Whatever you do after the election results, please don't quote Psalm 11:3 ("If the foundations be destroyed . . .")

Just a friendly reminder this presidential election: don’t take it too seriously (as if the future of Christianity in America hinged on politics, instead of humbly seeking God’s face), don’t pretend any of the candidates are righteous people or heaven-ordained saviors, and please, please, don’t quote Psalm 11:3, “If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?”

 

I’ve blogged about this before (here), but in an exercise in ignoring context, too many well-meaning Christians quote Psalm 11:3—"Boy, this country [or church, or society, or local coffee shop] sure is going downhill fast! You know, if the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?"

 

Yet the person speaking Psalm 11:3 is the same person speaking Psalm 11:2 and even the second half of Psalm 11:1, “Flee as a bird . . .” In other words, the person speaking Psalm 11:3 is not David, the author of the psalm, but the people David is rebuking!

 

You see, David’s message in Psalm 11 is not “O boy, what can the righteous do?” It is the total opposite of that: “In YHWH put I my trust . . . YHWH is in his holy temple, . . .” (vv. 1a, 4a).

 

Psalm 11 provides us with two contrasting perspectives. One perspective, that of David’s counsellors in vv. 1b–3, embraces uncertainty and fear (“What will we ever do? The sky is falling!!”). The other perspective, David’s perspective (v. 1a, vv. 4–7), expresses faith in the one true God. How can we ever worry about circumstances, including silly politics determined by silly men and women (none of whom are good role models, at least this year!), when God is on His throne?

 

So, regardless of what happens in a week, which perspective is yours?