Psalm 11

Psalm 11

1In the LORD I take refuge; How can you say to my soul, "Flee as a bird to your mountain;

2For, behold, the wicked bend the bow, They make ready their arrow upon the string To shoot in darkness at the upright in heart.

3If the foundations are destroyed, What can the righteous do?"

4The LORD is in His holy temple; the LORD'S throne is in heaven; His eyes behold, His eyelids test the sons of men.

5The LORD tests the righteous and the wicked, And the one who loves violence His soul hates.

6Upon the wicked He will rain snares; Fire and brimstone and burning wind will be the portion of their cup.

7For the LORD is righteous, He loves righteousness; The upright will behold His face

The first thing I noticed about this psalm was how short it was. It only has seven verses. I write this 2 miles away from the Grand Canyon. My sibs are sleeping and my mom is massaging my sister while watching tv. Remember how I told you girls about my "blacking out" to sin? My soul has been starving for Truth, and I have barely been feeding that hunger. It snowed today, so it was cold going to the Grand Canyon. A line from one of John Piper's sermons kept replaying in the back of my mind.

Don't be like the person who goes to the Grand Canyon with a little garden shovel in his hand, and on the precipice of that majesty turns his back to the Canyon, kneels down, and digs a little trough with his shovel and shouts, "Hey, look at this! Look at my trough! Isn't that cool!" I know that the pressing and desirable things of your life seem big. But just a little clearheaded thought will show you they are not. Get up and turn around and look at the Canyon. Don't live your life walking down the E Concourse thinking that yogurt and sweet rolls and short skirts are really what it's all about.
It's all about death and sin and life and God and Christ and your mortal body and desire and the law of God and the grace of God. God calls us to something great. He did not give you life to spend it on troughs and trifles.

I may not have turned by back and dug a trough, but I did not appreciate the glory of God displayed in what I saw in the creation. We all struggle with life, but how often do we really really struggle with it? What do we live life for? David might have written this psalm as he was running for his life. Literally. And yet what I am struck most by the psalm is how he begins and ends with God. Before he tells us his struggles, he begins with "in the Lord I take refuge." It is like he has a soul conversation with himself. The first three verses are the doubts. He sees how the wicked seem to be able to oppress those that love the Lord, and yet in the next three verses there is a transition in perspective. It changed from what was happening to him now, to what will happen in the future. And his future was sure and certain. God has always been in His throne in heaven. He has always looked down upon men on earth. And God's character does not change. He hates sin. He hates those who love sin. He loves those who hate sin. He loves those who love Him. And in the last verse is hope in the eternal, unchanging God. God is righteous. He loves righteousness. Those who are righteous will one day be with Him and behold Him.

How many times have I exchanged Grand Canyons for troughs? What stupid, stupid sheep are we. God does not, will not ever change. His character and His end to glorify Himself will be executed. Do I tell my soul of these things like David did? I will always fight these doubts, but do I fight them with truth, knowing that whatever troubles I'm going through...whatever trials or pains or joys or blessings, that the Grand Canyons of my life are actually troughs in light of who God is? Life is so much more than our trough of "troubles!" But how often do I forget that. I want to see the Grand Canyon the way it was supposed to be seen. And I am so glad to have you girls in my life to run hard towards that Truth. Thinking about you girls.