Psalm 11: Context, Context

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I happened to read Psalm 11 this morning as part of my devotions. Afterward, I opened my facebook feed to see this post from Ken Ham.​


He finishes the post by quoting Psalm 11:3, probably because of its convenient use of vocabulary that matches the theme of his post ("foundation"). Having just read this Psalm, quoting only verse 3 struck me as ironic.

David begins this Psalm by saying, "In Yahweh I take refuge."

Then David says to someone, "How can you say to my soul,
'Flee as a bird to your mountain;
   For, behold, the wicked bend the bow,
They make ready their arrow upon the string
   To shoot in darkness at the upright in heart.
If the foundations are destroyed,
   What can the righteous do?'"

Someone is trying to terrify David with bad news. His response?

In the second half of the Psalm, David shows how pointless this worrying is in light of the sovereignty, justice and grace of God. David wasn't bemoaning the state of things; he was proclaiming how secure a refuge God is regardless.

This is a psalm intended for public worship (see the heading, "For the choir director" [ESV]). This isn't just true for David, but for all who take refuge in Yahweh.

I have a lot of respect for Ken Ham and appreciate the work he does. By posting this, I don't mean to run him down. Rather, I proclaim with David the truth of this Psalm: Yahweh is in His holy temple; Yahweh's throne is in heaven; I need flee no further. I'm not terrified by the state of the world. I'm not worried about "what the righteous can do." The fate of the world does not depend on what the righteous can do. It never has. Our Lord has overcome the world (John 16:33).

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