Praise at Dawn · Day 3
Psalms 11–15 — Who May Dwell on Your Holy Hill?
About 7 min read · 33 v.
Walking uprightly when the foundations shake.
Psalm 11
For the Chief Musician. By David.
1In the LORD, I take refuge. How can you say to my soul, “Flee as a bird to your mountain”?
2For, behold, the wicked bend their bows. They set their arrows on the strings, that they may shoot in darkness at the upright in heart.
3If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?
4The LORD is in his holy temple. The LORD is on his throne in heaven. His eyes observe. His eyes examine the children of men.
5The LORD examines the righteous, but his soul hates the wicked and him who loves violence.
6On the wicked he will rain blazing coals; fire, sulfur, and scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup.
7For the LORD is righteous. He loves righteousness. The upright shall see his face.
Psalm 12
For the Chief Musician; upon an eight-stringed lyre. A Psalm of David.
1Help, LORD; for the godly man ceases. For the faithful fail from among the children of men.
2Everyone lies to his neighbor. They speak with flattering lips, and with a double heart.
3May the LORD cut off all flattering lips, and the tongue that boasts,
4who have said, “With our tongue we will prevail. Our lips are our own. Who is lord over us?”
5“Because of the oppression of the weak and because of the groaning of the needy, I will now arise,” says the LORD; “I will set him in safety from those who malign him.”
6The LORD’s words are flawless words, as silver refined in a clay furnace, purified seven times.
7You will keep them, LORD. You will preserve them from this generation forever.
8The wicked walk on every side, when what is vile is exalted among the sons of men.
Psalm 13
For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by David.
1How long, LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?
2How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart every day? How long shall my enemy triumph over me?
3Behold, and answer me, LORD, my God. Give light to my eyes, lest I sleep in death;
4lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed against him;” lest my adversaries rejoice when I fall.
5But I trust in your loving kindness. My heart rejoices in your salvation.
6I will sing to the LORD, because he has been good to me.
Psalm 14
For the Chief Musician. By David.
1The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt. They have done abominable deeds. There is no one who does good.
2The LORD looked down from heaven on the children of men, to see if there were any who understood, who sought after God.
3They have all gone aside. They have together become corrupt. There is no one who does good, no, not one.
4Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge, who eat up my people as they eat bread, and don’t call on the LORD?
5There they were in great fear, for God is in the generation of the righteous.
6You frustrate the plan of the poor, because the LORD is his refuge.
7Oh that the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion! When the LORD restores the fortunes of his people, then Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad.
Psalm 15
A Psalm by David.
1LORD, who shall dwell in your sanctuary? Who shall live on your holy hill?
2He who walks blamelessly and does what is right, and speaks truth in his heart;
3he who doesn’t slander with his tongue, nor does evil to his friend, nor casts slurs against his fellow man;
4in whose eyes a vile man is despised, but who honors those who fear the LORD; he who keeps an oath even when it hurts, and doesn’t change;
5he who doesn’t lend out his money for usury, nor take a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things shall never be shaken.
Scripture: World English Bible, Protestant Edition (WEBP) — eBible.org. Public domain. Rights
Reflection
An original reflection from Fall 7 Rise 8 Ministry
"If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?" Psalm 11 answers by pointing up: the LORD is in His holy temple. Psalm 12 contrasts flattering lips with words of the LORD that are pure like refined silver. Psalm 13 asks "How long?" four times and still finishes with singing.
Psalm 15 then describes a person who may dwell with God: someone who speaks truth in the heart, keeps promises when it costs, and refuses to slander a neighbor. This is not a checklist for earning God's love. It is a portrait of a heart that has been welcomed home and wants to live like it.
Practice
Choose one promise you made this week that is inconvenient to keep, and keep it today.
Prayer
Lord, when my foundations shake, steady me with Your presence. Make my words true and my promises faithful, so that I can walk with You on the straight path. Amen.
Study notes
Every Man’s Bible — supplied study notes — From the Every Man’s Bible study notes, as supplied to the ministry. Shown separately from the ministry’s original reflection.
11:1-3
Security from temptation can be found in God; running elsewhere for help will never do any good. If we turn to some other resource for help, the people and problems that threaten to destroy us will lead us astray when we are most vulnerable. They will take advantage of us when the resource we depend on is unavailable. God is always with us. If we put our trust in him, we will have the means to overcome temptation.
12:5-8
God has promised to protect us from those who try to destroy us. People make a grave mistake if they don’t understand that God is not like us—his promises are pure. He never deceives, nor does he ever fail to keep his promises. God has offered to surround us with help if we ask for it.
13:1-6
There are times in our spiritual journey that seem dry. We may be convinced that God has forgotten us. We may feel completely overwhelmed by our problems and baffled that God has done nothing to help. David began this psalm with feelings like these. But in the end, David remained confident that the Lord would respond to his cry for help, for David knew that the Lord is faithful. We, too, can depend on the Lord’s unfailing love toward us, even though we may grow weary and discouraged.
14:1-3
Refusal to believe in God ensures ultimate failure. Unless we can accept the fact that there is a God who is concerned about us, there is no hope for us. The psalmist gave us a good term to describe the people who refuse to believe in God—fools. The world is filled with such fools, but we don’t have to be like them. We can surrender to God, receive his forgiveness, and follow his ways.
15:1-3
As God’s people, we have been called to a particular way of life. We are called to a life of honesty and integrity in which we refuse to lie about ourselves or others. We are also called to build up God’s people and to keep from hurting other people. By practicing these things, our lives will reflect the character of the God we serve.
15:1-5
David reflected on how God’s way of doing things leads to a life of stability and peace. If we want to progress spiritually, we must not give in to sin. No matter how painful it might be, we must confess the sin in our own lives or, in some cases, confront others with their sins. Many times our failures have caused a great deal of pain and loss to the people close to us. We need to be sensitive to the wrongs we have committed as we honestly reflect on our lives and reconcile ourselves once again to those we have hurt.
Additional reading from the supplied source
Optional articles printed alongside these psalms. They are not verse commentary.
It’s Okay to Scream— By Stephen Broyles
I grew up in a world full of psalms. When I was a boy, a small ceramic banner hanging on the living-room wall proclaimed, ‘Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart’ (Psalm 37:4, KJV). At Appleby Elementary School, every assembly program ended with the recitation of the last verse of the nineteenth psalm: ‘Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer’ (19:14, KJV). A counted cross-stitch that came some years ago as a Christmas present also bears a message from the Psalms: ‘Shew me thy ways, O LORD; teach me thy paths’ (25:4, KJV).
We borrow words of consolation and encouragement from the Psalms, and that is good. But something has been overlooked. An element runs through the Psalms that we would not dream of nailing up on the living-room wall. I have never seen a decorative ceramic banner that reads, ‘You have thrown me into the lowest pit, into the darkest depths’ (88:6, NLT). I have never seen a pewter serving dish bearing the inscription, ‘Because of my groaning, I am reduced to skin and bones’ (102:5, NLT). I have never seen a Sunday-school button with this wish for the wicked: ‘May they be like snails that dissolve into slime’ (58:8, NLT). Nor do I ever expect to see them, even though these words, and many more like them, come straight from the Psalms.
The fierce psalms are in fact easier to find than the gentle ones, because there are so many more of them. They make up a major element for which fierce is exactly the right word. From these psalms, we have the perfect right to borrow language expressive of our own pain, when pain threatens to overcome us.
It is frequently the case that the gentle verses that adorn plaques and collector’s plates are the expressions of hope or trust, or the avowal of moral tractability, which are also a regular feature of the laments. The verse on your cross-stitch may indeed be from a lament—that is, from a psalm of rage and terror screamed into the wind.
To turn in your misery to the God who is the source of all things, even ultimately of your misery, and not only to turn to him but also to praise him with all your might until your might has drained away. That is what the psalms call us to do. That is not the complete biblical solution, but it is the beginning point of any solution. The psalms do not alone supply all we need to strive on against the icy wind. But they do fill us with strength and power for the moment of turning.
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