(Book study series - Proverbs) - Message no. 11
(July 28, 2021 – WED p.m. – MBC baesa)

We are living in this world that promotes that idea that we can run away from our problems. Some politicians, psychologists and psychiatrists promote and advice the others to run away from their problems. There are various ideas that instead of dealing your problems, they will advise you to blame someone else, go to some resort and forget your problems, others take some prescribed medication to help them cope with their problems, some spend much time with their friends drinking and spending overnight to share to someone and unload their problems. To summarize all of these is to conclude that you need to run away and escape from your problems. But this Psalm chapter 11 gives us another option.

King David had been faced many dangers, pressures or personal problems more than any other man. There were many enemies of David who wanted to kill David and do not want to see him alive. In this chapter, we can see that David’s friends were worried that they care for David, so they advised David to run and flee to the mountains. However, David saw another option and have a different solution than the counsel of his friends. David’s philosophy was not to run from problems but to trust God and depend on God through many problems he encountered.

PROPOSITION: GOD’S PEOPLE DO NOT NEED TO RUN AWAY FROM PROBLEMS BUT MAY TAKE REFUGE IN GOD, REALIZING THAT GOD DOES WATCH AND GOD WILL REWARD.

The Devil will whisper to us to run from our problems and God’s Word will encourage us to trust God through our problems and learn to wait for God’s deliverance.

Psalm chapter 11 is a little but a powerful psalm.

There are three simple parts to Psalm 11.

I – FOCUS OF DAVID’S FAITH – v.1a

Psalm 11:1a “In the Lord put I my trust...”

Awit 11:1a “Sa Panginoon ay nanganganlong ako;” TAGALOG VERSION

Here we can see David found his only refuge in the LORD.

This is the reply of Psalmist, as representing the persecuted saints, to temporize the counsel of his friends to seek safely by flight (verse 1). The counsel of this Psalmist friends rest on the sad facts that the foundation destroyed, the cause of the good seeming hopeless, that of the bad triumphant. Then we see the faith answers, that the Lord reigns, and will vindicate the just, and punish the wicked.

David found his refuge in the LORD. David has a strong faith in Jehovah. When David was surrounded by his persecutors, by his enemies, he exercised that faith and drew himself closer to the LORD his refuge. David would not run away for he believed that God would protect, preserve himself and never would run away from his problems.

David was grounded through the years walking intimately with God. During his teenage years David learned a great lesson that you can trust in the Lord. David trust in the Lord time and time again and God never failed David. David learned to believe the only refuge and defense was God and that is the reason why David did not run away from the problem contrary to what his friend’s advice that has given him.

II– FAITHLESSNESS OF DAVID’S FRIENDS – v.1b-3

Psalm 11:1b-3 "how say ye to my soul, Flee as a bird to your mountain? ² For, lo, the wicked bend their bow, they make ready their arrow upon the string, that they may privily shoot at the upright in heart. ³If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?"

Awit 11:1b-3 “paanong sa akin ay nasasabi mo, “Tumakas ka na gaya ng ibon sa mga bundok; ²sapagkat binalantok ng masama ang pana, iniakma na nila ang kanilang palaso sa bagting, upang ipana sa kadiliman sa may matuwid na puso, ³kung ang mga saligan ay masira, matuwid ba'y may magagawa?” TAGALOG VERSION

Here we can see that the friends of David gave their faithless counsel to David.

Notice the phrase of David when he says, “how say ye to my soul, Flee…” The word “how” David expresses his wondering approval of such a counsel from his friends. No matter how desperate things may look outwardly for the godly, so long as they have “the Lord” Yahweh to “trust” in, there is no cause to despair and flight. The friends of David did not have the confidence that David had that is why they advised David to flee like a bird to the mountains. Look the very interesting word “your” in verse 1, when the friends of David call them “your” mountains. That signifies that the mountain range had in mind was one David knew. The friends of David knew that David would be very safe in those mountains because they assumed that David knew all of the places to hide. In fact, these friends assumed that David can easily survive in the mountains because David knows well the country. The problem of these friend’s advice is they put all of the survival on the ability of David and put trust in David, not on God.

David with his unshaken conviction saying, “In the Lord I put my trust: how then can ye give me such an unbelieving counsel? And why should I flee and run away from the problem and go to the mountain or anywhere where my refuge is the Lord? Why should I run and hide in the mountain? where in fact God is protecting and preserving me.” Consider the true care of David’s friends, thinking for the good and safety of David, so they are giving David a very logical and reasonable advice, but not a spiritual advice. To run away from his problem is not God’s will for David, but that David trust God. This gives us a lesson to learn that there may be times when even those who truly love you, care so much about you, will give you wrong counsel. David’s safety was not in his mountaineering skills, it was in the Lord, the only refuge.

Now, in verse 1 David said, “to my soul.” – David’s friends counsel pierced into David’s inmost being. The idea of flight counselled given to David is not a mere change of place like to run into the mountain, but it is a ceasing to stand in defense of the truth, it means spiritual yielding to the enemy. Actually, David did flee during the persecutions of Saul and Absalom, but listen carefully, David did not flee from his spiritual position of believing confidence in the Lord, in the face of an unbelieving world.

Let us know some truth on the phrase “as a bird to your mountain?” To give such an idea about the bird see Lamentations 3:52 “Mine enemies chased me sore, like a bird, without cause.” Birds escape the dangers to which they are exposed in the open plains, by fleeing to the wooded mountains. In Palestine the mountains (the friends counsel "your mountain") abound in caves (1 Samuel 13:6) that is a natural hiding-place. Same with Matthew 24:16 “Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:”, when the persecuted Jewish people flee to the mountains during the tribulation. Those illustrations give us an idea that the address to the Psalmist and the reply of the Psalmist do not refer to him individually, but as representative of all the godly persecuted, appears from the transition from the singular to the plural.

After discussing the faithless counsel of David’s friends, now let us know why they counselled David to flee to the mountains.

Two reasons why David should run to the mountains as advised by his friends:

A. Focus of the wicked is to destroy David – v.2

Psalm 11:2 “For, lo, the wicked bend their bow, they make ready their arrow upon the string, that they may privily shoot at the upright in heart.”

Awit 11:2 “sapagkat binalantok ng masama ang pana, iniakma na nila ang kanilang palaso sa bagting, upang ipana sa kadiliman sa may matuwid na puso,” TAGALOG VERSION

David’s friends advised him to run to the mountains because the wicked are out to destroy David. We need also to realize that wicked are out not only to destroy David but also to kill us as people of God.

We have to visualize here that the wicked aimed at the righteous then in verse 2 the phrase “The wicked bend their bow” that means the ungodly are already bending the bow against the godly and are ready at any moment to release their destructive arrows into the heart of an upright man. Then it says, “They make ready their arrow upon the string” that means they fit their arrow to the string, that is the last thing before discharging the arrow.

We must realize that wickedness aims at the heart of one righteous, so the wickedness not only interested in shooting at the external but much more interested at the heart. Now, these counsellors of David saw all the wicked enemies of David aiming at him so David’s friends advised him to flee to the mountains.

The words at the beginning of verse 2 “For, lo” it seemed here that David counsellors and friends justify their advice when they said, “Flee” this refers to the preparations which “the wicked” have made against the godly. We can see the similar counsel of the word “Flee” when we compare the counsel of the disciples (John 11:8 “His disciples say unto him, Master, the Jews of late sought to stone thee; and goest thou thither again?”) and counsel of the Pharisees (Luke 13:31 “The same day there came certain of the Pharisees, saying unto him, Get thee out, and depart hence: for Herod will kill thee.”) to Jesus to flee. Also see, the unbelieving suggestions of Job’s wife (Job 2:9-18). Another similar instances of advices to run away or escape the challenge, is Paul’s noble resistance to the entreaties of friends who wished Paul to shun the dangers before him (Acts 21:13 “Then Paul answered, What mean ye to weep and to break mine heart? for I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.”) We can also consider the plot against Nehemiah in Nehemiah 6:11 “And I said, Should such a man as I flee? and who is there, that, being as I am, would go into the temple to save his life? I will not go in.”

The phrase in verse 2 “that they may privily shoot at” literally shoot in the dark (Psalm 10:8-19).

Then the phrase “the upright in heart.” The uprightness here or rectitude implies reference to a spiritual standard which actions are tested, whether they be straight or crooked. The rule is God’s perfect law. The enemies want to shoot at the uprightness of heart of the godly person. They that live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution, this will test our uprightness, this will test our faith in God.

B. Foundation that the wicked destroyed – v.3

Psalm 11:3 “If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?”

Awit 11:3 “kung ang mga saligan ay masira, matuwid ba'y may magagawa?” TAGALOG VERSION

The verse 3 indicates that the wicked have destroyed the foundations.

The conjunction “for” [Hebrew, Kiy (H3588)] …are… the particular malice of the wicked against the righteous (verse 2) is no marvel. The right statement is “For the foundations are destroyed”. What are those? These are: truth, godliness, righteousness, which constitute the basis of the social and theocratic fabric (underlying structure or framework). The emphasis here is when the right is set at nothing, the society is undermined, and the righteous have no standing place. Everything seemed under the control of the wicked people, who do not care about the Word of God or the about the will of God. Actually, these wicked people would not want to destroy David if they were interested in the true worship of God, but they are not.

If the foundations were destroyed by the wicked, the question in verse 3 “what can the righteous do?” The word “do?” in Hebrew is [ paa`aal (H6466)], literally interpreted “what has the righteous effected?”. It indicates the inability of the righteous to remedy the moral dissolution is a fact proved by sad experience. These faithless adviser and friends of David is giving the faithless counsel and says, “David, you don’t have any other options, what else can you do? David, you need flee now because the godly foundation no longer exists.” Telling David, the obvious decision for him to do was to run and flee, in light of the fact that the biblical foundations were destroyed. The established decision of David was to stay and trust God as his refuge. The truth is God’s foundation cannot and will not ever be destroyed. David refuge is God.

We are now living in these perilous times of the last days when the biblical foundations are being attacked and shaken. Lot of churches don’t even care if they accurately know God’s Word and much less submit and respect to it. People practice and enjoy on what they called “new immorality” which in reality the old immorality, they aggressively mocked the old-fashioned fundamental preaching of the Word of God. Where are the churches who used to stand in biblical purity for leadership in churches, who used to fight against liberalism, modernism, who used to preach against worldly practices, and used to stand and promote for ecclesiastical separation. That foundation has been forsaken and forgotten and never been practiced in so many so-called fundamental churches. That foundation has been demolished. What can the righteous do? What should we do? Should we run and hide to some Christian commune? Should we stop doing what God wants us to do? Should we not stand anymore on what we used to fight, teach and live to what is right?

Are we planning to back away and back down? May we stand our ground and trust God in the midst of foundational destruction. David takes refuge in God and he live the godly life as a shining testimony in the eyes of the wicked world.

III – FAITH OF DAVID WAS FIXED – v. 4-7

Here we can see that the faith of David was not only focused in the LORD but fixedly focus in the Lord.

No threats or any intimidation shakes David because the faith of David is fixed. David’s confidence was in the Lord. David has great confidence because of several critical elements to David’s faith.

Four critical elements to the Faith of David: (That gave David great confidence)

A. Sovereign God reigns over all – v.4a

Psalm 11:4a “The Lord is in his holy temple, the Lord's throne is in heaven:”

Awit 11:4a “Ang Panginoon ay nasa kanyang banal na templo, ang trono ng Panginoon ay nasa langit;” TAGALOG VERSION

This phrase in verse 4 is the reply of the righteous.

The words “holy temple” is in heaven. The holiness of His abode shows His will to take cognizance of all that is holy and unholy on earth. God is sovereign who reigns over all. God is all powerful. Even though it appears at times that the wicked controls the earth, but the faith of David was in God who was bigger and far above the earth, He is the self-existent One, the Omnipotent, who sits on His throne. It is the Sovereign God who runs the world, not man.

The phrase “the Lord’s throne is in heaven” is referring to the majesty of His exalted abode shows His power to do so. He is the Lord of lords. God reigns over all. Read Psalm 102:19 “From heaven did the Lord behold the earth; to hear the groaning of the prisoner."

B. Sight of God ranges in all – v.4b

Psalm 11:4b “his eyes behold, his eyelids try,”

Awit 11:4b “ang kanyang mga mata ay nagmamasid, ang mga talukap ng kanyang mata.” TAGALOG VERSION

God sees all and David believed God is omnipresent. David believed God sees all, because the sight of God ranges in all. The Psalmist emphasized the words “eyes” and “eyelids” in Hebrew that implies that God watches very closely at all things.

The phrase “His eyes behold, his eyelids” talks about the faith in God that keeps the godly from despair because God’s piercing glance searches out every act, word, and thought of the ungodly. The wicked impunity is only temporary, at last they must pay the full penalty of their wickedness. By the way the Septuagint and Vulgate read, “His eyes behold the poor” [Hebrew - aanaay, which may have slipped out, after the similar word eeynaayw (H5869)]. No Hebrew manuscript supports this.

David decided and determined not to run because David personally believed that the Omnipresent God is in everywhere watching, also watching wicked enemies of David. David refuge is God and he knew that God is his good shepherd who carefully, closely watching him and monitoring everything, every time and everywhere he goes. Sight of God ranges in all.

C. Search of God reviews all – v.4c-5

Psalm 11:4c-5a “try, the children of men. ⁵The Lord trieth the righteous: but the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth.”

Awit 11:4c-5a “sumusubok sa mga anak ng mga tao. ⁵Sinusubok ng Panginoon ang matuwid at ang masama, at kinapopootan ng kanyang kaluluwa ang nagmamahal sa karahasan. TAGALOG VERSION

Here we see that David believed God tests all. God searches and reviews all.

Verse 5 says “The Lord trieth the righteous” in love, as the contrast to “hateth” in the second clause requires. God’s testing the righteous by trials is a proof of love (Hebrews 12:6-8) not hatred. God giving up the wicked people to impunity for a time only, while it gives the wicked opportunity of repentance, but also a mark of judicial displeasure of these wicked people because they have long seared their conscience against the love God and the chastisements of God.

Since we are living in this wicked world, we may expect one trouble after another from time to time as God allows trials to search our heart and reviews the real faith. David reached to a very mature level in his spiritual life that he viewed difficulties as tests of God or God reviews our faith. David believed that God controls everything and allows various situations and circumstances to test and prove the faithful and the wicked. David always ends up after the test, proving his trust, faithful, dependent on God. But on the other hand, when the wicked person ends up some test, proving his faithless, proving his trust and dependent on himself.

David viewed that any hardships and difficulties that come his way are God’s trials as God reviews all our heart, our mind. David stood his ground with solid conviction not to back down.

D. Sense of God rewards all – v.6-7

Psalm 11:6-7 “Upon the wicked he shall rain snares, fire and brimstone, and an horrible tempest: this shall be the portion of their cup. ⁷For the righteous Lord loveth righteousness; his countenance doth behold the upright.”

Awit 11:6-7 “Sa masama ay magpapaulan siya ng mga baga ng apoy; apoy at asupre at hanging nakakapaso ang magiging bahagi ng kanilang saro. ⁷Sapagkat ang Panginoon ay matuwid; minamahal niya ang mga gawang matuwid; ang kanyang mukha ay mamamasdan ng matuwid.” TAGALOG VERSION

Here we can see that David only believed God reviews or tests all both the faithful and the wicked but God also rewards all both the righteous and the wicked.

David believed that God will judge and rewards both the righteous and the unrighteous.

Notice the phrase “Upon the wicked he shall rain snares”. That is just a reward of retribution in kind upon these wicked who laid snares for the godly (Psalms 9:15; Psalms 10:9; Psalms 38:12; Psalms 64:5; Job 18:9; Job 22:10; Isaiah 24:17-23; Proverbs 22:5). David had been urged by his advising friends to flee as a bird (verse 1) from the snares of the wicked, but the snares were destined to entangle, not David, but them, so that the wicked cannot escape. The words “He shall rain snares” implies the multitude of judicial visitations whereby all escape is cut off from the wicked. Nowhere to go. These wicked people at first thought that when the adversity overtakes them, is for striving their best to find an escape, but they can’t find anywhere, anyhow, that is part of God’s reward for the wicked. The wicked first entangled in God’s snares then they shall suffer their rewards of the tempest of “fire and brimstone” mentioned in verse 6 like what happened when God rained fire and brimstone upon Sodom and Gomorrah. This is the type of the everlasting lake of fire in hell (Revelation 14:10; Revelation 21:8), it is also similar to punishment of God’s wrath to pour upon Gog, the last invader of the restored Israel (Ezekiel 38:22; Job 18:15). The cities of the plain blasted with fire and brimstone, and sunk in the inland Dead Sea, were continually before the eyes of the covenant people, a standing monument of God's primitive justice, and a type of the doom of the lost. Reference already occurred to them and to Lot, Psalm 11:6. Remember, every God’s act is a real prediction of the future, and under like circumstances must again take place.

Notice again in verse 6 the phrase “and an horrible tempest” comes from Hebrew word [zil`aapowt (H2152), from zaa`ap (H2196), which means be angry] – it illustrates 'the wrath-wind.' It is translated "horror," Psalms 119:53. Indeed, God is angry with the wicked. We can also read Isaiah 30:33, "The pile thereof is fire and much wood; the breath of the Lord, like a stream of brimstone, doth kindle it." God rewards all and send fire and brimstone to the wicked.

Look at the words in verse 7 that says “For the righteous LORD loveth righteousness” God by His divine nature cannot do otherwise than give favour the saints and on the other hand punish sinners. God rewards all. God loves and rewards the righteous and the upright that trust in Him, while the wicked that do not trust Him, God hates and their end result will be rewarded of everlasting punishment with fire and brimstone forever. The righteous at the end will have protection and blessings from the throne of God in heaven.

In verse 7 again it says that “his countenance doth behold the upright.” Carefully compare “His eyes behold” in (Psalm 11:4 and Psalm 34:15-19). The Hebrew for “His” is plural [paaneeymow (H6440)], that is a hint of the plurality of Divine persons in 'Elohiym (H430). Here we can see the countenance of three divine persons of God behold the upright. You can see that trinity in Genesis 1:26, "us ... our ... our."

Application for the church today:

1. All Believers escape the everlasting hell and will be judged at the Judgment seat of Christ. – II Corinthians 5:10; I Corinthians 3:11-15

Every believers of Christ will face the Bema, the judgment seat of Christ which will feature Jesus Christ as judge to determine what sort of service we have rendered to God and whether one receives or loses rewards.

2. All faithful Believers in Christ will personally enter and see Jesus Christ during His millennial reign on this earth. – Ezekiel 44:10-16; Zechariah 3:7; Hebrews 12:13-17

David refuge is in God, and David knew that God carefully and closely watching him and would reward him, this serves deep conviction for David not to run from any treats and intimidations but he viewed that as an opportunity to trust God who is forever Faithful and True. God is David’s refuge. Do not run from any problem, we have refuge in God. Amen!

Some lessons we learned:

1. Long to trust God in the midst of threatening people and critical situations.

2. Listen not to family and friends counsel if it is not in accord with the Word of God

3. Live by faith, trusting that God reigns over all, sees all, tests all and rewards all.

4. Learn to find your refuge in God and His Word and never hide or run from the problems you face.