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. Psalms 11:4-7 [ESV]
Following on from yesterday, David responds to his advisors. God has made Himself known to all the people by being in His Holy Temple and His throne is in Heaven. God sees all and He both tests the righteous and hates the wicked. What does God have in store for the lover of violence and the wicked? ->Burning coals, fire, sulfur, and scorching wind. In the Hebrew, these punishments are literally called ‘the portion of their cup’ so the ESV uses the literal translation.
Now for the righteous, God loves those righteous deeds that are after His own righteousness. The reward for the righteous and upright is to see God’s face. I think that this ‘seeing of God’s face’ is something that we receive from the Holy Spirit when we live a life of righteousness and uprightness. He gives us glimpses of the Goodness of the Father in our comfort, peace, and joy…even in the times that we are under crisis situations. I think this is what David was getting at when he composed this song.
On a personal note, I am down here at the Herron Cabin overseeing the cutting down of some trees on the lower part of the lot to address some clutter and improve our view. I am here alone for the time being but the family is coming down after Sophie’s written driver’s test tomorrow (SAT).
