289 – Psalm 11 – The Throne

Psalm 11:2 (NKJV)

           2       For look! The wicked bend their bow,

    They make ready their arrow on the string,

    That they may shoot secretly at the upright in heart.

In reading through this beautiful seven-verse Psalm I counted three actors, the Psalmist represented by the pronoun “I”, the wicked, and Yahweh. We talked about it some last time, but it bears mentioning again that before David gives any other details he declares he put his trust in Yahweh. What an excellent way to start a conversation. No matter what follows, I have put my trust in Yahweh! 

The Psalmist records for us what the wicked have done. He starts off by pointing out that he/they specifically target the righteous person. The attack is made in secret or under cover of darkness. Interestingly he talks about the wicked person’s choice of weapon being a bow and arrow. We could understand the bow and arrow to be literal. I’m sure the wicked really have attacked the righteous with arrows, but I suspect the weapon to be metaphorical. It’s interesting to me the devil is said to be using “fiery darts” or arrows against us (Eph. 6:16).

Ephesians 6:16 (NKJV)

16 above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. 

Yahweh is mentioned by name five times in seven verses by David. In verse one he puts his trust in Yahweh. Verse four is the only verse in this short Psalm that has two mentions of the name Yahweh. Let’s look at verse four because to tell you the truth I wondered what it was doing here when I first read it. To make sense of it, however, we need to consider it together with verse three.

Psalm 11:3-4 (NKJV)

           3       If the foundations are destroyed,

    What can the righteous do?

           4       [Yahweh] is in His holy temple,

    [Yahweh’s] throne is in heaven;

    His eyes behold,

    His eyelids test the sons of men.

One commentator made mention of the “foundations” referred to in verse three as being connected with the temple foundations, which would seem to make sense when read with verse four. However, we need to remember David is the uncontested author of this Psalm. There was no temple foundation during David’s reign. If you’ll remember Yahweh would not allow him to build the temple. So how could this be referring to the wicked overcoming the righteous and destroying the foundations of the temple unless it was prophetic? But wait a second. Keep reading into verse four. It tells us Yahweh is in His Holy Temple. Again, the earthly temple hasn’t been built yet. When we keep reading we learn “Yahweh’s throne is in heaven”.

It seems to me the Psalmist is telling us that if the wicked overcomes the righteous to the point that foundations are destroyed we need to remember Yahweh is still on the throne! He will never be unseated! Yahweh is in control and He is constantly watching and judging. We can take comfort that Yahweh notices when the wicked oppressed the righteous and He will pass judgment upon them (Psalm 11:6). There’s a verse in Proverbs that says it a little differently.

Proverbs 15:3 (NKJV)

           3       The eyes of [Yahweh] are in every place,

    Keeping watch on the evil and the good.

Again, let me point out that when we zoom in and look at just a verse or two at a time we run the risk of taking things out of context. This is such a short Psalm that it is very easy to read it through several times in one sitting, which I would highly encourage you to do.

I love Yahweh’s Word, and yet it is such a struggle to stay in it and live by it. I think that very fact serves to underscore that we have an enemy that will go to great lengths to distract us from it. Fight, fight, fight to stay in fellowship with Yahweh in His word. One great help to you would be to make sure you are in fellowship with a local body of believers where the Bible is taught accurately. Is the Word of God the foundation for all that you believe and do? If you don’t have a church that centers itself on the accuracy and authority of the Holy Bible I would invite you to visit Truth Fellowship Live.

Yahweh is worthy of all praise, worship, and adoration. You can never go wrong investing time in getting to know Him through His word.