Loved by God.

My photo
Chicago, IL, United States
* It's good to suffer loss, for it draws me to the Cross where God's loss is more than what anyone ever lost. * We cannot hear what the stories of the Bible are saying until we hear them as stories about ourselves. * Let go of control. * Trust God. Thank God. Think about God. Talk to God. Talk about God.

Sunday, February 11, 2024

When the Foundations are Destroyed (Psalm 11-12)

* Your thoughts about having faith in God (Mk 11:22)?
  1. When is it a very strong temptation to flee/run away (Ps 11:1; Mt 16:22; Lk 13:31; Ac 21:12; 1 Sam 26:20)? Why (Ps 11:2-3)? Why should we not (Ps 11:4; 9:7; 96:10; 99:1; 146:10; Dan 4:26; Rev 19:6)? What if your life is in great danger (Phil 1:21; 1 Cor 6:19-20; 7:23; Ac 20:24)?
  2. What should you know about the Lord (Ps 11:4, 7a)? About the righteous and the wicked (Ps 11:5-6: Gen 19:24; 2 Pet 2:6-9)? [Why-]Should you want to see God's face (Ps 11:7; 13:1; 34:15-16; 27:4; 63:2; 80:3; Exo 33:18; Num 6:25)?
  3. Why do we need help from the Lord (Ps 12:1-4; Isa 6:5; Jas 3:5-6)? Where do lies come from (Gen 3:1, 4-5; Jn 8:44)? What does the Lord promise to do (Ps 12:5)?
  4. What counteracts the power of lying lips (Ps 12:6; 18:30; 19:7)? Why (Eph 6:17; 2 Tim 3:16; Heb 4:12; Jn 6:63; Mt 24:35; Mk 13:31; Lk 21:33)? Knowing this, what should you do practically (Ps 1:2; 119:97, 11; Prov 23:23; Phil 4:8: Jn 8:31-32)?
  • When the vile are honored (Ps 12:8) and foundations are destroyed what can the righteous do (Ps 11:3)? "When vileness is exalted" (Ps 12:8, NKJV). "What can an honest person do when everything crumbles?" (Ps 11:3, CEV)
"When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do?” (Ps 11:3) "...when what is vile is honored by the human race" (Ps 12:8).

Psalm 11 comes straight from a crisis. It is a psalm of David, likely from when Devid was hunted down by Saul (1 Sam 26:20). It is an expression of confident trust in the Lord in opposition to the pessimistic advice of those who think the present evil circumstances presage the imminent crumbling of the "foundations" of world order, so that he should flee to the hills in order to escape.

Psalm 12, like Psalm 11, is a plea for deliverance. Also like Psalm 11, evil appears endemic and the suffering of the faithful extreme. His primary complaint has to do with lies and deeceptively flattering speech with which the enemy maligns the weak and needy. It is about the power of propaganda through the use and abuse of words.

"In the Lord I take refuge. How then can you say to me: “Flee like a bird to your mountain?" (Ps 11:1). Should I try or hope to avoid what God has planed, prepared and preordained for me? (Mt 16:22) Face the fact and reality, however painful, and live with faith and hope in God. Trusting God and having faith in God does not mean that suffering will be averted or that everything in life will turn out favorably for you.
Trusting God in Difficult Times - Psalm 11 Meditation by Tim Keller
"When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do? The Lord is in his holy temple; the Lord is on his heavenly throne. He observes everyone on earth; his eyes examine them" (Ps 11:3-4).

Just because I'm not in control does not mean that God is not in control. Just because I cannot perceive or conceive of a good reason why God would allow evil and suffering does not mean that there is not a good reason for it. [Alvin Plantinga.]
  1. Longman, Garland. Psalms. 2008. Psalm 11: Refuge in the Righteous King. Psalm 12: Lying Tongues and the Truthfulness of God's Word.
    • A. Refuge in God (Ps 11:1-3). B. The Lord is the Righteous King (Ps 11:4-6). A' God is the Refuge of the Righteous (Ps 11:7).
    • A. Prayer for Deliverance (Ps 12:1-4). B. Promise of the Lord (Ps 12:5). B' Reflection on God's Promise (6). A' Prayer for Deliverance (7-8).
  2. Keller. 2015. Psalm 11: Don't Despair. Psalm 12: The Power of Words.
  3. Kidner. Psalms 1-72, 1973. Psalms 73-150, 1975. Psalm 11: Panic and Stability. Psalm 12: ...the easy speeches that comfort cruel men.
    1. Voices of despair (Ps 11:1-3). The forgotten dimension (Ps 11:4-7).
      1. The power of propaganda (Ps 12:1-4).
      2. The counter-thrust of truth (Ps 12:5-6).
      3. The war continues (Ps 12:7-8).
  4. Motyer. 2016. Psalm 11: Not Flight but Faith. Psalm 12: The Tongue of Falsehood and the Word of Truth. A. Misleading voices (Ps 11:1-3). B. A true view of life (Ps 11:4-6). Sovereignty (Ps 11:4). C. Confidence under divine scrutiny (Ps 11:7). A1. Appeal to the Lord in a collapsing society (Ps 12:1-2). B1. The words of man, false and forceful (Ps 12:3-4). C. The Lord's commitment (Ps 12:5). B2. The Lord's words, pure and purified (Ps 12:6). A2. Confidence in the Lord in a mixed society (Ps 12:7-8).
  5. MacArthur. 2006. Psalm 11: The Lord a Refuge and Defense. Psalm 12: God, a Helper against the Trecherous.
    • Two Voices, one urging flight (Ps 11:1-3), one urging faith (Ps 11:4-7).
    1. Surviving the Propaganda of Depraved Speech (Ps 12:1-4).
    2. Security in the Protection of Divine Speech (Ps 12:5-8).
  6. ESV. 2001. Psalm 11: The Lord, is in His Holy Temple. Psalm 12: The Faithful Have Vanished.
  7. Wilson. 2002. Plsam 11, 12.
    1. Refuge or Flight (Ps 11:1).
    2. What can the righteous do? (Ps 11:2-3).
    3. The Lord the Examiner (Ps 11:4-6).
    4. Affirmation of the Lord's righteousness (Ps 11:7).
      1. Grounds of complaint (Ps 12:1-2).
      2. Plea for deliverance (Ps 12:3-4).
      3. Divine response and promise (Ps 12:5).
      4. Confident expectation (Ps 12:6-7).
      5. Reprise of complaint (Ps 12:8).
  8. Goldingay. 2013. Ps 11: Flee or Stay? Ps 12: Sometimes God Speaks.
Psalm 11
1 In the Lord I take refuge. How then can you say to me: “Flee like a bird to your mountain.
2 For look, the wicked bend their bows; they set their arrows against the strings to shoot from the shadows at the upright in heart.
3 When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do?”

4 The Lord is in his holy temple; the Lord is on his heavenly throne. He observes everyone on earth; his eyes examine them.
5 The Lord examines the righteous, but the wicked, those who love violence, he hates with a passion.
6 On the wicked he will rain fiery coals and burning sulfur; a scorching wind will be their lot.
7 For the Lord is righteous, he loves justice; the upright will see his face.

Psalm 12
1 Help, Lord, for no one is faithful anymore; those who are loyal have vanished from the human race.
2 Everyone lies to their neighbor; they flatter with their lips but harbor deception in their hearts.
3 May the Lord silence all flattering lips and every boastful tongue—
4 those who say, “By our tongues we will prevail; our own lips will defend us—who is lord over us?”

5 “Because the poor are plundered and the needy groan, I will now arise,” says the Lord. “I will protect them from those who malign them.”
6 And the words of the Lord are flawless, like silver purified in a crucible, like gold refined seven times.

7 You, Lord, will keep the needy safe and will protect us forever from the wicked,
8 who freely strut about when what is vile is honored by the human race.

Posted by UBF Gospel Musings at 8:21 PM
Labels: , , ,

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)