Big Idea: When our theological foundations are threatened, our fears are disabled by remembering God’s just and majestic character.

Understanding the Text

Psalm 11 is an individual lament. The lament is quite brief (11:1b) and obviously grows out of the immediate threat of danger that David faced (11:2), which itself grows out of the nature of the wicked “who love violence” (11:5). It is that bigger problem that shakes the foundations of faith and life (11:3), until Yahweh’s vision from his heavenly throne becomes the vision of the earthlings: “the upright will see his face” (11:7b). To see God’s face is to see him in all his glory, and to see him in all his glory is to see ourselves and our world from his perspective. Evidently David had already gotten a glimpse that inspired him to say…