There will always come some point when things look bad. These psalms point to what we should do when things are going badly. The psalmist says it's so bad that it looks like the foundations themselves are being destroy (Ps. 11:3). If the foundations are destroy, the house falls down. That is serious.
Yet the psalmist does not dwell on that. He acknowledges that it is a reality but he doesn't stop there. He goes on and says (Ps. 11:4):
- "The Lord is in His holy temple...." A temple implies peace and calm. A temple also refers to heaven where THE temple stands, THE temple that was the model for the earthly temple. Look at Heb 9:24. But it can also refer to here on earth; His church is called His temple. I Cor.3:16; II Cor. 6:19. So the psalmist says that he is not going to be overly concerned with trouble because first God is in His temple and second by implication, God, the covenant Lord, is in the midst of His people, His church.
- "...the Lord's throne is in heaven..." He is ruling. He is not merely in heaven residing; rather He also actively rules. Heaven is not awash in hustle and panic. It is stable and ordered. He is a God of peace, not chaos. "The Lord is in His holy temple; let all the earth keep silent!" Hab 2:20. See also Rev 8:1--in the midst of judgment coming upon earth in the Last Days, heaven pauses and there is complete silence for the space of a half hour. If God is in control, and if we are truly His, then we do not have to worry or upset. He will take care of it. It did not slip His attention.
- "...His eyes behold, He tests the children of men." The psalmist takes comfort from the fact that God sees and knows and intimately understands. The inference is that this is knowledge that will cause God to act. See verse 6: He will rain snares, fire and brimstone upon the wicked. But verse 7, He looks with favor upon the righteous. His looking is a sign of His approval and His moving to action in behalf of. No wonder the psalmist is comforted.
Psalm 12 starts out in the first two verses with an equally dire situation: "the godly cease; the faithful fail."
But what encourages the psalmist?
- Look at verse 6: "The words of the Lord." Compare psalm 19 where the psalmist extols the beauty and wonders of God's Word.
- Also look at verse 7: He is taking comfort in the loving, sovereign protection and Providence. Compare I Jn. 3:1. How GREAT is the love that God the Father has lavished on us!
So when troubles come we should always take comfort in God, His love for us, His Providence, His Word and in His Omniscient, Omnipotent, Sovereign ruling in every area of His creation. He has not forgotten us. He is moving all things for His glory and our good!
