Pastor Ed's Series of Psalms

Psalm 1 | Psalm 2 | Psalm 3 | Psalm 4 | Psalm 5 | Psalm 6 | Psalm 7 | Psalm 8
Psalm 9-10 | Psalm 11 | Psalm 12 | Psalm 13 | Psalm 14 | Psalm 15
Psalm 16 | Psalm 17 | Psalm 18 | Psalm 19 | Psalm 22 | Psalm 23
Psalm 27 | Psalms 28-30 | Psalms 31-32 | Psalm 33 | Psalm 34
Psalm 35 | Psalm 36-37 | Psalm 38 | Psalm 39 | Psalm 40 |
Psalm 41 | Psalm 42-43

Psalm 11

In this Psalm, David is still being chased by his enemies, and he uses this Psalm to think through how he is going to respond to his circumstance. And his conclusion? Verse one says In the Lord I take refuge.

A refuge is a sheltered or protected state from something threatening, harmful, or unpleasant.

David experienced protection on at least two occasions as he was running from Saul's men. And this Psalm could very well have been telling the story of one of these times – we're not told for sure.

In 1st Samuel chapter 23, we have the account where Saul found out where he was – in a town called Keilah. David had gone there to fight the Philistines, who were trying to fight the people of Keilah for the purpose of looting them, so the Lord tells David to go down and save the people from the Philistines. So he did...

Saul sent his forces down to battle David. David heard he was coming and left the city, but he stayed in the desert. In 1 Samuel 23:14 says that David stayed in the desert strongholds in the Desert of Ziph. Day after day, Saul searched for him, but God did not give David into his hands.

David elaborates on this statement a little more in Psalm 91:1, where he says, He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress, my God in whom I trust.

The word fortress means something impossible to get into. So you're 100% safe behind a fortress – taking refuge.

Then we have the contrast – from verses 1-3:

How then can you say to me: Flee like a bird to your mountain. For look, the wicked bend their bows; they set their arrows against the strings to shoot from the shadows at the upright in heart. When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do?

David has some pessimistic friends!

His friends are saying RUN David RUN for your life. Your enemies are shooting at you from the shadows, RUN! FLY AWAY! Your foundations are destroyed. You have no options left but to run. We have foundations in our lives too and when they're threatened, we're tempted to run.

In the context of this verse, if David were to run, he would be giving up the opportunity to be the King of Israel – he would be leaving his covenant with God behind. And therefore, He says

The Lord is in his holy temple; the Lord is on his heavenly throne. He observes the sons of men; his eyes examine them. The Lord examines the righteous, but the wicked and those who love violence his soul hates. On the wicked he will rain fiery coals and burning sulfur; a scorching wind will be their lot.

It wasn't that David never moved around. Just prior to the verse that said that God did not give David into the hands of Saul, David had asked the Lord: Will the citizens of Keilah surrender me and my men to Saul? And the Lord said, they will. So the scriptures say David moved around from place to place.

But he didn't leave where he was supposed to be. His relationship with God showed him the way to go.

You can just hear David's men feeling the pressure. They thought their foundations were being destroyed. They said to David, they're getting too close to us – we need to escape! But imagine David settling them down, saying we're not going anywhere, until God tells us to. The Lord is our refuge.

Notice what verse 4 says when it describes God. The Lord is in his holy temple, so he is directly with us. He is among us to empower, to strengthen, to save us. Yet, at the same time, He is on his heavenly throne – so he is above all humans to rule, to examine, to judge.

As we examine this Psalm in the context of today, I'd like to point out at least three ways that we can flee like a bird because of our circumstances:

The first are the doomsday theories out there. The “2012” movement, which is a product of the New Age philosophy, has received a lot of notoriety.

This view comprises a range of eschatological beliefs which posit that cataclysmic or transformative events will occur on December 21 or December 23, 2012,[1][2] which is said to be the end-date of a 5,125-year-long cycle in the Mayan Long Count calendar.
These beliefs may derive in part from archaeoastronomical speculation,[3] alternative interpretations of mythology,[4] numerological constructions, or alleged prophecies from extraterrestrial beings.[5]
A New Age interpretation of this transition posits that, during this time, the planet and its inhabitants may undergo a positive physical or spiritual transformation, and that 2012 may mark the beginning of a new era.[6] Conversely, some believe that the 2012 date marks the end of the world or a similar catastrophe.
In association with the movie that came out last year, the studio also launched a viral marketing website operated by the fictional Institute for Human Continuity, where filmgoers could register for a lottery number to be part of a small population that would be rescued from the global destruction.[78]

The fictitious website lists the Nibiru collision, a galactic alignment, and increased solar activity among its possible doomsday scenarios.[79] David Morrison of NASA has received over 1000 inquiries from people who thought the website was genuine and has condemned it, saying "I've even had cases of teenagers writing to me saying they are contemplating suicide because they don't want to see the world end. I think when you lie on the Internet and scare children in order to make a buck, that is ethically wrong."

Do you remember the tragedy of the Heaven's Gate – which was a cult that believed that when the Hale Bopp comet appeared in 1997, the world would be wiped clean, and that the only way to survive it was to leave immediately. 39 members of the cult committed suicide.
The second way we can flee is when we compromise our Christian foundations. Many who call themselves Christians are fleeing from their beliefs and turning to other ideas in the church!. We have what is called the Emergent church, which is an example of a church that is allowing the views of the world to come in. The emerging church is associated with a concept called “postmodern” Christianity.

Whereas the Bible talks about absolute truth, a just society based on revelation from a just God, the acceptance of the narratives written by God and revealed in scripture, and ethics based on the character of a transcendent God who is good and has revealed his goodness to us.

Now contrast this with the postmodern thinking – truth is the product of finite humans, there is not absolute or universal truth upon which reality stands, relativism – every perspective is equally valid – what's good for you may not be good for me.

Human beings make themselves who they are by the languages they construct about themselves. We create our own ethics. We don't have a common set of values and principles that govern society. If you are in a group of people that feel a certain way about something, that is your truth.

Values are simply what works for the individual, and societal norms are only the set of values that a group has agreed upon. These kinds of ideas are seeping their way into the church so the church can be more culturally relevant.

When churches start supporting the idea of gay marriage, which is happening in the Lutheran church and other denominations today, they are really supporting the idea of an assault on traditional marriage.

I was reading about a church in Seattle that actually offers tattoos at the end of the worship service in it's “quote drive to stay relevant.”

They claim that they preach the same message of Jesus, but are just finding different ways to do it. But it seems like they're fleeing from their core values.

Because of the society we live in, we as church leaders have to be careful not to flee away from our core values just because society and our culture is shifting. We understand we are in spiritual warfare, and instead of fleeing, we need to listen to David in this Psalm and to take refuge in the Lord.

I'm not talking about moving into new buildings or having new technology, but staying absolutely true to what the Bible says, with no edits, just because society is putting on the pressure to believe another way.

We have two verses in Proverbs we need to be very mindful of:

Proverbs 1:28-33 Then they will call to me and I will not answer, they will look for me but will not find me. Since they hated knowledge and did not choose to fear the Lord, since they would not accept my advice and spurned my rebuke, they will eat the fruit of their ways and be filled with the fruit of their schemes. For the waywardness of the simple will kill them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them, but whoever listens to me will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm.

Proverbs 29:18 – Where there is no revelation,the people cast off restraint; but blessed is he who keeps the law.

Also, as church leaders, we need to be very mindful of what Paul said when he was getting ready to go to Jerusalem to finish his race – Acts 20:28:

Keep watch over yourselves and all of the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood.

Jesus bought the church with his own blood. When we start to stray from what God's word says, or fleeing in the face of pressure, then we're losing sight of the price Jesus paid for it. Anyone can call themselves a church and worship anything they want – we had a church in Colorado Springs called the All Souls Unitarian church.

They invited people from all faiths – so one week you might get a reading from the Kuran, the next week from a Buddhist text, the next week from a pagan poem, the next week from the Bible.

The pastors comment was that the theology is broad and open enough that it fits the crosssection of the population. And that since she is focusing on social justice, she would do Jesus proud.

She is creating her own image of God to suit her purposes, so she can to what she wants. Where there is no revelation, people cast off constraints. And Christians are asked to accept this, or else be called intolerant.

We're reminded of the words of Paul to Timothy in 2 Timothy 4:3:

For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.

They may call themselves a church, but they aren't the church of Jesus Christ.

As church leaders, we're reminded of what the book of Hebrews says:
Hebrews 13:17 says to obey your leaders – they keep watch over you as men who must give an account.

We have a serious responsibility to stay true to the Word of God – not to adjust our thinking to what society is telling us to do. Despite the opposition.

We as individuals can also find ourselves in a situation where we want to flee.

Brit Hume, an American commentator, made a stir recently:

He was on a talk show discussing biggest stories for 2010 and he made a comment on Tiger Woods – he said that he would make a comeback in golf, but that as a human being, he needed to turn to the Christian faith to find the forgiveness he needs—because Hume didn't think that Buddhism, Woods's reported religion, "offers the kind of forgiveness and redemption that is offered by the Christian faith." The outrage on talk shows and the blogosphere has been swift.

He are some of the comments:

Brit Hume and other believers reduce everything to their Christian faith. It's up to the people he hurt to decide whether he will be forgiven. It has nothing to do with God.

Another: Brit Hume is being totally disrespectful. To publicly state that someone else's spiritual beliefs are inadequate and they should consider yours instead is just arrogant.

Another: Since Buddism doesn't believe in God, there is no God around to ask forgiveness to. Buddism teaches that our actions affect everyone around us. So tiger needs to forgive himself.

Finally: I'm not sure when some Christians will get over the short sighted and biased opinion that only their path is good and others are bad.

Jesus reminded us when he was talking to his disciples, that “if the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world.

This is not a popular message these days is it?

When you make a decision to follow Jesus, then you will face opposition. I've asked Andrea to share a story about some friends of hers in India that face persecution.

The psalm is about fear, and the internal battle we face when we have fear. We fear being ridiculed by people, so it's easier to go along with the crowd. I've had family members mock me for trying to live for the Lord. They made it a point to go out of their way to do this.

It was all I could do not to respond with the same words they were using to me. I just said a quick prayer that God would speak to them in his time.

I've always respected those who show restraint in the face of pressure and always look for what the Lord would have them do. I'm sure Brit Hume is going through this now.

After Jesus asked Peter, who do you say that I am, and Peter replies You are the Christ, the Son of the living God, so Jesus told him because of his response that he would give him the keys of the kingdom of heaven. But after that, he explained to him that he would have to go to Jerusalem to be killed and then raised to life on the third day. But Peter says, never Lord, this shall never happen to you!

Then remember what Jesus said? Get behind me Satan, you are a stumbling block to me! You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.

Jesus would not accept fleeing as an answer to his problem – he knew he had to face it. And he trusted God that he would be taken care of.

Jesus when he said that I am the way the truth and the life, and that no one comes to the Father except through me. We as the church can't shy away from that message. We not only can't shy away from that message, but we need to proclaim it!

This Psalm is about Faith conquering fear. David knows he has the presence of God, that he can confide in God's protection, and that he can anticipate God's deliverance. And we should have that same confidence, even though times do get tough.

The message tonight is that if you're in a difficult situation where you want to run, but you know the Lord has you there for a purpose, he wants you persevere, to stand in there. It doesn't mean to stand out in the middle of street and let someone shoot arrows at you, but to rely on the Lord for his guidance and direction on what you should do.

The Psalm concludes For the Lord is righteous and loves justice; upright men will see his face.

We talked last week about the great love that God has for us – an infinite God who wants to know us personally.

One of the definitions of love in 1 Cor chapter 13, the famous love chapter, is found in verse 7:

Love always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

If we trust in Jesus Christ, and we believe on His name, and we honor the sacrifice he made so we could come to know God, have our sins washed away, and be saved, we can claim this promise that no matter how hard things get, he will always protect us, he will always persevere to intercede for us, will always hope for us, and we can trust him.

In the story of David, he showed that he needed some help. In 1 Samuel 23 verse 15. we have this account:

When David was at Horesh in the Desert of Ziph, he learned that Saul had come out to take his life. And Saul's son Jonathan went to David at Horesh and helped him find strength in God. Don't be afraid, he said. My father Saul will not lay a hand on you. You will be king over Israel and I will be second to you. Even my father Saul knows this. Then Jonathan went home, but David remained at Horesh.

We think of David as this spiritual giant, a man after God's own heart, but he needed encouragement in his time of need. He needed his good friend to reassure him that his strength was in the Lord.

If you're experiencing difficulty, or want to run from something, consider the promises of the Lord as a starting point. If you need encouragement or prayer, we're available to pray now or during the week. If your relationship with the Lord is not where you need it to be, put your trust in the power of Jesus name tonight. He loves you, He cares for you, He wants you to come to Him. Take refuge in the fact that he will always be there for you – take refuge tonight in that promise.

Let's pray.