Psalm 11--The LORD Is in His Holy Temple

Psalm 11
English Standard Version

The LORD Is in His Holy Temple
To the choirmaster. Of David.

11 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?”
4 The LORD is in his holy temple;
    the LORD's throne is in heaven;
    his eyes see, his eyelids test the children of man.
5 The LORD tests the righteous,
    but his soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence.
6 Let him rain coals on the wicked;
    fire and sulfur and a scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup.
7 For the LORD is righteous;
he loves righteous deeds;
    the upright shall behold his face.

---

It seems like David once again is being chased by one of his many enemies (maybe King Saul between the time that David was anointed by Samuel and the time that King Saul died and David actually took the throne).  His advisors seem to be telling him to flee for his life--to run to the hills where they could hide in the caves and have a better chance with their guerilla tactics.

David's reply is that he doesn't need to run away because the LORD will protect him.  Even though the enemy has their arrow drawn on their bow, it is like they are shooting into the dark--they can't see what to aim at because the LORD will not let them hit their mark.  

David then changes his perspective and looks at God high and lifted up on His throne and says He is enthroned in His holy temple--David is talking about heaven and not the Temple in Jerusalem.  David is talking about the same heavenly temple that we see described in Ezekiel and that we see called "The New Jerusalem" in the book of Revelation.  God's throne room is the Holy of Holies and this is the place where Jesus, our Great High Priest enters to make atonement for us by His own blood.

From His throne in heaven, God sees everyone and He tests the righteous to purify their faith and make it stronger (not to cause them to sin).  We see this in the book of Job when the LORD brings up Job to Satan when He says, "Have you considered my servant Job, there is none like him."  On the other side, God hates the wicked (hatred is usually not an attribute that we associate with God, but God is the only one who can rightly hate the wicked man who is living in rebellion against Him).  God also hates the one who loves violence--this is also the wicked man, they are one in the same.

We see David say that there will be a hot, fiery judgment for the wicked and those who love violence.  My mind is drawn back to the judgment on Sodom and Gomorrah that was supposed to be a taste of what the coming judgment would be for the wicked and a warning to the whole world (especially the other Canaanites) to repent.  The "cup" that is being described here is probably the cup that is filled with the wrath of God that God says that he will make them drink to the very dregs (see Psalm 75:8).  It is their "portion" or their just rewards for how they have chosen to live in rebellion against the one who is Creator and King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

The LORD, He is righteous meaning that He is not guilty of anything.  He loves those whom are righteous and they are righteous because of His decree--we can only be declared righteous because of what Jesus did on the cross so that He could take our punishment and our sin would no longer be counted against us.  All those who belong to Christ are the children of God and He loves them.  He loves the righteous deeds that are the deeds that the Holy Spirit does in and through us after we are saved, and we have a promise that all of us who are righteous or "pure in heart" as Jesus will say in the Beatitudes in Matthew 5 will see God face to face in a way that no one other than Jesus has.  Moses desired this but was only allowed to see God's goodness pass before him (see Ex. 33:17-23).


1 John 3:2
English Standard Version
​2 Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.

Oh how great it will be to live our lives in the Holy of Holies behind the veil in the very presence of the throne room of God able to have perfect intimacy and communion with Him in the same way God the Son has from the very beginning.  See His prayer for us in the Garden before His crucifixion.


John 17:20-26
English Standard Version
​20 “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, 21 that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, 23 I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. 24 Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. 25 O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. 26 I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”