Psalm 11 - Refining

To the choirmaster. Of David. Concern 1 In the Lord I take refuge; how can you say to my soul, “Flee like a bird to your mountain, 2 for behold, the wicked bend the bow; they have fitted their arrow to the string to shoot in the dark at the upright in heart; 3 if the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?” Confidence 4 The Lord is in his holy temple; the Lord's throne is in heaven; his eyes look down on the world,  his gaze tests the children of man. 5 The Lord tests the righteous and the wicked, but his soul hates the one who loves violence. 6 Let him rain fire and brimstone on the wicked; a scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup. Conclusion 7 For the Lord is righteous; he loves righteous deeds; the upright shall behold his face.

The psalms are not just in a random order, there is a pattern and rhythm to them, themes weave there way through them like threads in a tapestry. Psalm 11 starts with a bold statement. In the Lord I take refuge; But those few words hold a deeper meaning to us because we have just listened to Psalm 9 and 10. and in Psalm 9 we read 9 For the Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. So we know, David is not looking to the Lord for a quiet hideaway somewhere to have a relax and recharge time.  He is looking for a stronghold, a fortress, because he is, once again, in a time of trouble, he is oppressed. He states he trusts the Lord to help him, but then immedietly doubt surfaces. how can you say to my soul, “Flee like a bird to your mountain, David is talking to himself, telling off his inner voice who has been busy panicking and screaming 'RUN AWAY'.  The inner voice who was telling David, 'Don't trust in God, run away, go to that mountain where you hid before when King Saul was after you'.  'Don't wait for God to do something, you need to act now!! Can't you see the wicked getting ready to fire'. 2 for behold, the wicked bend the bow; they have fitted their arrow to the string to shoot in the dark at the upright in heart; This line is a link back to Psalm 7, apart from then, it is God bending his bow and preparing to fire - but now his panicked inner voice is telling him it is the wicked bending their bow. 7 12b [God] has bent and readied his bow; 13 he has prepared for him his deadly weapons, making his arrows fiery shafts. His opening argument to his panicked inner voice is this: 3 if the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?” If you start destroying the foundations of my faith, if you start to convince me that God can't be trusted or relied on and I am on my own here, then what can I do?  I'm doomed.  Don't go there! His confidence is back and he firmly states. 4 The Lord is in his holy temple; the Lord's throne is in heaven; God is still in his temple, He is still on the throne, He is still in charge. his gaze tests the children of man. 5 The Lord tests the righteous and the wicked, The testing the Lord is doing here is the testing and proving you do to gold or metal.  The gold is heated up so all the dross comes to the surface and is burned up or scrapped off. 6 Let him rain fire and brimstone on the wicked; a scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup. Continuing the 'testing in the fire' theme, God will rain down fire, to turn up the heat, to get the dross out.  He will use brimstone (sulphur), which is used to disinfect, fumigate and bleach away impurities.  The scorching wind could be the bellows blowing on the fire to bring up the heat still further.  These actions will cleanse and clean and refine, sometimes there is nothing left. But the righteous - they shall see his face 7 For the Lord is righteous; he loves righteous deeds; the upright shall behold his face.