Psalm 11—Explicable Courage (Part 3): The King Of Righteousness

by on November 23, 2024 | Comment

As this series has explored, Psalm 11 is a prayer of trust in how God will come through for his people when dangers seem threatening. What could be a real threat to us if we lived in a poor shelter becomes no cause for worry when we take refuge in God. The previous article brought that point out of the passage and worked through how it ought to shape our prayer lives today.

The Psalms certainly have that experiential aspect in that they should instruct us about how to respond, namely in our prayers, to the full spectrum of experience and emotions that we encounter in the Christian life. The Psalter, as a unified book, also has the king as its central figure. So, although we rightly look at how each psalm might affect us at the personal level, we ought also to keep each one in its canonical perspective of relating to the king described in Psalm 2. Thus, we should ask: How does Psalm 11 point us to Christ?

This installment rounds out this series on Psalm 11 by looking at its Christological payoff. First, we consider how Christ, as the king speaking throughout much if not all the Psalter, prays this psalm. Then, we will look at how we can still pray this psalm, especially in light of how we belong to Christ by faith alone.

How Christ, the King, Prays Psalm 11

The second half of Psalm 11 explains why David found the advice in verses 1c–3 so foolish. He could not fathom how someone would advise him to run away in fear when he had taken refuge in God (11:1a–b). The reasons that David could not fathom such advice in light of taking shelter in God are because:

The Lord is in his holy temple;

the Lord’s throne is in heaven;

his eyes see, his eyelids test the children of man.

The Lord tests the righteous,

but his soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence.

Let him rain coals on the wicked;

fire and sulfur and a scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup.

For the Lord is righteous;

he loves righteous deeds;

the upright shall behold his face.

Two things ground David’s confidence: (1) the Lord’s location in the heavenly temple, and (2) the Lord’s work of testing the righteous and condemning the wicked.

Since David wrote this psalm speaking in the voice of the king, and since Psalm 2 reshapes the king’s voice (and role) into an eschatological register, we can see how Christ so easily prays this prayer directly as the royal Messiah. The emphasis on the dichotomy between the righteous and the wicked needs no qualification or nuance when Christ, the perfect Son of God, is the speaker. He stands unabashedly as the truly righteous one, described especially in Psalm 1 but even so in Psalm 2.

As God the Son executed his incarnate mission, he remained unequivocally confident that the Father would vindicate him in his righteousness. In his earthly ministry, he rendered perfect obedience, fulfilling the law on our behalf. As the Lord tested the righteous, Christ would have stood that test in full. God ought to side with him because everyone else was a sinner, but Christ was the truly righteous one.

Even from the perspective of the cross, Christ would speak this prayer knowing that God would ultimately side with him. Christ remained confident before the Father because he had the joy from Psalm 16:9–10: “Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure. For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption.”1 Christ was not abandoned to corruption because the Father proved his righteousness and sided with him by raising him from death through the power of the Spirit. As Paul summarized, “He was manifested in the flesh, justified [ἐδικαιώθη] by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory” (1 Tim 3:16, emphasis added). At least at the last judgment, the other aspect of this kingly confidence will be made universally manifest as the wicked are fully condemned.

How Christ’s People Pray Psalm 11

Even as this psalm points us to Christ and fits directly as a prayer that he could easily offer, it still remains a Scripture that helps us pray too. The aspect of this psalm that might give us pause in finding this full confidence that puts away our fear is that emphasis on how the Lord sides with the righteous. That dynamic makes perfect sense in application to Christ. It feels much less congruous as part of our own prayers.

If you have good perspective on your own life and at least how things are in your heart, you are probably thinking, “But I’m a little bit worried rather than comforted by the reasons why my fear should be cast out. David says the Lord is for the righteous, and that he loves righteous deeds. I know my sin and hesitate to think that I am righteous enough and have done enough righteous deeds for the Lord to side with me.” Those concerns are valid considerations.

Now, if you are not thinking that way, you should be more worried than those who are. There are a series of rocks lining the garden in my yard. Those rocks look smooth and clean and almost polished. Yet, if you lift anyone of them up, you find not only dirt, but worms and other crawly critters. What looks good on top is a mess underneath. A realistic check of every human heart unearths the same sort of mess under the surface. We probably ought to have some sort of question about how this text can give us personal comfort in how the Lord will side with us.

The answer is the gospel. Christ is, as we have considered, the truly righteous one. He has done every good deed that we should have done. He lived that perfect life of righteousness for us. He rendered that perfect obedience in our place. Then he died to forgive our sin. Paul summed this gospel point up in 2 Corinthians 5:21: “For our sake he made [Christ] to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” Jesus was counted with sinners so that his death on the cross could cover and remove all our transgressions. He dealt with all our unrighteousness. His perfect life, however, was lived so that there would be a record of perfect righteousness that he could give to us.

When we trust in Jesus, God sees us as being perfectly righteous in his sight. He continues to forgive our sin. But he gives us this status, this label, of “righteous.” So, as those in Christ, God looks upon us and approves. He sees those who are righteous and sees us as such because we have taken refuge in Jesus by faith. He tests the righteous, but because we are counted righteous because of Christ’s life, that test is already passed. So, he showers his loving protection upon us. As Psalm 2:12 says, “Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him” (emphasis added). In Christ, we have righteousness, and God has become our refuge strong enough to weather any storm and to cast out all fear.

Notes

  1. I do not think that Christ’s prayer in Gethsemane undermines that he remained confident that the Father would prove him righteous in the end. That prayer shows how Christ did not enjoy enduring the penalty of divine justice for sin, which is different from lacking confidence that the Father would be faithful to justify the truly righteous Messiah by raising him from the grave.

© Harrison Perkins. All Rights Reserved.

You can find this whole series here.

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