Psalm 11

Psalms 11:1

“What the phrase "unto the end" signifies — for which Symmachus rendered ἐπινίκιον (a song of victory), while Aquila and the sixth edition rendered τῷ νικοποιῷ (to the giver of victory) — has been discussed more fully above. Now let us return to the order of the tenth psalm: a number which is both an end and a beginning, in which every reckoning is rolled around, and to which the decalogue also — that is, the first law — is owed.”

Psalms 11:1

“These verses contain an account of a temptation to distrust God, with which David was, upon some unmentioned occasion, greatly exercised. It may be, that in the days when he was in Saul's court, he was advised to flee at a time when this flight would have been charged against him as a breach of duty to the king, or a proof of personal cowardice. His case was like that of Nehemiah, when his enemies, under the garb of friendship, hoped to entrap him by advising him to escape for his life.”

Psalms 11:1

“Even when they have other things to stay themselves upon, yet they do not, they dare not, stay upon them, but on God only. Gold is not their hope, nor are horses and chariots their confidence, but God only; and therefore, when second causes frown, yet their hopes do not fail them, because the first cause is still the same, is ever so.”

Psalms 11:2

“For behold, the sinners have bent the bow, they have prepared their arrows in the quiver, that they may shoot in the dark the upright of heart. For which it is written in the Hebrew, "For behold, the impious have bent the bow, they have set the arrow upon the string, that they may strike in the dark the upright of heart." Therefore, he says, you wish me to migrate to the mountains, because the sinners, or the impious, burning, have prepared arrows, which must be repelled with the shield of faith.”

Psalms 11:2

“For, lo, the wicked bend their bow - Perhaps these are more of the words of his advisers: Every thing is ready for thy destruction: the arrow that is to pierce thy heart is already set on the bow-string; and the person who hopes to despatch thee is concealed in ambush.”

Psalms 11:2

“How forcibly the case is put! The bow is bent, the arrow is fitted to the string: "Flee, flee, thou defenceless bird, thy safety lies in flight; begone, for thine enemies will send their shafts into thy heart; haste, haste, for soon wilt thou be destroyed!" David seems to have felt the force of the advice, for it came home to his soul; but yet he would not yield, but would rather dare the danger than exhibit a distrust in the Lord his God.”

Psalms 11:3

“For they have destroyed the things which you have perfected. And this too those who above still speak either to any just man or to the Lord: Therefore you must return to the heavenly things, because both the adversaries are so bravely prepared for the fight, and whatever you build up, they demolish. For daily they undermine your precepts and the law written in the hearts of believers, and by persuading diverse things they overturn them. But what did the just man do? This is understood in various ways.”

Psalms 11:3

“If the foundations be destroyed,.... Or, "for the foundations are destroyed" (s); all things are out of order and course both in church and state; the laws, which are the foundations of government, are despised and disregarded; judgment is perverted, and justice stands afar off; the doctrines and principles of religion are derided and subverted; so that there is no standing, either in a political or religious sense. Jarchi interprets this of the priests of the Lord, the righteous, who are the foundations of the world, particularly the priests of Nob, slain by Doeg.”

Psalms 11:3

“If the foundations be destroyed - These are still to be regarded as the words of the psalmist’s advisers; or as an argument why he should make his escape. The word “foundations,” here, refers to those things on which society rests, or by which social order is sustained - the great principles of truth and righteousness that uphold society, as the foundations on which an edifice rests uphold the building.”

Psalms 11:3

“It was equally correct that the very foundations of law and justice were destroyed under Saul's unrighteous government: but what were all these things to the man whose trust was in God alone? He could brave the dangers, could escape the enemies, and defy the injustice which surrounded him. His answer to the question, "What can the righteous do?" would be the counter-question, "What cannot they do?" When prayer engages God on our side, and when faith secures the fulfillment of the promise, what cause can there be for flight, however cruel and mighty our enemies?”

Psalms 11:4

“Whence in what follows it is written: The Lord is in his holy temple, the Lord's seat is in heaven. By the seat — that is, the throne of God — let us, according to the custom of the Scriptures, understand the kingdom, as in that place: "God shall give him the throne of David his father." And elsewhere: "With justice is the throne of dominion prepared." And: "When a just king shall sit upon the throne." The Lord is in his holy temple, the Lord's seat is in heaven.”

Psalms 11:4

“The Lord is in his holy temple,.... Not in the temple at Jerusalem, which as yet was not built; nor in the temple of Christ's human nature; but rather in the church, where he dwells, which is an holy temple to the Lord; and which is an argument for trust in him, and a reason against the fears of men in the worst of times; see Psa 46:”

Psalms 11:4

“The Lord is in his holy temple - He is still to be sought and found in the place vhere he has registered his name. Though the priests be destroyed, the God in whose worship they were employed still lives, and is to be found in his temple by his upright worshippers. And he tries the heart and the reins of both sinners and saints. Nothing can pass without his notice. I may expect his presence in the temple; he has not promised to meet me in the mountain.”

Psalms 11:4

“Or, He is in his holy temple, that is, in his church; he is a God in covenant and communion with his people, through a Mediator, of whom the temple was a type. We need not say, "Who shall go up to heaven, to fetch us thence a God to trust to?" No, the word is nigh us, and God in the word; his Spirit is in his saints, those living temples, and the Lord is that Spirit.”

Psalms 11:5

The Lord questions the just and the impious: but he who loves iniquity hates his own soul. For which it is better written in the Hebrew: "The Lord tests the just, but the impious and the one who loves iniquity — his soul hates him."

Psalms 11:5

“The Lord trieth the righteous - That is, he “proves” them, searches them, tests the reality of their piety. His dealings with them are such as to test the genuineness of their religion, and are designed to show their sincerity and the real power of their religious principles. It is not for the purpose of destroying them, or punishing them, that he deals with them as he does, but it is to show the reality of their attachment to him. This language seems here to be used to show the feeling of the persecuted and afflicted author of the psalm.”

Psalms 11:5

"The Lord trieth the righteous:" he doth not hate them, but only tries them. They are precious to him, and therefore he refines them with afflictions. None of the Lord's children may hope to escape from trial, nor, indeed, in our right minds, would any of us desire to do so, for trial is the channel of many blessings. Tis my happiness below Not to live without the cross; But the Saviour's power to know, Sanctifying every loss.

Psalms 11:6

He shall rain snares upon sinners. There is no doubt but that the Lord does this even for the sake of the sinners themselves, so that those who were badly abusing their liberty, being ensnared in the Lord's snares, may walk in the right path as if under his bridle, and may be able to advance through him who says, "I am the way."

Psalms 11:6

“Upon the wicked,.... The wicked one, the man of sin, antichrist, and upon all that worship the beast and his image, on all persecutors, and upon all wicked men in general: he shall rain snares, fire, and brimstone, and an horrible tempest; this will be in hell, as Jarchi observes. The allusion is to the Lord's raining fire and brimstone from heaven upon Sodom and Gomorrah, which was an example and emblem of eternal fire; see Gen 19:”

Psalms 11:6

“Upon the wicked he shall rain - This is a manifest allusion to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Snares - Judgments shall fall upon them suddenly and unawares. Fire - Such as shall come immediately from God, and be inextinguishable. Brimstone - Melted by the fire, for their drink! This shall be the portion of their cup. A horrible tempest - רוח זלעפות roach zilaphoth, “the spirit of terrors.” Suffering much, and being threatened with more, they shall be filled with confusion and dismay. My old MS. has “gost of stormis.” See at the end, Psa 11:7 (note).”

Psalms 11:6

"But the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth:"why, then, shall I flee from these wicked men? If God hateth them, I will not fear them. Haman was very great in the palace until he lost favour, but when the king abhorred him, how bold were the meanest attendants to suggest the gallows for the man at whom they had often trembled! Look at the black mark upon the faces of our persecutors, and we shall not run away from them.

Psalms 11:6

“It shall be as snares upon them, to hold them fast, and keep them prisoners, till the day of reckoning comes. It is fire, and brimstone, and a horrible tempest, which plainly alludes to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, and very fitly, for that destruction was intended for a figure of the vengeance of eternal fire, Jude 7 .”

Psalms 11:7

“For the Lord is just and has loved justices; his countenance has beheld equity. For which the Hebrew has: "For the Lord is just and loves justice; their faces shall behold equity." The Lord, he says, is just for the causes stated above: because he both, leaving the just man in the present age to temptations, does not punish but proves him, and his soul hates the impious man who loves injustice. For it is one thing to sin overcome by the necessity of the flesh, another to pass over into the disposition of the sinner.”

Psalms 11:7

“For the righteous Lord loveth righteousness - This would be more correctly rendered, “For Jehovah is righteous; he loves righteousness.” The idea is, that God is himself righteous, and, consequently, he loves those who are righteous. He may be confided in, therefore, by the righteous as their friend, and being under his protection they have nothing to fear. His countenance doth behold the upright - The word rendered “countenance” is, in the Hebrew, in the plural number; literally,” his faces.” It is not easy to account for this use of the plural, though it is common in the Scriptures.”

Psalms 11:7

“The delightful contrast of the last verse is well worthy of our observation, and it affords another overwhelming reason why we should be stedfast, unmoveable, not carried away with fear, or led to adopt carnal expedients in order to avoid trial. "For the righteous Lord loveth righteousness." It is not only his office to defend it, but his nature to love it. He would deny himself if he did not defend the just.”

Psalms 11:7

“He loves them and the work of his own grace in them. He is himself a righteous God, and therefore loves righteousness wherever he finds it and pleads the cause of the righteous that are injured and oppressed; he delights to execute judgment for them, Ps. ciii.”