Psalms 11:1-7: a reflection

When everything seems to be collapsing and others urge him to flee in panic, the psalmist refuses, because his confidence rests not on stable circumstances but on the God who still reigns. How can you say to my soul, Flee as a bird to your mountain? he asks. If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do? The foundations seemed to be crumbling, the wicked poised to strike; but the psalmist answers his own question by lifting his eyes higher: The LORD is in his holy temple. The LORD is on his throne in heaven. However shaken the foundations below, God is still on his throne above; his reign is not overturned by the collapse of earthly things. The psalmist takes refuge not in fleeing but in the God who still reigns when foundations crumble. When everything below seems to give way, God is still enthroned above.

Notice where the psalmist looks when the foundations seem to crumble: to God, still on his throne. Others urge him to flee in panic, and the question presses, if the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do? The situation seems desperate, the ground giving way. But the psalmist does not answer by fleeing; he answers by lifting his eyes to God: the LORD is in his holy temple, the LORD is on his throne. However much the foundations below are shaken, God's throne above is not; his reign is not overturned by the collapse of earthly things. This is the refuge of the righteous when everything seems to crumble: not a mountain to flee to, but the God who still reigns. When the foundations give way, God is still enthroned; and that, not our circumstances, is our security. The collapse of earthly foundations does not shake the throne of God. To take refuge in the reigning God when all else seems to give way is the psalmist's answer to panic.

That is worth resting in, for when foundations seem to crumble, God is still on his throne, and he is our refuge. When everything seems to be collapsing around us, and we are urged to flee in panic, we can feel the ground giving way beneath us, with nothing to hold onto; but the psalmist looked past the crumbling foundations to God, still in his holy temple, still on his throne. God's reign is not overturned by the collapse of earthly things; when foundations give way, he is still enthroned. When your foundations seem to crumble, do not flee in panic; take refuge in the God who still reigns, as the psalmist did. Take refuge in the God who is still on his throne when foundations seem to crumble, rather than fleeing in panic, as the psalmist answered those who told him to flee by declaring, the LORD is in his holy temple, the LORD is on his throne in heaven; for however much the foundations below are shaken, God's throne above is not overturned by the collapse of earthly things, and when everything seems to give way, our refuge is not a place to flee to but the God who still reigns, enthroned above the ruin.