Salmi 11:1 Commento

In this psalm we have David's struggle with and triumph over a strong temptation to distrust God and betake himself to indirect means for his own safety in a time of danger. It is supposed to have been penned when he began to feel the resentments of Saul's envy, and had had the javelin thrown at him once and again. He was then advised to run his country. "No," says he, "I trust in God, and therefore will keep my ground." Observe, I. How he represents the temptation, and perhaps parleys with it, (Psa 11:1-3). II. How he answers it, and puts it to silence with the consideration of God's dominion and providence (Psa 11:4), his favour to the righteous, and the wrath which the wicked are reserved for (Psa 11:5-7). In times of public fear, when the insults of the church's enemies are daring and threatening, it will be profitable to meditate on this psalm. To the chief musician. A psalm of David.

Here is, I. David's fixed resolution to make God his confidence: In the Lord put I my trust, Psa 11:1. Those that truly fear God and serve him are welcome to put their trust in him, and shall not be made ashamed of their doing so. And it is the character of the saints, who have taken God for their God, that they make him their hope. Even when they have other things to stay themselves upon, yet they do not, they dare not, stay upon them, but on God only. Gold is not their hope, nor are horses and chariots their confidence, but God only; and therefore, when second causes frown, yet their hopes do not fail them, because the first cause is still the same, is ever so. The psalmist, before he gives an account of the temptation he was in to distrust God, records his resolution to trust in him, as that which he was resolved to live and die by. II. His resentment of a temptation to the contrary: "How say you to my soul, which has thus returned to God as its rest and reposes in him, Flee as a bird to your mountain, to be safe there out of the reach of the fowler?" This may be taken either, 1. As the serious advice of his timorous friends; so many understand it, and with great probability. Some that were hearty well-wishers to David, when they saw how much Saul was exasperated against him and how maliciously he sought his life, pressed him by all means to flee for the same to some place of shelter, and not to depend too much upon the anointing he had received, which, they thought, was more likely to occasion the loss of his head than to save it. That which grieved him in this motion was not that to flee now would savour of cowardice, and ill become a soldier, but that it would savour of unbelief and would ill become a saint who had so often said, In the Lord put I my trust. Taking it thus, the two following verses contain the reason with which these faint-hearted friends of David backed this advice. They would have him flee, (1.) Because he could not be safe where he was, Psa 11:2. "Observe," say they, "how the wicked bend their bow; Saul and his instruments aim at thy life, and the uprightness of thy heart will not be thy security." See what an enmity there is in the wicked against the upright, in the seed of the serpent against the seed of the woman; what pains they take, what preparations they make, to do them a mischief: They privily shoot at them, or, in darkness, that they may not see the evil designed, to avoid it, nor others, to prevent it, no, nor God himself, to punish it. (2.) Because he could be no longer useful where he was. "For," say they, "if the foundations be destroyed" (as they were by Saul's mal-administration), "if the civil state and government be unhinged and all out of course" (Psa 75:3, Psa 82:5), "what canst thou do with thy righteousness to redress the grievances? Alas! it is to no purpose to attempt the saving of a kingdom so wretchedly shattered; whatever the righteous can do signifies nothing." Abi in cellam, et dic, Miserere mei, Domine - Away to thy cell, and there cry, Pity me, O Lord! Many are hindered from doing the service they might do to the public, in difficult times, by a despair of success. 2. It may be taken as a taunt wherewith his enemies bantered him, upbraiding him with the professions he used to make of confidence in God, and scornfully bidding him try what stead that would stand him in now. "You say, God is your mountain; flee to him now, and see what the better you will be." Thus they endeavoured to shame the counsel of the poor, saying, There is no help for them in God, Psa 14:6; Psa 3:2. The confidence and comfort which the saints have in God, when all the hopes and joys in the creature fail them, are a riddle to a carnal world and are ridiculed accordingly. Taking it thus, the two following verses are David's answer to this sarcasm, in which, (1.) He complains of the malice of those who did thus abuse him (Psa 11:2): They bend their bow and make ready their arrows; and we are told (Psa 64:3) what their arrows are, even bitter words, such words as these, by which they endeavour to discourage hope in God, which David felt as a sword in his bones. (2.) He resists the temptation with a gracious abhorrence, Psa 11:3. He looks upon this suggestion as striking at the foundations which every Israelite builds upon: "If you destroy the foundations, if you take good people off from their hope in God, if you can persuade them that their religion is a cheat and a jest and can banter them out of that, you ruin them, and break their hearts indeed, and make them of all men the most miserable." The principles of religion are the foundations on which the faith and hope of the righteous are built. These we are concerned, in interest as well as duty, to hold fast against all temptations to infidelity; for, if these be destroyed, if we let these go, What can the righteous do? Good people would be undone if they had not a God to go to, a God to trust to, and a future bliss to hope for.

INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 11 To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. This psalm has no name; it is neither called a psalm, nor hymn, nor song, nor prayer, only said to be David's; and is inscribed and directed as others to the chief musician, or master of the song, to be used in public service; and seems to be written much upon the same subject with the two preceding psalms. According to Theodoret it was written when David was persecuted by Saul, and was advised by some to flee for his safety.

In the Lord put I my trust,.... Not in himself, in his own heart, nor in his own righteousness and strength; nor in men, the greatest of men, the princes of the earth; nor in his armies, or any outward force; but in the Lord, as the God of providence and of grace; and in the Messiah, in his person and righteousness; so the Chaldee paraphrase renders it, "in the Word of the Lord do I hope": and the phrase denotes a continued exercise of faith in the Lord; that he was always looking to him, staying himself on him, and committing himself and all his concerns to him; for he does not say, I "have", or I "will", but I "do", put my trust in the Lord; at all times, even in the worst of times, and in the present one; wherefore he is displeased with his friends for endeavouring to intimidate him, persuading him to flee and provide for his safety, when he had betaken himself to the Lord, and was safe enough; how say ye to my soul, flee as a bird to your mountain? they compare him to a little, fearful, trembling bird, wandering from its nest, moving through fear from place to place, whereas his heart was fixed, trusting in the Lord; and this gave him a disgust: they advise him to flee either "from" his mountain, so Kimchi and Ben Melech interpret it; that is, either from Judea, which was a mountainous country, especially some parts of it; or from Mount Zion, or rather from the mountain in the wilderness of Ziph, or the hill of Hachilah, where David sometimes was, Sa1 23:14; or it may be rendered "to your mountain", as we, so the Targum; that is, to the said place or places where he had sometimes hid himself; and this they said to his "soul", which was very cutting and grieving to him; the word rendered "flee" in the "Cetib", or writing of the text, is in the plural, "flee ye"; but is pointed for, and in the "Keri", or marginal reading, is "flee thou"; the latter agrees with this being said to David's soul, the former with the phrase "your mountain", and both are to be taken into the sense of the words; not as if the one respected David's soul only, and the other both soul and body, as Kimchi and Ben Melech observe; but the one regards David's person, and the other his companions, or the people with him; and contains an advice, both to him and them, to flee for their safety; the reasons follow.

The soul has wings by which it can raise itself free from the earth. But this movement of the wings is not of something constructed of feathers but a continuing series of good works, like those of the Lord of whom it is well said, “And in the shadow of your wings I shall take refuge.” In the first place, the hands of our Lord fixed on the cross were extended like something in flight, and, second, the actions of God are like a refreshing shadow of eternal salvation that can regulate the conflagration raging in our world.

Those who trust in the things of this life are in no better situation than the sparrow, which relies on the wilderness and is prey to all. People who put their hope in money are like that. Just as the sparrow is snared by children with bird lime and trap and countless other devices, so too the wealthy by friend and foe. They are much more vulnerable than a sparrow, with many to set traps for them and, more immediately, evil tendencies of their own. They are migrants, constantly reacting to developments, fearful of the long arm of the law and the emperor’s wrath, the wiles of flatterers and the deceit of friends. In time of war their fear is greater than anyone’s, in time of peace they suspect treachery, their wealth never being secure of proof against loss. Hence they are always taking to flight and migrating, searching out wilderness and eyries, preferring the dark and looking for the black of night in noontime, adopting disguises to achieve it. Good people, on the contrary, are quite different. “The ways of their righteous shine like the sun,” remember. I mean, far from opting for scheming and lawlessness, their souls are at rest.… How then is this darkness to be dissipated? By separating yourself from all these things and coming to depend on hope in God, sinner though you be ten times over.… This is remarkable, in fact, that even sinners who cling to this anchor are invincible. It is, you see, a particular mark of an option for God that though weighed down by such awful evils they are still buoyed up by his lovingkindness. In other words, as the one trusting in man is doubly cursed, so the one trusting in God is blessed. So tear yourself away from all these things, and cling to this anchor.… Let us come before him, and remain ever with our eyes on him.

Great is the power of hope in the Lord, invincible citadel, unassailable rampart, insuperable reinforcement, tranquil haven, impregnable tower, irresistible weapon, unconquerable power capable of discovering a refuge where none seems possible.

I have the Lord of the universe as my ally. The one who without difficulty created everything everywhere is my leader and support, and you would send me to the wilderness and provide for my safety in the desert? After all, surely the help from the desert does not surpass the one capable of anything with complete ease?

This title does not require a fresh consideration: for the meaning of, "to the end," has already been sufficiently handled. Let us then look to the text itself of the Psalm, which to me appears to be sung against the heretics, who, by rehearsing and exaggerating the sins of many in the Church, as if either all or the majority among themselves were righteous, strive to turn and snatch us away from the breasts of the one True Mother Church: affirming that Christ is with them, and warning us as if with piety and earnestness, that by passing over to them we may go over to Christ, whom they falsely declare they have. Now it is known that in prophecy Christ, among the many names in which notice of Him is conveyed in allegory, is also called a mountain. We must accordingly answer these people, and say, "I trust in the Lord: how say ye to my soul, Remove into the mountains as a sparrow?" [Psalm 11:1]. I keep to one mountain wherein I trust, how say ye that I should pass over to you, as if there were many Christs? Or if through pride you say that you are mountains, I had indeed need to be a sparrow winged with the powers and commandments of God: but these very things hinder my flying to these mountains, and placing my trust in proud men. I have a house where I may rest, in that I trust in the Lord. For even "the sparrow has found her a house," and, "The Lord has become a refuge to the poor." Let us say then with all confidence, lest while we seek Christ among heretics we lose Him, "In the Lord I trust: how say ye to my soul, Remove into the mountains as a sparrow?"

Even if movement is necessary, he is saying, nevertheless let it be known that I do not hope to secure safety from those with whom I am constantly in opposition except by hoping in God, who can provide me with safety in every place.

In this passage, the psalmist speaks about those who are drawn off to earth’s highest places by the most trivial desire. Those who turn to the most worthless proclamations because of the fickleness of their unsettled mind are rightly considered similar to them.

In the preceding Psalms, thanksgiving was given for deliverance from enemies; here he shows the confidence conceived from this. And he speaks in the person of a man desiring the benefits of God, who attains security. The title: "unto the end, a Psalm of David." Jerome has: "to the victor." This has been explained above. This Psalm can be expounded literally of David, but mystically of Christ, that is, allegorically. Morally, however, it concerns the just man and heretics, as the Gloss explains. First, then, David proposes his confidence: "in the Lord I trust" -- as one freed through the just judgment of God who casts down sinners and exalts the poor. Jer. 17: "Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, and the Lord shall be his confidence." Dan. 3: "There is no confusion for those who trust in you." Second, he sets forth the attack upon his confidence, which was made by words: "how do you say," etc. For certain people advised David as he was fleeing to go to fortified places and mountains, or to hide there as a sparrow does. "How?" "Behold, sinners," etc. And this is expounded in two ways. First, that these are not the words of David, but of others -- as if to say: therefore flee, because "they have bent the bow." Or they are the words of David, as if to say: "in the Lord I trust," because "they have bent the bow, sinners have prepared their arrows," etc. And he does three things. First he sets forth their wicked scheming. Second, their perverse intention: "to shoot." Third, their unjust action: "because what you have established." Mystically, of Christ, it is thus: I, Christ, trust in the Lord. How then do you Pharisees say, "flee to the mountain," that is, to the observances of the law given on Mount Sinai? Deut. 33: "The Lord came from Sinai, and rose up from Seir for us." And unless you do this, behold, sinners have bent the bow, etc. -- that is, they have prepared themselves to kill you and your disciples; and this, "because what you established they have destroyed," that is, they have killed. Or morally, the believer says to heretics, according to the Gloss: "in the Lord I trust," holding His faith. How then do you heretics say, "flee to us, to the mountain," that is, to Christ, whom the heretics believed they possessed? Is. 2: "The mountain of the house of the Lord shall be prepared on the top of the mountains." 2 Sam. 1: "O mountains of Gilboa, let neither dew nor rain come upon you, nor fields of first fruits, because there the shield of the mighty was cast away" -- that is, of the Jews, or of the great heretics. Jer. 51: "Behold, I am against you, O destroying mountain, that corrupts the whole earth." Or the mountain signifies the loftiness of understanding which they pretend to have. But if I were to do this, I would be a light sparrow, not one with a permanent dwelling. "Because behold, sinners," that is, heretics, "have bent the bow," that is, they have drawn sacred Scripture to themselves, as those who bend a bow. "They have prepared their arrows" -- poisoned words -- "in the quiver," that is, in their memory or knowledge. Jer. 5: "His quiver is like an open tomb." Jerome has: "their arrows upon the string," that is, the bowstring -- their perverse intention being "to shoot the upright of heart," that is, the just, "in darkness," that is, deceitfully. Jer. 9: "Their tongue is a wounding arrow." Or "in darkness," that is, in the subtleties of sacred Scripture. Another reading has "in the dark moon." The moon is the Church: Song 6: "Beautiful as the moon," on account of her brightness and on account of her darkening. The brightness of the moon is from the sun; so the brightness of the Church is from Christ. Jn. 1: "He was the true light that enlightens," etc. Likewise, half the globe of the moon is bright and half is dark; so in the Church some are bright and some are dark. Now the moon is darkened, according to the Gloss, sometimes by its revolution, and thus it becomes dark; sometimes by eclipse, and then it is turned to blood; sometimes by the interposition of a cloud, and then it becomes black. So the Church becomes dark in its newness, when there are no preachers and teachers in her; blood-red through the persecution of tyrants; black through clouds, that is, through the seduction of heretics -- and then they seek to shoot. Here the unjust action is set forth: "because what you established they have destroyed." Another reading: "because whom you established." But the first is better, and according to Jerome: "because the laws which you established they have destroyed." Is. 48: "I know that you are a thorough transgressor, and I called you a transgressor from the womb." Jer. 2: "Of old you broke your yoke, you burst your bonds; you said, 'I will not serve.'" As if to say: they will destroy your law, which you commanded to be observed. Ex. 23: "The innocent and the just you shall not condemn." But these wish to kill him. Ps. 118: "The wicked have destroyed your law." And God perfected it, because He gave it. Ps. 147: "He has not done in like manner to every nation." Mt. 5: "I have not come to destroy the law, but to fulfill it." If the reading is "whom you established they have destroyed," then it is understood of Christ, "whom you established."

On title, see Introduction. Alluding to some event in his history, as in Sa1 23:13, the Psalmist avows his confidence in God, when admonished to flee from his raging persecutors, whose destruction of the usual foundations of safety rendered all his efforts useless. The grounds of his confidence are God's supreme dominion, His watchful care of His people, His hatred to the wicked and judgments on them, and His love for righteousness and the righteous. (Psa 11:1-7) my soul--me (Psa 3:2). Flee--literally, "flee ye"; that is, he and his companion. as a bird to your mountain--having as such no safety but in flight (compare Sa1 26:20; Lam 3:52).

David rejects the advice of his friends to save his life by flight. Hidden in Jahve (Psa 16:1; Psa 36:8) he needs no other refuge. However well-meant and well-grounded the advice, he considers it too full of fear and is himself too confident in God, to follow it. David also introduces his friends as speaking in other passages in the Psalms belonging to the period of the Absolom persecution, Psa 3:3; Psa 4:7. Their want of courage, which he afterwards had to reprove and endeavour to restore, showed itself even before the storm had burst, as we see here. With the words "how can you say" he rejects their proposal as unreasonable, and turns it as a reproach against them. If the Chethb, נוּדוּ, is adopted, then those who are well-disposed, say to David, including with him his nearest subjects who are faithful to him: retreat to your mountain, (ye) birds (צפּור collective as in Psa 8:9; Psa 148:10); or, since this address sounds too derisive to be appropriate to the lips of those who are supposed to be speaking here: like birds (comparatio decurtata as in Psa 22:14; Psa 58:9; Psa 24:5; Psa 21:8). הרכס which seems more natural in connection with the vocative rendering of צפור (cf. Isa 18:6 with Eze 39:4) may also be explained, with the comparative rendering, without any need for the conjecture הר כמו צפור (cf. Deu 33:19), as a retrospective glance at the time of the persecution under Saul: to the mountains, which formerly so effectually protected you (cf. Sa1 26:20; Sa1 23:14). But the Ker, which is followed by the ancient versions, exchanges נודו for גוּדי, cf שׁחי Isa 51:23. Even reading it thus we should not take צפור, which certainly is epicoene, as vocative: flee to your mountain, O bird (Hitz.); and for this reason, that this form of address is not appropriate to the idea of those who profer their counsel. But we should take it as an equation instead of a comparison: fly to your mountain (which gave you shelter formerly), a bird, i.e., after the manner of a bird that flies away to its mountain home when it is chased in the plain. But this Ker appears to be a needless correction, which removes the difficulty of נודו coming after לנפשׁי, by putting another in the place of this synallage numeri. (Note: According to the above rendering: "Flee ye to your mountain, a bird" it would require to be accented נודו הרכם צפוז (as a transformation from נודו הרכם צפור vid., Baer's Accentssystem XVIII. 2). The interpunction as we have it, נודו הרכם צפור, harmonises with the interpretation of Varenius as of Lb Spira (Pentateuch-Comm. 1815): Fugite (o socii Davidis), mons vester (h. e. praesidium vestrum, Psa 30:8, cui innitimini) est avis errans.) In Psa 11:2 the faint-hearted ones give as the ground of their advice, the fearful peril which threatens from the side of crafty and malicious foes. As הנּה implies, this danger is imminent. The perfect overrides the future: they are not only already in the act of bending the bow, they have made ready their arrow, i.e., their deadly weapon, upon the string (יתר = מיתר, Psa 21:13, Arab. watar, from יתר, wata ra, to stretch tight, extend, so that the thing is continued in one straight line) and even taken aim, in order to discharge it (ירה with ל of the aim, as in Psa 54:5, with acc. of the object) in the dark (i.e., secretly, like an assassin) at the upright (those who by their character are opposed to them). In Psa 11:3 the faint-hearted still further support their advice from the present total subversion of justice. השּׁתות are either the highest ranks, who support the edifice of the state, according to Isa 19:10, or, according to Psa 82:5, Eze 30:4, the foundations of the state, upon whom the existence and well-being of the land depends. We prefer the latter, since the king and those who are loyal to him, who are associated in thought with צדּיק, are compared to the שׁתות. The construction of the clause beginning with כּי is like Job 38:41. The fut. has a present signification. The perf. in the principal clause, as it frequently does elsewhere (e.g., Psa 39:8; Psa 60:11; Gen 21:7; Num 23:10; Job 12:9; Kg2 20:9) in interrogative sentences, corresponds to the Latin conjunctive (here quid fecerit), and is to be expressed in English by the auxiliary verbs: when the bases of the state are shattered, what can the righteous do? he can do nothing. And all counter-effort is so useless that it is well to be as far from danger as possible.