There have been a number of times in my life where I entered into a "great trial." This is not the normal everyday trial but it is when the wheels come off the bus and life is thrown into great chaos. The way I handled those times and seasons made all the difference in the world.
Psalm 11:3 addresses this by asking "When the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?”
We don’t know exactly when David wrote this psalm. Many writers connect it to the time when Saul chased David in the wilderness (1 Samuel 23:13-14), but we can't be sure. We know the psalm comes at a desperate moment when his enemies seemed to be closing in on him and his friends encouraged him to run away.
When the foundations are destroyed, there are many things the righteous can do, but above everything else, they must first get a right view of God.
As we look at the first three verses that describe David’s predicament, let’s consider the commitment we must make as we face an uncertain future.
1. We Will Not Flee
“I have taken refuge in the Lord. How can you say to me, ‘Escape to the mountain like a bird!’” (v. 1)
Sometimes the Lord calls you to stand and face whatever comes. Yes, there are times when we need to flee, but there are times when we must stand and fight.
When David’s friends encouraged him to flee the country, he replied, “I have taken refuge in the Lord.” If God cannot protect him, then running to Egypt won’t keep him safe.
I apply that same principle to the current moral crisis in America. I have no doubt that things will get worse in the near future. Open hostility toward Christians will increase.
Some will lose their jobs because of their convictions. Others will find their careers stymied because of overt anti-Christian hatred.
Increasingly believers will be marginalized and ridiculed. Christians who dare to speak out against the prevailing tide will be vilified on social media. Some will receive threatening phone calls. They will discover that other Christians don’t want to be around them.
All of this was foretold in the New Testament. Truly the “perilous times” of 2 Timothy 3 are upon us.
How will we respond? Will we run and hide? Will we flee from the battle?
Sometimes you have to stand and fight. You may lose the battle. You may be wounded. You may not survive.
We have to stand and fight for what we believe.We leave the results in God’s hands.’
As they say in the Coast Guard, “You have to go out. You don’t have to come back.”
2. We Will Not Fear
“For look, the wicked string the bow; they put the arrow on the bowstring to shoot from the shadows at the upright in heart” (v. 2).
In this case David is being quite literal. At one point Saul tried to kill David with a spear. Later he sent his army after him. The arrows they were shooting were not metaphorical. When those arrows hit, they drew blood.
It’s always good to know what you are up against. That way you won’t be surprised when trouble comes.
3. We Will Not Fret
“When the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?” (v. 3)
The word translated “foundations” refers to the moral and spiritual underpinnings of any society. What can the righteous do when the foundations crumble beneath them?
Do they quit? Do they despair? Do they run away? Do they become bitter? Do they resort to violence?
4. We Will Look To God
What will the righteous do? What can we do?
What do you do when the foundations are destroyed? Answer: It all depends on how big your God is.
If you’ve got a small God, you’ve got a big problem. If you’ve got a big God, you'll be okay even when the bad guys seem to be winning.
But in times like these, we need God first and foremost. When the foundations are being hacked away, we’ve got to go back to the First Principles. That’s what David does in verses 4-7.
Notice that in the midst of this trial David acknowledges God's presence...
“The Lord is in His holy temple; the Lord’s throne is in heaven” (v. 4).
This is David’s way of saying God is everywhere. He’s on the earth (in his holy temple), but his throne is in heaven. I admit that it doesn’t always look that way. When you read the headlines, it can seem as if the whole world is spinning out of control.
We believe there is a God who sits on the throne of the universe, a God who is absolutely sovereign, a God whose ways are far above our ways, a God to whom the whole human race must someday give account.
Was God shocked by the murders in Charleston? Was God caught by surprise by the crisis in Greece? Was God unprepared for the Supreme Court decision?
The answer to all such questions is a resounding no. Our God is never surprised, never asleep, never startled by evil, never shocked by natural disasters, and never astonished by Supreme Court decisions.
Where is God? He’s not nervously pacing heaven wondering, “Who will I get to replace Uzziah?” Not at all. At that critical moment, God is where he has always been. Seated on his throne.
Verses 4-6 state... “His eyes watch; He examines everyone. The Lord examines the righteous and the wicked. He hates the lover of violence. He will rain burning coals and sulfur on the wicked; a scorching wind will be their portion."
No one gets away with anything. God will have the last word. God knows exactly what is going on.
God sees everything. He reads every heart. He knows every thought. He hears the words whispered in the darkness. He knows us better than we know ourselves.
“For the Lord is righteous; He loves righteous deeds. The upright will see His face” (v. 7).
Follow after God with all your heart. Yes, the foundations might seem to be shaken right now but God will have the last word over your life and eventually over world events.
Today we walk by faith. Today we stumble along through this life. Today we struggle.
But today is not the last day. There is a better day coming for the people of God when all will be made right.
“When the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?”
Make no mistake. The foundations are being destroyed right in front of our very eyes. Long-held moral values are being jettisoned in favor of a new morality that is really no morality at all.
When the foundations are being destroyed, we need a fresh view of God and a long view of history. God who sees all things will judge the wicked and bring them down in the end, and the righteous will see God’s face.
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