I. (11:1–3) The Crisis Described. The first section is the speech of the people,126 advising “me” (i.e., the faithful person singing in worship) to “flee like a bird” for my life because the “wicked” threaten to kill the “upright in heart” (v. 2). The words do not require that someone has actually made the suggestion; the idea is that this would be the natural reaction.

The situation is a dire one indeed. If the wicked people will use a “bow” and “shoot in the dark,” this implies that they will strike from afar, without warning.

It is not entirely certain how far the quoted speech runs, and commentators are divided between ending the quote at verse 2 or at the end of verse 3. The best reason for taking the quotation through verse 3 is that it completes the argument of verses 1b–2; the “righteous” (v. 3) and the “upright in heart” (v. 2) are commonly names for the same kinds of people—usually the faithful members of the covenant—and the implication is that they cannot hope to survive this crisis.

The psalm imagines these words as being on the lips of advisors; but their sincerity is hard to gauge. Elsewhere (Neh. 6:10–13; Luke 13:31) similar advice is clearly an attempt to discredit the faithful person.127

“The foundations” (Hb. shatot; Ps. 11:3) would probably be the people who ensure that Israel is managed justly (the same Hb. word is “the pillars” in Isa. 19:10),128 or they could be the principles of justice upon which Israel was founded (as possibly in Ezek. 30:4, which uses the synonymous term yesod for “foundation”).129 Either way, the idea is that which guarantees that reliable justice is being implemented among God’s covenant people (their very purpose for existence). When these “are destroyed,” giving the unfaithful in Israel free rein, “what can the righteous do”—what security does he have?130 Hence the logic of the advice to flee.

II. (11:4–7) The Righteous Lord Gives Us Confidence. The second part reveals the answer to the psalmist’s question. The song looks beyond the immediate danger to the God who so rules all things as to vindicate his righteousness and his love for the righteous (i.e., those who faithfully adhere to his covenant).

Psalm 11:4 begins by insisting that “the Lord is in his holy temple” (Hb. hekal-qodsho, “the temple of his holiness”). The term could refer to the earthly temple (5:7; 79:1; 138:2; Jonah 2:4, 7) or to God’s heavenly temple (Mic. 1:2; Hab. 2:20). In view of the parallel, his “throne is in heaven,” the focus is on the heavenly site—although, as in Isaiah 6:1, the earthly temple is the doorway to the heavenly one, so we should not press the distinction too far.

From his position of supremacy, “the Lord’s . . . eyes see, his eyelids test the children of man”: he assesses their inner condition (Pss. 7:9; 17:3). He especially assesses “the righteous” (11:5); this implies that the faithful should see their danger as an opportunity to prove that their faith is genuine, that is, that they really do “take refuge” in him (v. 1). In contrast, the Lord’s very “soul” (his deepest feelings) “hates the wicked,” anyone among God’s people who would exploit and harm others (“the one who loves violence”), and thereby foil the very purpose of the covenant.

“The Lord is righteous; he loves righteous deeds” (v. 7), and therefore will certainly thwart the wicked and vindicate his righteousness in a publicly visible way. Verse 6, with its mention of “rain coals, . . . fire and sulfur and a scorching wind,” evokes the judgment that fell on Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen. 19:24) as an example of such a visible vindication of God’s character. That judgment destroyed notoriously wicked Gentile peoples; the unfaithful in Israel must not suppose they will escape with an easier punishment (cf. Isa. 1:10, where the prophet likens the rulers in Jerusalem in his day to the rulers of Sodom and Gomorrah).

The “portion of their cup” (Ps. 11:6) is what God has assigned to them, whether in this life or the next (cf. Jer. 13:25; for contrast cf. Ps. 16:5 for the pious). The judgment may be visible in history or may be ultimate; that is God’s business. The faithful, “the upright” (11:7; cf. v. 2), on the other hand, “shall behold his face.” The only other occurrence of this expression is 17:15, where it refers to the ultimate enjoyment of God’s presence by the upright in a world cleansed of all sin (after “I awake”).