7 For the Lord is upright; he is a lover of righteousness: the upright will see his face.
You have been a lover of righteousness and a hater of evil: and so God, your God, has put the oil of joy on your head, lifting you high over all other kings.
As for me, I will see your face in righteousness: when I am awake it will be joy enough for me to see your form.
The king's power is used for righteousness; you give true decisions, judging rightly in the land of Jacob.
And they will see his face; and his name will be on their brows.
For the eyes of the Lord are on the upright, and his ears are open to their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.
For I, the Lord, take pleasure in upright judging; I will not put up with the violent taking away of right; and I will certainly give them their reward, and I will make an eternal agreement with them.
Lifting them up to the seat of kings, and making them safe for ever.
Why are you crushed down, O my soul? and why are you troubled in me? put your hope in God; for I will again give him praise who is my help and my God.
See, the eye of the Lord is on those in whose hearts is the fear of him, on those whose hope is in his mercy;
For you have made him a blessing for ever: you have given him joy in the light of your face.
O let the evil of the evil-doer come to an end, but give strength to the upright: for men's minds and hearts are tested by the God of righteousness.
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).