Psalm 11: Fight or Flight
“If the foundations are destroyed what can the righteous do?” (v. 3).
David’s world is tearing at the seams. The fabric of polite society, the ethos that upholds a peaceful and civil society has eroded. People are cruel and bombastic, without regard for human decency. Everywhere he looks there is more violence. Snipers load their weapons and shoot indiscriminately into crowds of the innocent (v. 2). David’s world sounds like hell. What’s worse, David’s world sounds a lot like our own world a lot of the time. And the temptation for David is no different than so many of us undoubtedly feel: with all the darkness in the world should we just run and hide (v. 1)
Its unclear to me whether our own world is more saturated with fear, violence, and evil than ages prior but what I do know is that those of us in the western world who have smart phones in our pockets or computers in our house are more inundated with these images than ever before. So how are we to respond when our eyes are constantly confronted with suffering and wickedness? Surely we would rather just ignore it altogether. Often we try to numb ourselves to the pain of our world by inundating ourselves with entertainment or mindless scrolling. This is a form of flight. But look again at what David says in v. 1:
1 In the LORD I take refuge; how can you say to me, “Flee like a bird to the mountains;
David is asking, “How can I run and hide when the Lord is my refuge?” David is saying that his only recourse in this world of wickedness is to take refuge in the Lord. He goes on to describe the certainty that the Lord will make it right, he will enact justice. He chooses to stand and fight but not with his hands, but to entrust himself to God. He implores God to act with urgency. He prays. Prayer is the battleground, the theater of the battle between good and evil and the Lord is inviting us into the fight.