seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Psalm 11:1 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?”
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 everyone on earth;
his eyes examine them.
5 The Lord examines the righteous,
but the wicked, those who love violence,
he hates with a passion.
6 On the wicked he will rain
fiery coals and burning sulfur;
a scorching wind will be their lot.
the Lord is on his heavenly throne.
He observes everyone on earth;
his eyes examine them.
5 The Lord examines the righteous,
but the wicked, those who love violence,
he hates with a passion.
6 On the wicked he will rain
fiery coals and burning sulfur;
a scorching wind will be their lot.
7 For the Lord is righteous,
he loves justice;
the upright will see his face.
he loves justice;
the upright will see his face.
This is from the easy English site.
After David killed Goliath he lived with King Saul. The story of David starts below. When Saul was sad, David made music for Saul. This made Saul happy again. Later, Saul thought that David wanted to become king. This was not true. But Saul wanted David dead. The friends of David said, "run away". (Or, "fly away like a bird".) David said, "No!" Later David did go, because God told him to.
Verses 1 – 3: David asks his friends why they tell him to run away. His friends say, "The godless want to kill the righteous". Here, this means David. Sometimes we feel like this. We want to run away. We say, "Everything is going wrong". We must be like David. We must stay where God put us! Verse 3 means this. If you take away the foundations of a house it will fall down. The same is true of our lives and our countries. If we do not build them on something good they will not continue for long.
Verses 4 – 6: This tells us what David believes. He says:
· the LORD is in his temple. David means that God is in heaven. From heaven God can see everybody on the earth.
· the LORD can see the bad people and the good people. David calls the good people righteous. This is a difficult word. Only God is really righteous. But he calls his servants righteous. When they do wrong things they must ask God to forgive them. Look after Psalms 1 and 5 to find out what "forgive" means.
· the LORD will not forgive some people because they do not ask him to forgive them. Their inheritance is what happens to them. David also calls it their cup. God will punish them. (Punish means hurt them because they did wrong things.) David gives 3 pictures of this: coal that burns, sulphur that smells bad and winds that stop people from breathing.
Verse 7: The psalm ends with a wonderful promise. Righteous people will one day see the face of God!
I'm not crazy over poetry.... but I thought Deuteronomy was boring and I made it through. David was the one who Samuel anointed with oil to replace Saul.... because Saul was a pretty boy from a great family.... from old money [one might say] but he would not listen. Saul thought he was running a kingdom.... but he wasn't. Israel was a Theocracy. As a matter of fact.... I'm a little disappointed that the list of countries known as theocracies today include North Korea and not Israel. According to the site thoughtco.com [and others]the leader of North Korea is a little god so North Korea is a theocracy.
Iran and Saudi Arabia are often cited as modern examples of theocratic governments. In practice, North Korea also resembles a theocracy because of the supernatural powers that were attributed to former leader Kim Jong-il and the comparable deference he received from other government officials and the military. Hundreds of thousands of indoctrination centers operate on devotion to Jong-il's will and legacy, and to that of his son and the present leader of North Korea, Kim Jong-un.
Theocratic movements exist in virtually every country on earth, but true contemporary theocracies are primarily found in the Muslim world, particularly in Islamic states governed by Sharia.
The Holy See in Vatican City is also technically a theocratic government. A sovereign state and home to nearly 1,000 citizens, the Holy See is governed by the Catholic Church and represented by the pope and its bishop. All government positions and offices are filled by clergy.
David says.... don't go hide in a cave because the whole world has gone crazy.... just trust God.
