, as this Psalm says, that ‘his soul hates the wicked.’ Not just what they do but who they are; those opposed to God and his rule. Those that have set themselves against God, those who love violence. They love what God hates, so his soul hates them.

Verse 6 is a prayer; let him rain coals on the wicked. Give them, Lord, what they deserve. If there are those lurking in the dark, loving violence, arrow on the string, bow bent and ready, intent on destroying the foundations, Lord you see. Lord, you know. Lord, you are the only one who can intervene. You Lord, are my refuge. Pour out divine justice from your throne in heaven on their heads!

The Cup of Wrath

David uses an interesting phrase here; fire and sulfur and scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup. These divine judgments echo back to God’s judgment in Genesis 19 on the wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah;

Genesis 19:24 Then the LORD rained on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire from the LORD out of heaven. 25 And he overthrew those cities, and all the valley, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground.

… 28 And he [Abraham] looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah and toward all the land of the valley, and he looked and, behold, the smoke of the land went up like the smoke of a furnace.

This divine wrath, David says, is the portion of their cup. The prophets, especially Isaiah and Jeremiah expand on this metaphor of a cup.

Jeremiah 25:15 Thus the LORD, the God of Israel, said to me: “Take from my hand this cup of the wine of wrath, and make all the nations to whom I send you drink it. 16 They shall drink and stagger and be crazed because of the sword that I am sending among them.” 17 So I took the cup from the LORD’s hand, and made all the nations to whom the LORD sent me drink it:

Gospel Connection:

We may be uncomfortable with God’s hatred of the wicked, and his preparing a cup of divine wrath for them to drink. We want to identify as the righteous but we also want to sympathize with and defend the wicked. But here’s what God’s word says “None is righteous, no, not one” (Rom.3:10). We all are in the category of the wicked, deserving divine wrath as the portion of our cup.

But the Lord also makes it clear in Ezekiel:

Ezekiel 33:11 Say to them, As I live, declares the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel?

The Lord says in Isaiah 55:

Isaiah 55:7 let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

None of us is righteous, no not one. We are all in the category of the wicked, and the portion of our cup is God’s just wrath. But God takes no delight in punishing the wicked, but in turning us from our evil ways; YHWH is ‘a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty’ (Ex.34:6-7).

How can God be both forgiving of sins, and by no means clear the guilty?

This helps us understand Jesus’ prayer in the garden; “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will” (Mt.27:39). Jesus was looking into the portion of my cup, what I deserve, and he drank it in my place. Justice was served, he took my guilt on himself, and paid the price justice demands. What is left for me?

7 For the LORD is righteous;

he loves righteous deeds;

the upright shall behold his face.

Now that the cup of God’s wrath is drained, there is compassion, there is grace, there is abundant pardon for me when I run to Jesus for refuge. YHWH is righteous, and he loves righteous deeds. Not works done by us in our own self-righteousness (Titus.3:5).

Ephesians 2:4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ— by grace you have been saved— …8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

YHWH is righteous, and he loves righteous deeds, those created by his amazing grace, those he prepared in advance for us, and us for them, that we should walk in them. YHWH is righteous, he is pleased when we walk in his grace received by faith, by running to him for refuge from him, from his wrath that we justly deserve.

The outcome? Now that we are counted righteous in Christ, Jesus’ own perfect record of righteousness credited to me by faith, ‘the upright shall behold his face.’ It just doesn’t get any better than that! YHWH’s eye is on us, his face is toward us, to test us, not to see if we are righteous, but to display, by how we respond to the troubles that come, who we are trusting in. Do we take refuge in our own wisdom, in seemingly wise counsel? Or is YHWH our only refuge? Do we long for better circumstances, to be out of the test, or do we long to see his face?

***

Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org