4 The Lord is in his holy Temple, the Lord's seat is in heaven; his eyes are watching and testing the children of men.
The Lord has made ready his high seat in the heavens; his kingdom is ruling over all.
In my trouble my voice went up to the Lord, and my cry to my God: my voice came to his hearing in his holy Temple, and my prayer came before him, even into his ears.
But the Lord is in his holy Temple: let all the earth be quiet before him.
The Lord says, Heaven is the seat of my power, and earth is the resting-place for my feet: what sort of house will you make for me, and what place will be my resting-place?
Heaven is the seat of my power, and earth is a resting-place for my feet: what sort of house will you make for me, says the Lord, or what is my place of rest?
The eyes of the Lord are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good.
Then he whose seat is in the heavens will be laughing: the Lord will make sport of them.
Who puts himself against all authority, lifting himself up over all which is named God or is given worship; so that he takes his seat in the Temple of God, putting himself forward as God.
Then the cloud came down covering the Tent of meeting, and the House was full of the glory of the Lord; So that Moses was not able to go into the Tent of meeting, because the cloud was resting on it, and the House was full of the glory of the Lord.
And he who takes an oath by the Temple, takes it by the Temple and by him whose house it is.
Give ear, you peoples, all of you; give attention, O earth and everything in it: let the Lord God be witness against you, the Lord from his holy Temple.
In what secret place may a man take cover without my seeing him? says the Lord. Is there any place in heaven or earth where I am not? says the Lord.
He is ruling in power for ever; his eyes are watching the nations: may his haters have no strength against him. (Selah.)
Will not God make search for it? for he sees the secrets of the heart.
Make songs of praise to the Lord, whose house is in Zion: make his doings clear to the people.
For the eyes of the Lord go this way and that, through all the earth, letting it be seen that he is the strong support of those whose hearts are true to him. In this you have done foolishly, for from now you will have wars.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Psalms 11
Commentary on Psalms 11 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
PSALM 11
Ps 11:1-7. On title, see Introduction. Alluding to some event in his history, as in 1Sa 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.
1. my soul—me (Ps 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 1Sa 26:20; La 3:52).
2. privily—literally, "in darkness," treacherously.
3. Literally, "The foundations (that is, of good order and law) will be destroyed, what has the righteous done (to sustain them)?" All his efforts have failed.
4. temple … heaven—The connection seems to denote God's heavenly residence; the term used is taken from the place of His visible earthly abode (Ps 2:6; 3:4; 5:7). Thence He inspects men with close scrutiny.
5. The trial of the righteous results in their approval, as it is contrasted with God's hatred to the wicked.
6. Their punishment is described by vivid figures denoting abundant, sudden, furious, and utter destruction (compare Ge 19:24; Job 18:15; Ps 7:15; 9:15).
cup—is a frequent figure for God's favor or wrath (Ps 16:5; 23:5; Mt 20:22, 23).
7. his countenance—literally, "their faces," a use of the plural applied to God, as in Ge 1:26; 3:22; 11:7; Isa 6:8, &c., denoting the fulness of His perfections, or more probably originating in a reference to the trinity of persons. "Faces" is used as "eyes" (Ps 11:4), expressing here God's complacency towards the upright (compare Ps 34:15, 16).