Psalm 11 – Preventing Trauma by focussing on Yahweh

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path. (Psalm 119:105)

Psalm 11 (NIV)

For the director of music. Of David.

1 In the LORD I take refuge.
 	How then can you say to me:
 	"Flee like a bird to your mountain.
2 For look, the wicked bend their bows;
 	they set their arrows against the strings
  to shoot from the shadows
 	at the upright in heart.
3 When the foundations are being destroyed,
 	what can the righteous do?"

4 The LORD is in his holy temple;
 	the LORD is on his heavenly throne.
  He observes the sons of men;
 	his eyes examine them.
5 The LORD examines the righteous,
 	but the wicked and those who love violence
 	his soul hates.
6 On the wicked he will rain
 	fiery coals and burning sulphur;
 	a scorching wind will be their lot.

7 For the LORD is righteous,
 	he loves justice;
 	upright men will see his face.

Notes

1. Although Psalm 11 is about Yahweh it is not addressed to Yahweh. Instead the psalmist addresses his advisers. He quotes their advice (1c-3) then explains why he has chosen an alternative course of action.

2. Most of the psalm (56%) is a review of God’s faithfulness.

3. It is usually classified as a lament psalm as it has a complaint. However, there is no demand or even request for help so this may be why it is omitted from some lists.[1] I keep it in my list as it expresses disquiet about something that is going wrong, that could potentially cause trauma, even though it is done in a considerate and faithful way.

4. The tone is calm and measured in spite of it being about a crisis in which the psalmist’s life is in danger from powerful foes (2).

5. The author is said to be David and it is readily linked[2] to 1 Samuel 18-19 when Saul’s jealousy led him to attempt to murder David. David did eventually flee but he was evidently reluctant to do so and when he did he went to Samuel in Ramah, his home town, (1 Samuel 19:18), rather than to ‘your mountain’ as he was advised. I suspect ‘your mountain’ refers to the familiar territory of the Judean hill country/wilderness where David was to successfully hide from Saul and his army as they pursued him (1 Samuel 23:13-24:22).

6. David appears to be alone as he deals with Saul’s antagonism, so who could be these advisers? Jonathan was his friend and had taken his side in persuading his father, King Saul, to give up his plans to have David killed (1 Samuel 19:1-7). However, he is not mentioned at the next outburst so perhaps he was out of town and not available to help when Saul’s rage resurfaced and Saul made his most serious attempt to have David killed (1 Samuel 19:9-17). David was living in his own home in Jerusalem at the time (11-13) but was spending time in the palace with Saul (9-10) so it was unlikely he would find helpful and independent advisers there. However, he was still a soldier, a commander of Saul’s forces (1 Samuel 18:5, 13-14, 19:8) so some soldiers were likely to be encamped nearby ready for action when called on. David was highly regarded by his men and the population as a whole (1 Samuel 18: 13-16) and presumably already had a core of trusted and experienced commanders who were to become his ‘mighty men’ (2 Samuel 23:8-39). They were to share in his exploits and were willing to lay down their lives for him (2 Samuel 23:15-17), though they did not share his respect for Saul as king (1 Samuel 26:5-12). I think it is therefore fair to presume that David’s advisers in Psalm 11 were some of these fellow soldier-commanders.        

7. Cohen[3] sees parallels with Psalm 5 where David also faced dangerous enemies. However, in Psalm 11 he is calm and relaxed while in Psalm 5 he is angry, frustrated and stressed. Six times in Psalm 5 he demands God’s attention and action as shown by the use of the imperative tense but the imperative is used only once in Psalm 11 – by his advisers who demand he flee.

8. There is a linear progression throughout the psalm so it reads logically in the above NIV English poetic layout. However, in the Hebrew poetic style there is a chiastic structure that adds to the impact of the psalm’s message. The core idea of each strophe is in bold as shown below.

Psalm 11

Preventing Trauma by focussing on Yahweh

9. In a psalm arranged in a chiastic structure there is often a single central strophe that draws the psalm together but here there are twin strophes X-X1. That might suggest the psalm has paired stanzas, each with their own theme that would be related to the overall theme of the psalm as in Psalm 21. However, Psalm 11 is different. There is a single theme about how focusing on Yahweh helps to prevent bad experiences cause trauma.

10. In strophe A, ‘In Yahweh I take refuge’ parallels ‘upright men will see his face’ in strophe A1 for the latter phrase is the reward for those who hide in Yahweh, both then and now. The ‘upright’ can stand upright in God’s presence as they have God’s acceptance and approval (see Psalm 1, note 27). There are parallels here with the ‘dwelling in the shadow of the Most High’ of Psalm 91. With such assurance, acquiescing to his advisers’ demand he ‘flee like a bird to your mountain,’ would be a denial of his faith.

11. He was undoubtedly aware of the danger his advisers warned him about, that he was at risk of a clandestine ambush from the ‘wicked’ in strophe B but he was equally aware that the wicked would face the wrath of Yahweh (strophe B1) so with that perspective he could be at peace.

12. It is a matter of interpretation but the punishment described in strophe B1 sounds more like the use of hyperbole rather than a reference to eternal condemnation.[4] It is a figure of speech using exaggeration to emphasise Yahweh’s power and right to take such action against those who rebel and reject his authority, compassion and the welcome that they have to join ‘the righteous.’ The psalmist describes two forms of intense suffering of sudden onset that could be fatal and would undoubtedly cause fear and distress. They were known to happen as natural events from time to time. These illustrate the contrast with what happens to the righteous. He refers to a catastrophe that sounds like a massive volcanic eruption – ‘ …rain fiery coals and burning sulphur,’ and an experience of the simoom or poison wind – ‘… a scorching wind will be their lot.’

13. The first description resonates with the description of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis 19:23-28 that is referenced 18 times in Scripture as an example of the catastrophic punishment of the wicked.  

14. The simoom is a strong, hot, dry, dust-laden desert wind in the Middle East that blows for less than an hour at a time. The temperature can exceed 54°C (129°F) so heat stroke is a risk for humans and animals and plant life quickly shrivels and dies.[5] A similar wind is referred to in Isaiah 11:15, Jeremiah 4:11-12 and Jonah 4:8.

15. His advisers despaired. ‘What can the righteous do?’ they asked, as they sensed that David’s enemies had forsaken the national standards of behaviour that were enshrined in the Mosaic law – ‘the foundations are being destroyed’ (strophe C). But by doing so, they too were guilty of forsaking, not so much the law, but the giver of the law.  As Habakkuk 2:4 says, ‘the righteous will live by his faith.’ Living by Yahweh’s standards is not about pedantic rule keeping.

16. David, in contrast (strophe C1), was confident in Yahweh who ‘examined’ the righteous so knew them thoroughly and could not be deceived. And equally, those who went against everything Yahweh stood for, taught and expected could not anticipate anything but total rejection. And that could include the people who were destroying the foundations in strophe C.

17. Yahweh’s attitude to the wicked is described as ‘hate.’ That translates the Hebrew sane that on other occasions is translated as dislike, unloved, abhor, shunned and detest. Mounce summaries its meaning as, “Usually translated ‘to hate,’ sane refers to varying levels of dislike toward someone or something.”[6] Bear in mind that the ancient Hebrew language consisted of only 8,000 words whereas English translators have 200,000 to choose from! That means that the sense of a word needs to be considered within its context. We know from other texts that Yahweh loves everyone, even the most appallingly wicked (see, for example, Hosea 11:1-11 and John 3:16-21.) ‘Those who love violence’ is linked with the ‘wicked’ so that suggests Yahweh’s ‘hatred’ refers to behaviour rather than the individual’s nature. Yahweh himself describes his attitude:

‘As surely as I live, declares Sovereign Yahweh, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! Why will you die, O house of Israel?’ (Ezekiel 33:11).

Bear in mind too, that this text expresses the psalmist’s opinion and that cannot be assumed to be a true reflection of Yahweh’s attitude, especially when it contradicts the overwhelming scriptural evidence of Yahweh’s love, compassion and desire to forgive and restore the sinful, lost and broken.   

18. Psalm 11 is all about living by faith – trusting that Yahweh knows best even in the darkest and most troublesome times. And Yahweh is the God who was and is and always will be, God Almighty, the Most High!

19. This is when faith has to come alive if faith ever means anything. ‘Faith,’ as used in Scripture, does NOT mean stubbornly going against the evidence, as is commonly understood.[7] The word ‘faith’ is derived from the Latin ‘fides’ meaning ‘trust’[8] so the classical meaning of faith, which is used in Scripture, is actually about taking action on the basis of what we believe or have learned. It is about assessing the evidence of experience, the testimony of other believers and the witness of Scripture – and acting on it. Then it all falls into place! What may appear to be a step into the dark is actually a step into the care of Yahweh. The securest place there ever could be!

20. And that leads to the crux of the Psalm, the central core message in strophes X-X1. Yahweh ‘is in his holy temple/on his heavenly throne.’ This is not about Jerusalem, the city; rather, Jerusalem is symbolic of heaven,[9] as it is also in Psalm 18:6, Micah 1:2 and probably other texts too. From there Yahweh observes all and is fully aware of everything that happens (strophe X1).

21. That is the ground of our faith. It is not the strength of our faith, our knowledge or wisdom. It is in Yahweh himself.

22. This explains why Psalm 11 is so different to Psalm 5. Both are written by a man in life-threatening danger – the same man it would appear – but on quite different occasions. In Psalm 5 he focusses on his own hurts and his bad treatment and as a result, he is traumatised – that describes not what he went through but his reaction to the crisis he experienced. However, in Psalm 11 when he experienced a different crisis – and it is likely that we know the actual situation he was in on this occasion – he remained calm and assured so was not traumatised.

23. These two psalms remind us that once we have survived one crisis we will not necessarily cope with another. Every situation is unique. The only security we have is Yahweh himself. He is our rock, our fortress. And equally he is our shepherd who nurtures us, tends our wounds and leads us on as we repent time after time, return to him and once again follow Yahweh’s lead.

24. This, however, does not mean that if we are traumatised we are at fault because we have insufficient faith. The exact reasons a specific experience leads to trauma are complicated and include not only the external stresses but also the internal resources we have available. We also need to see the Journey of Grief as a protective mechanism that God has created to enable us to survive, learn from and integrate our reaction to those experiences into the complicated tapestry of our life.

Endnotes

[1] Daniel J. Estes, Handbook on the Wisdom Books and Psalms, (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2005) p. 165.

[2] Rev. Dr. A Cohen, The Psalms: Hebrew Text, English Translation and Commentary, (Chesham: The Soncino Press, 1945) p. 27 and R. E. O. White, A Christian Handbook to the Psalms, (Exeter: The Paternoster Press, 1984) p. 38.

[3] A Cohen, The Psalms,  p. 27.

[4] Walter Brueggemann, The Message of the Psalms, (Augsburg, MI: Augsburg Old Testament Studies, 1984) p. 69.

[5] Anon, Simoom, <https://www.weatheronline.co.uk/reports/wind/The-Simoom.htm> [accessed 29Dec22]

[6] Mounce, William D., Mounce’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2006), p. 321.

[7] That meaning, however, has developed since the 14th century according to https://www.etymonline.com/word/faith [accessed 22Feb23] and is commonly used to decry Christian beliefs. For example, the first definition of ‘faith’ in British usage in Collins Dictionary is, ‘strong or unshakeable belief in something, esp without proof or evidence.’ Collins English Dictionary https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/faith [accessed 10Aug22]

[8] https://www.dictionary.com/browse/faith [accessed 29Dec22]

[9] Willem A. Vangemeren, ‘Psalms’ in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Vol 5 Revised Ed, ed. by Trumper Longman III & David E. Garland, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2008) p. 163.

Written: 16 December 2021

Published: 29 December 2022

Revised: 14 September 2023

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