Day 41 | Confident Refuge in the Lord | Psalm 11:1–3
To the choirmaster. Of David.
1 In the LORD I take refuge;
how can you
say to my soul,
“Flee like a bird to your mountain,
2 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;
3 if the foundations are destroyed,
what can
the righteous do?”
When danger arises, a natural inclination is to flee. Indeed, there may be times in which strategic
retreat is the wisest course of action (such as in the face of youthful lusts,
2 Tm 2:22). Even so, David knows this
isn’t one of those moments, and he explains his confidence—his trust—in the
Lord.
Note the call for
flight. David speaks to whoever this
anxious one is by quoting his words back to him. Sure, like in 10:8–10, the wicked hunt for
the righteous. Their arrows come even in
darkness—secretly (NKJV), or “from the shadows” (HSCB). Evildoers loves concealment (Job 24:14–17),
and perhaps the very caves David may fly to already hide his enemy. When the wicked causes the ground to give way
underneath the feet of the righteous, then David’s collapse seems inevitable. However, David quotes his detractor
ironically, for nothing can shake his confidence in God.
Note the call for
faith. There’s disbelief in David’s
words in v. 1: “How can you speak so to my soul?” Hirelings flee their duties (Jn 10:12–13);
men of God don’t (cf. Neh 6:10–11). Since
David places his trust in the covenant-keeping God of Israel, why should he flee
like an animal?
David isn’t confident because he has an indominable spirit, but
because he has the sustaining strength of the Lord. As David said in v. 1, “In Yahweh I take
refuge.” If you are in Christ Jesus, know
that amid trials, the truth of 1 Peter 5:10 stands—“And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has
called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm,
strengthen, and establish you.”
