Psalm 11:6














In each one of those psalms which represent some historic experience, there is its own differential feature. This feature it is the work of the student and expositor to seize and to utilize. We do not know and have no means of knowing the specific incidents in the writer's life to which reference is here made, although, since David was the writer, we should find but little difficulty in fixing on some passages of his history to which the psalm might possibly apply. But although that might furnish some interesting points of history, it would add little or nothing to the value of the psalm. It is one which is far too much overlooked; since it yields us a powerful illustration of a faith which overcomes the world. Let us set to work and see if it be not so.

I. HERE IS A BELIEVER IN GOD EXPOSED TO PERIL FROM DESIGNING FOES. (Ver. 2.) Those who are upright in heart are hated by the wicked (cf. 1 John 3:12, 13). This is not to be wondered at, for righteous men by their righteousness are a standing condemnation of the ungodly (Hebrews 11:7). The Lord Jesus was pre-eminently the object of hatred by the world (John 7:7; John 15:18-24). In the time of the psalmist this hatred was expressed by plots for the destruction of God's servants (ver. 2). But, as if conscious of wrong and of the meanness and wickedness of their aims, men sought the cover of darkness for their designs (see ver. 2, Revised Version). What a mercy there is One to whom the darkness and the light are both alike!

II. HERE ARE WELL-MEANING FRIENDS GIVING THEIR ADVICE. (Ver. 1, "Flee as a bird," etc.) This is the counsel of timidity. There may possibly be circumstances in which it may be right to take flight (see Matthew 10:23). Although our Lord expected his disciples to be prepared, If Need be, to lay down their lives for him, yet he did not wish them unnecessarily to expose themselves to danger. So that at times, flight may be wise. But in the case of the psalmist, the whole tenor of his psalm indicates that it would not have been right, and that the counsels of his friends were those of timidity and even of cowardice. Note:

1. We may any of us be exposed at some time or other to this temptation

(1) to flee from the spot where we are placed;

(2) to quit the duty we have in hand, because of peril; or

(3) to resort to some safe nook, and thus consult our own ease and safety, regardless of the work in hand.

2. Such temptation may be even harder to resist when it comes from friends than if it came from foes. So our Lord Jesus found it; he felt Peter's effort to dissuade him from the cross far more acutely than he did Satan's (cf. Matthew 16:22, 23).

III. THIS ILL-JUDGED ADVICE MAY BE ENFORCED WITH PLAUSIBLE ARGUMENTS. (Vers. 1, 3.) The advice begins with the word "flee" (ver. 1), and ends with the close of the third verse. The arguments for flight are:

1. The secrecy of the designs of the wicked; since they work under cover of the darkness, it is best to be entirely out of their reach.

2. The grievous consequences of their success (ver. 3). If the men who are the strength and glory of a state are removed, the righteous therein will be dismayed, This is a more specious argument than the former: it is equivalent to, "If you care not to flee for your own sake, you owe it to others to guard yourself; for if you, as one of the supports of the state, are overthrown, what will the righteous people do?" The wicked would rejoice, and would seize the occasion for the purposes of rapine and murder; but the righteous would be in sore dismay.

IV. TO SUCH ADVICE, FAITH HAS A READY ANSWER. (Vers. 4-6.) The various features of this answer may be summed up in one sentence, "The Lord reigneth!" This is faith's rest and refuge in all times of trouble. Things are not left to the cross-purposes of man. There is a throne above all, and One sitting thereon. This fact has a manifold bearing:

1. On men generally.

(1) God sees all (ver. 4).

(2) God tests all (ver. 4).

2. On the righteous.

(1) God tries his people. He proves them to improve them (ver. 5).

(2) He loves the righteous; i.e. he approves them, and, in the midst of all confusion, he smiles upon them.

(3) He will crown them with honour at last (ver. 7, Revised Version).

3. On the wicked.

(1) He hates them; i.e. he disapproves their ways (ver. 5; Psalm 1:6).

(2) The time will come when that disapproval will be manifest (ver. 6).

The terrible figures used in this verse are probably drawn from the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. What the dread reality may be, of which these words are symbols, God grant that we may never know! More fearful than any physical judgments is the adverse verdict of the Great Supreme (John 3:19). Note: It is all-important for a believer in God, in the midst of the greatest calamities, and of the most serious public disorder, so to maintain his calm serenity of soul, as to enable him thus to rest in what he knows of God and of his revealed mind and will.

V. KNOWING ALL THIS CONCERNING GOD, THE PSALMIST HAD ACTUALLY ANTICIPATED THE ADVICE OF HIS ADVISERS, though in another and a better way (ver. 1): "In the Lord put I my trust;" rather, "To the Lord I have fled for refuge." I need no other. He is mine. He will guard me. I am at rest in him. I will therefore stay where I am, and keep in the path of duty. I can calmly look on the raging storm, and wait till it has passed by. "Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning." Note:

1. The man who trusts in God has already a Refuge of which the ungodly man knows nothing.

2. That trust in God gives him the victory over his foes.

3. The God whom he trusts will be his Shield now and his exceeding great Reward hereafter and for ever! How much broader, deeper, and firmer should be our trust, now that we know God's love as revealed in Christ] "Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?" "This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith" (1 John 5:4, 5). - C.

Upon the wicked He shall rain snares.
Homilist.
I. HELL IS NOW ANNIHILATION. Many would wish it were. God's plans and purposes are not to be affected by what men wish.

II. HELL IS AN ABODE OF MISERY.

1. Possibly physical suffering. It is called "everlasting fire," outer darkness.

2. Spiritual misery. It is spoken of as, a prison, the blackness of despair.

3. Wretched reflections. "Son, remember.

III. HELL IS OF ETERNAL DURATION. "Its worm dieth not, and its fire is not quenched." If hell could change we might justly judge that heaven also might change.

IV. HELL IS CONSISTENT WITH DIVINE ATTRIBUTES. Nay, more than that, it is a very necessity of His existence. "Upon the wicked He shall rain snares, for the righteous Lord loveth righteousness." God does not punish men from passion — passion passes away; but He punishes from fixed, unalterable principle. Neither does He punish from pleasure (Ezekiel 18:23). He is essentially benevolent.

(Homilist.)

People
David, Psalmist
Places
Jerusalem
Topics
Blazing, Brimstone, Burning, Cause, Coals, Cup, Evil-doer, Fiery, Fire, Flames, Full, Horrible, Lot, Portion, Poureth, Rain, Scorching, Snares, Sulfur, Tempest, Wicked, Wind
Outline
1. David encourages himself in God against his enemies
4. The providence and justice of God

Dictionary of Bible Themes
Psalm 11:6

     4318   coal

Psalm 11:4-7

     9230   judgment seat

Psalm 11:5-6

     4369   sulphur

Library
Purposes of God.
In discussing this subject I shall endeavor to show, I. What I understand by the purposes of God. Purposes, in this discussion, I shall use as synonymous with design, intention. The purposes of God must be ultimate and proximate. That is, God has and must have an ultimate end. He must purpose to accomplish something by his works and providence, which he regards as a good in itself, or as valuable to himself, and to being in general. This I call his ultimate end. That God has such an end or purpose,
Charles Grandison Finney—Systematic Theology

The Saints' Privilege and Profit;
OR, THE THRONE OF GRACE ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR. The churches of Christ are very much indebted to the Rev. Charles Doe, for the preservation and publishing of this treatise. It formed one of the ten excellent manuscripts left by Bunyan at his decease, prepared for the press. Having treated on the nature of prayer in his searching work on 'praying with the spirit and with the understanding also,' in which he proves from the sacred scriptures that prayer cannot be merely read or said, but must
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

Psalms
The piety of the Old Testament Church is reflected with more clearness and variety in the Psalter than in any other book of the Old Testament. It constitutes the response of the Church to the divine demands of prophecy, and, in a less degree, of law; or, rather, it expresses those emotions and aspirations of the universal heart which lie deeper than any formal demand. It is the speech of the soul face to face with God. Its words are as simple and unaffected as human words can be, for it is the genius
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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