Psalm 11: The Power of Poetry

If your Christian life must be going well right and we think were sort of letting down the sausage if we express our frustrations and part of what's so wonderful about the Psalter is. It gives voice to those fears to those struggles to those difficulties and then helps us move beyond them. Learning to love the Psalms. Next on Renewing Your Mind. The book of Psalms is unapologetically new you gets down to the nitty-gritty of our everyday lives, whether we are rejoicing grieving or suffering the Psalms provide an outlet for each emotion today. The rest of this week. You're on Renewing Your Mind going to jump into Dr. Robert Guthrie series learning to love the songs in the message before the woman about to hear Dr. Jeffrey talked about how the Psalms are structured as poetry today will concentrate on Psalm 11, we had our brief introduction to the Psalter at a kind of BD pace and so I want to slow down a little bit now and look with you at one relatively short song from book 1 and try to see how some of the things that we talked about in a general way can help us in reading the Psalms, I'd like you to take a look with me at Psalm 11 Psalm 11 of Psalm of just seven verses it's a psalm with a verse in it. That may be familiar to you. It's a verse preachers like to quote when they're distressed about the world around us. Verse three of Psalm 11 says if the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do. Probably heard that first before if the foundations are destroyed, what can the registrants great question, but often I think misunderstood in the way its use. So we want to step back and take a look at this Psalm together, and the first thing we need to do. Whenever we read a Psalm is to read through and to familiarize ourselves with the Psalm so we have some sense in a general way of what's going on with the song and I what's taking place, and if so, let me just read Psalm 11 and then will take a look at it in the Lord. I take refuge, how can you say to my soul flee like a bird to your mountain. For behold, the wicked bend the bow they have fitted their arrow to the string to shoot in the dark at the upright in heart. If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do 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, but his soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence, let him rain coals on the wicked, fire and sulfur in the scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup for the Lord is righteous, he loves righteous deeds. The upright shall behold his face. There's a rather clear movement in that song isn't there. There's a movement from the distress. Shall we flee like a bird to the mountain to a confidence in the Lord as judge and vindicator of his people. But if we pause now and take a look at this Psalm in a little more detail if we pause and ask what's going on structurally in this Psalm were not going to come up with radically different results from what we would see in reading through the Psalm and and reflecting on the Psalm but I'm hoping that will begin to see how noticing the construction of the Psalm will actually deepen our appreciation of it.

If the Psalm begins. Basically, with a dilemma a dilemma of a world tottering the dilemma of God's kingdom being advised to flee to the mountains for safety because the wicked are destroying everything in front of them. What is the center then of the psalmist's response to that reality and what we see is that center in verse four now this brings us back to our pyramid of verse four is that center is that high point is that organizing principle in the middle of distress. In this poem. What is the truth that the psalmist centers on what is that the heart of this song the Lord is. It is holy temple. The Lord's throne is in heaven. So if David's throne on earth is tottering. If the wise advice seems to be flee away. What can the righteous do. David is saying in response to that advice. At the heart of my faith is this confidence that the wicked are not in charge that the wicked will never ultimately accomplish their purposes or succeed in the long run and in the midst of distress, then I am comforted by looking above the present reality to the central truth that I believe that God is on his throne. The God is in heaven and his throne cannot be troubled cannot be toppled and so this is that this is the center of the Psalm. This is the heart of the Psalm and you know that the language is so vivid and the Psalm the wicked bend the bow they have fitted their arrow to the string and then later let him rain coals on the wicked, fire and sulfur in scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup.

Those images are so strong, so arrested that we may be tempted in reading this on to sort of just skip over verse four, which seemed kinda mild, knowing that in all of this drama of arrows and sulfur to say the Lord is in his holy temple. That seems config with my so yeah we know that let's get on the good stuff and in the point here is to pause to meditate and realize the good stuff is to remember that in the drama of life God remains on his throne. God remains serene in a sense, in the face of the fools who say let us cast his yoke from us Lord will have them in derision that's that's here at the center of the Psalm and and you see that's reinforced by other elements of the structure of the Psalm. Notice how the Psalm actually begins in the Lord. I take refuge that's that's the beginning point I'm gonna get to all the calamities of life, but I'm starting out with this point in the Lord.

I take refuge, so there we have verse one down here actually, we could say one a the first part of verse one. I sometimes think that gets a little silly to talk to break down Scripture and such tiny points but becomes maybe a little helpful here.

Verse one a and then if we have a center here in verse four a and B, then we might well ask, well, is this is this really a very symmetrical pyramid because if it is a really symmetrical pyramid then verse one, or to correspond to verse seven, particularly verse 7C, the last line now does it in the Lord. I take refuge. The first line. The upright shall behold his face. They do correspond out thinkers. It's almost like that repetition that you find in the sulfur one line after another and and so suddenly because David and faith takes refuge in the Lord.

It leads him to the conclusion that he is one of the upright people, God will see the face of God.

However, the wicked may try to destroy him. He will not be destroyed by the wicked, so suddenly this song that has such energy and drama in it is bracketed by this sort of calm confidence in the Lord. I take refuge, the upright will behold his face and why is that why can I take refuge in the Lord. Why do I know I will behold his face. It's because the Lord is on his throne because the Lord's purposes cannot be overthrown cannot be overcome. And so you see how this this structure of the Psalm begins to help us see more of what's going on and are more into the heart of David and be blessed by what he is arguing here and then we see that verse 1B really is a shift in a different direction from one a one a is this beginning confidence in the Lord. I take refuge, and then verse 1B is the psalmist moving away from contemplating his refuge and security in God to responding to his advisors in light of the fact that I take refuge in God. How can you say to my soul what you've said in other words, this is a point at which David shifts from his faith confidence to responding to his royal advisors.

How can you say to my soul and then follows what that bad advice is because that's really what he saying is you're giving me bad advice to what is the bad advice. While that raises a question doesn't because then we have to figure how many of the next verses are bad advice and I think the right way to understand it is the way we have it in our ESV Bibles. It's in quotations there from verse 1C down through verse three. The bad advice is a prediction of what's going to happen if you don't flee like a bird to the mountain so that's the bottom line advice fleet get out of town going the hiding David Newell about being in hiding. It's been a long time hiding from soul in the wilderness and this is more soul like for soul times advice I get out of town hideaway. That's the way to deal with this distress now. Why do you need to fly out of town but because the wicked bend their arrow to the string to shoot in the dark at the upright in heart. Namely you, David. David's not always upright part will later talk about what it means when David insists that he is upright in heart. But here's the advice you see thereafter, you thereafter use weapons now. Sometimes, you know, it's hard to know how much stress to put on something, it is at least interesting that the wicked appear to have one arrow and maybe in a backhanded sort of way that's meant to comfort David they have a bow and they have an arrow in the gun to shoot at you. But after all, they only have one. I'm not sure that's the major point here, but it is kind of interesting that the one arrow here in verse two is in a sense contrasted with the coals in the fire and the sulfur and the scorching wind that God is good report on the wicked II think may be part of the point here is, God has more resources God has the bigger arsenal.

The wicked may seem very impressive with her bow and arrow in the night, but in the long run.

The scorching coals from heaven are going to win the day and we have to bear that in mind, so the wicked bend the bow, they fitted their arrow to the string to shoot in the dark that the upright in heart, and then I think verse three remains the bad counsel of the fearful counselors. Why not leave the mountain if the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do. Anyway, so this is not a general sort of observation about reality. This is bad advice. Now the bad advice is not that there are not times when the foundations are destroyed and the bad advice is not that there are times when the righteous can't do anything but the bad advice is that David should lose confidence in God leave his capital leave the temple and flee away into the mountains because things seem so hopeless and so this bad counsel is the Council of hopelessness and I think David records it to us in this rather powerful way because I think we often are people who counsel ourselves with councils of hopelessness. We allow the visible reality to dominate the way we think and all through the history of Christ Church.

There have been times at which the righteous look around and say, surely the foundations have been destroyed, what can anybody do. Maybe some of us feel were living in most times we live within the frustrating times and difficult times we look around the world and receive all kinds of troubles in difficulty and if we just focus on who seems to be winning today. The righteous may well conclude everybody but the righteous seems to be winning today. So part of the, the glory of the Psalter. It seems to me is its unflinching truthfulness. It tells the truth and that means it tells the truth about ceilings and then I think often as Christians were not good about telling the truth about feelings.

We think it's our obligation to smile all the time. If your Christian life must be going well right every moments of blessing and we think were sorta letting down the side.

If we express our frustrations and our fears and our struggles and and part of what's so wonderful about the Psalter is. It gives voice to those fears to those struggles to those difficulties and then helps us move beyond them, so it's not that the foundations are never shaken. They are sometimes shaken some buys for us personally, sometimes for the church, sometimes for the state, sometimes for the world, but in facing the reality of that shaken this.

There's a word from God, a central word from God. God is in his holy temple. The Lord's throne is in heaven. Lift up your eyes beyond what you can see that's what living by faith is in part, to remind ourselves it's not just what we see the true but what is unseen is more true. That's for the struggle of living by faith isn't. It's a lot easier to live by what you see everybody else is doing that. It seems a reasonable, but the call of Christianity is often to live by what we don't see to live by faith in what God tells us is true and the truth is you see here that although it appears the foundations are destroyed and the righteous can do nothing. The truth is that God's eyes see that his eyelids test the children of men.

He sees what's going on I did. I think we could almost say that the greatest single struggle of faith is to think that God is not paying attention in book 3 of the Psalter, the book of crisis. Psalm 74 is about the destruction of the temple and you can imagine how overwhelming the spiritual calamity that was from people. God, in the old covenant. Our temple is destroyed the place of our worship place of our meeting with God is destroyed and one of the things that is said there in Psalm 74.

The psalmist says to God. This is the Godfrey translation slightly paraphrased. The psalmist says to God, why are you standing around with your hands in your pockets's hands in your robe, but the day the senses while you standing rather hands in your pockets.

Don't you see that there are things to be done here and I can tell this group is way too pious ever to have those sorts of thoughts but for most Christians, those kinds of thoughts go through the mine sometime why are you letting this happen. It doesn't make any sense and what the psalmist and God is not only on his throne but he knows what's going on is either everywhere and enzymes are not just seeing his eyes are judging. His eyes are evaluating and so verse five God's eyes are testing the righteous, but his eyes are also on the wicked in his soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence.

We tend to live in an age where Christianity is all about love and never talks about hate and we can all understand how that's happened in even imply there are some things that are right about that, but the message of the Bible as a whole is that God hates the wicked and that there will be judgment.

One day on the work and if you don't like that idea.

You really have to cut a lot of the Bible out of your Bible another Christian to do that. Not literally but figuratively, and I understand that you know II think we should understand that motive because in the Bible that the love of God is so strong, so powerful, so present that we sort of wonder how good the God who gave his own son to die for our sins, then still hate the wicked and judge the work of course the cross is exactly the place where love and hate me. Jesus is hated innocence. On the cross by God, so that those in Jesus will be spared the wrath to come.

And if we don't see both the judgment as well as the redemption of God, we lose any real significance to the death of Christ and that's what we have to maintain this. However uncomfortable it may be for us at points there is a judgment coming on the wicked.

The wicked have done a wonderful job turning the theme of judgment into a joke. It's always a cartoon with a man looking CD standing on the street corner with a sign that says repent judgment is coming ha ha ha well will be so funny one day is what the Bible says we have to think about that because the judgment is really pretty bad. Verse six. Let him rain coals on the wicked. Now there's an alternative translation possible.

Their coals is usually what's translated because it fits in so well with the fire and sulfur and scorching wind but it's also possible that what's being said there is let traps rain on the wicked. The wicked have been out to trap the righteous. They been out to shoot them. They been out to drive him out of there capital while God has traps for the wicked. That's another way of reading this here and it's it's judgment and then verse seven for the Lord is righteous and he loves righteous deeds. He loves the upright to do their duty and leave raining ruling being in charge to him and and that's what the Psalms really all about. I find my refuge in God and I know I will one day behold his face and in the meantime, in the mess of this world I know is on the throne.

I know we seeing what's going on. I know he's one day when you make all things right and you see this little Psalm it is worth pausing over. You could read this Psalm in probably a minute and then you could summarize the Psalm God's in control and you can move on and you had a blessing that God is in control but but look how look how carefully God has inspired this and put it together so almost at every point that we pause and reflect, can meditate we we find a deeper truth and more blessed reality now fearing that maybe I haven't offended everybody look. Let me pause and say what does this say about the music we should sing to God. If God has spent time in inspiring such beautifully crafted profound wonderful poems, doesn't that say that God loves beautifully crafted wonderful songs that should be sung to him.

I think we made a mistake in the church singing simple, obvious shallow songs to God. I think the book of Psalms is that's really not what God delights in so sing a song from time to time as we close.

Think for a minute just how often do sing songs and encourage the church to sing more sons because such one strength was an important challenge to consider is in it. The Psalms are songs approved and inspired by God. This week on Renewing Your Mind were featuring Dr. W. Robert Godfrey's teaching series. Learning to love the Psalms in 12 messages.

She provides an overview of the themes the structure and the beauty of the Psalms. Each message is about 23 minutes in length, and that we be happy to send you the two DVDs said when you contact us today with a donation of any amount there couple of ways you can reach is what is by phone at 800-435-4343 but you can also give your gift online@renewingyourmind.org every time you requested teaching series from the spirit Renewing Your Mind. It's added to your learning library online through your link in your account.

That means you have access to the video series at any time on your computer. You can also view them on the free link in your app so request the series with your donation of the about and will add all 12 messages to your online learning library and send you the two DVD set our number again is 800-435-4343 in her web address Renewing Your Mind.org will among the Psalms that Dr. Godfrey will be looking at tomorrow is Psalm 50. This is a Psalm really about worship God is passionate about his worship and this should really alarm contemporary Christians because we tend to think God is perfectly happy with whatever we happened off and it is not true. That's tomorrow here on Renewing Your Mind