Matthew Henry Commentary Psalms 11
Matthew Henry Commentary
Psalms 11
Matthew Henry Commentary
Psalms 11
"In Jehovah do I take refuge: How say ye to my soul, Flee [as] a bird to your mountain; For, lo, the wicked bend the bow, They make ready their arrow upon the string, That they may shoot in darkness at the upright in heart; If the foundations be destroyed, What can the righteous do? Jehovah is in his holy temple; Jehovah, his throne is in heaven; His eyes behold, his eyelids try, the children of men. Jehovah trieth the righteous; But the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth. Upon the wicked he will rain snares; Fire and brimstone and burning wind shall be the portion of their cup. For Jehovah is righteous; he loveth righteousness: The upright shall behold his face. " — Psalms 11:1-7 (ASV)
Those who truly fear God and serve him are welcome to put their trust in him. The psalmist, before he gives an account of his temptation to distrust God, records his resolution to trust in Him, a resolution by which he was determined to live and die. The believer, though not terrified by his enemies, may be tempted by the fears of his friends to desert his post or neglect his work. They perceive his danger but not his security; they give him counsel that savors of worldly policy rather than of heavenly wisdom.
The principles of religion are the foundations on which the faith and hope of the righteous are built. We should be concerned to hold these fast against all temptations to unbelief, for believers would be undone if they did not have God to go to, God to trust in, and future bliss to hope for. The prosperity of wicked people in their wicked, evil ways, and the hardships and distresses into which the best people are sometimes brought, tested David's faith.
We need not say, Who shall go up to heaven, to bring us from there a God to trust in? The word is near us, and God in the word; his Spirit is in his saints, those living temples, and the Lord is that Spirit. This God governs the world. We may know what men seem to be, but God knows what they are, as the refiner knows the value of gold when he has tested it.
God is said to test with his eyes, because he cannot err or be deceived. If he afflicts good people, it is for their testing, and therefore for their good. However persecutors and oppressors may prosper for a while, they will perish forever. God is a holy God, and therefore hates them.
He is a righteous Judge and will therefore punish them. In what a horrible tempest are the wicked hurried away at death! Every man has the portion of his cup assigned to him. Impenitent sinner, take note of your doom! The last call to repentance is about to be addressed to you; judgment is at hand; through the gloomy shade of death you pass into the region of eternal wrath.
Hasten then, O sinner, to the cross of Christ. How stands the case between God and our souls? Is Christ our hope, our consolation, our security? Then, and only then, will the soul be carried through all its difficulties and conflicts.
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