Psalm 11 Continued…
David asks a question in verse 3, he says, “If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?” And basically what he’s saying here is: “If we as a nation, and I as the king… if we turn away from the Lord… if we start seeking salvation in physical, worldly means… if we start relying on our own wisdom and strength… if we start trusting in our own ability, and our military might… and we turn away from the ways of the Lord. It’s going to destroy us. It’s going to destroy the foundations of our nation, it will destroy our economy. It will destroy our political and social system. And then what are we going to do? What are we going to do if everything that our society is built on is destroyed?” And man, that is a great question, isn’t it?
Because that’s what the enemies of God want to do isn’t it? They want to destroy the foundations. They want to replace the Biblical teaching of creation with evolution. They want to transform the way the culture thinks about marriage, and morality. They want to exchange truth for relativism. They want to destroy the foundations, and then what will the righteous do?
So David is saying, “No, I’m not going to run and hide in some mountain stronghold.” And here’s why he says that – Look at verses 4 & 5, “The Lord is in His holy temple; the Lord’s throne is in heaven; His eyes see, His eyelids test the children of man. The Lord tests the righteous…”
So David sees this crisis that he’s going through – as a test… And what’s the purpose of a test again? The purpose of a test is to show, whether or not you actually know what you’re supposed to know. Think about that for a second. Do you want a surgeon operating on you who has never had to take some kind of test to make sure he knows what he says he knows?
So David sees what he’s going through – as a test… and it’s a test FROM THE LORD. That’s what he says, “THE LORD TESTS THE RIGHTEOUS…”
Now understand this – the threats being made against David were serious, and the danger around him was real. There were people who literally wanted to kill him. But David understood that it was a test from the Lord. And here’s the thing. This test wasn’t about whether or not God was going to keep David safe. IT wasn’t about whether or not God was going to give him victory over his enemies, or allow them to defeat David. God was not the One being tested here. David was. So ultimately; this was a test to show whether or not David really and truly trusted in the Lord. We too, face many tests in our walk with the Lord. We too, need to know where our refuge truly is.
PRAY
Father as we go through various tests throughout life, may we come out shining like gold. Father, search our hearts, and show us the areas where we fall short, and give us grace to grow, and mature in our faith.