For those who may wish to ‘study’ this chapter, the following simple resources are provided for you. Each passage has a four-Part approach to help you take in and think further about what you have read.

Passage: Psalm 11 – The Lord is Righteous

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 sulphur;
    a scorching wind will be their lot.

7 For the Lord is righteous,
    he loves justice;
    the upright will see his face.

A. Find Out:

1. How does David view the Lord? v.1
2. Why does he fear fleeing? v.2
3. What does he say has happened? v.3
4. Where is the Lord? v.4a
5. What does He do? v.4b-6
6. Why? v.7

B. Think:

1. What appears to be David’s problem here?
2. What is his very real fear?
3. How does he counter that?

C. Comment:

      David appears to be countering a chiding he has been receiving. Someone has been telling him to flee to his refuge (perhaps where he used to keep his sheep?) but as he considers doing that, he feels that before he got very far he would be shot down. There appears to be a lack of safety in the land and the foundations of peace and security have been eroded by the Unrighteous.

      In response to this David makes a simple reply: my refuge is the Lord! Look, he says, the Lord is here on earth, He is here ruling and He sees what is going on, He sees the righteous (me) and He also sees the wicked (who He hates). Don’t you worry, he continues, He’ll sort out the wicked! Why? Because the Lord is righteous and loves justice and comes to the aid of the righteous.

      In this Psalm there is simple straight forward faith and trust in the Lord. David is in a place of real threat and he knows his only answer is the Lord. The Lord is real and the Lord will come to his aid. Why? Because the Lord is righteous and He fights for the righteous. That is the heart of this short Psalm. Do we know and do we hold onto these same truths? When we are surrounded and cannot run, do we simply declare, “The Lord is my refuge!”?

D. Application?

1. At times in life, it seems like we are surrounded and have no where to flee. At such times we need to know that the Lord is our refuge.
2. The Lord is righteous and just.