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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, Ps 11:1-3. II. How he answers it, and puts it to silence with the consideration of God's dominion and providence (Ps 11:4), his favour to the righteous, and the wrath which the wicked are reserved for, Ps 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.
1-7
Confidence in God
简体中文
信靠神
交与伶长。大卫的诗篇。
¹ 我是投靠耶和华；你们怎么对我说，你当像鸟飞往你的山去。
² 看哪，恶人弯弓，把箭搭在弦上，要在暗中射那心里正直的人。
³ 根基若毁坏，义人还能作什么呢？
在此有：一、大卫坚定的决意以神为信靠：「我是投靠耶和华」（诗11:1）。那真正敬畏神、事奉神的人，都可投靠他，并不至因如此行而羞愧。这也是圣徒的品格——他们以神为他们的神，便以他为盼望。即使他们有别的事可倚靠，他们也不、不敢倚靠其上，唯独自倚靠神。黄金不是他们的盼望，马匹车辆不是他们的信靠，唯独自神；因此，当次要的因皱眉之时，他们的盼望并不落空，因为首要的因仍是一样、永远一样。诗人在述说他所受的不信之试之前，先记下他信靠神的决意——这是他决意赖以生死之道。
二、他对相反试探的反感：「『你们怎么对我说』——对那已如此归向神为安息、并安息在他里面的我的心——『你当像鸟飞往你的山去』，在那里脱离捕鸟人的手得以安全？」这可被解为：
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他胆怯之友的真心建议；许多人如此看，且大有可能。一些诚心善意待大卫的人，看见扫罗对他何等愤怒、何等恶毒地寻索他的命，便竭力劝他逃往某处避难，不要太靠他所受的膏抹——他们以为那更可能使他丧命，而非救命。这个提议中叫他伤痛的，不是逃现在会显得怯懦、不配作战士，而是它会有不信的味道、不配作圣徒——他曾多次说：「我是投靠耶和华」。如此理解的话，诗11:2、3 是这些胆怯的朋友支持这建议的理由。他们劝他逃：〔1〕因为他在原地不安全（诗11:2）：「看哪，『恶人弯弓』；扫罗和他的爪牙瞄准你的性命，你心里的正直不能保障你。」请看恶人对正直人——蛇的后裔对女人后裔——所存的敌意何等大；他们为加害他们何等费力、何等预备：「他们在暗中射」——或在黑暗中——使他们看不见所谋的恶以避之，也使别人看不见以阻之，更使神自己看不见以罚之。〔2〕因为他在原地已无用处。「『根基若毁坏』」（如被扫罗的恶政所毁），「若国民和政府都已脱节、一切失常」（诗75:3，82:5），「你的公义还能作什么来纠正弊端呢？唉！要拯救如此可悲破碎的一国，实在是徒然；义人所能作的，全无意义。」「回你的修室去吧，在那里喊：主啊，怜悯我！」许多人在艰难时被拦阻，不能为公众作他们所能作的服事，正是因绝望于成功。
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这也可解为仇敌嘲弄他的讥讽，责备他素常所作信靠神的宣告，并讥讽地叫他去试试这信靠现在能救他到何地步。「你说，神是你的山；现在逃到他那里去吧，看看你因此能得益多少。」如此他们竭力羞辱穷苦人的谋算，说：「神必不帮助他」（诗14:6，3:2）。圣徒在一切受造之盼望和喜乐都失效之时，在神里所有的信靠和安慰，对属肉体的人是谜，因此被讥诮。如此理解的话，诗11:2、3 是大卫对这讥嘲的回答。其中：〔1〕他控诉如此苦待他之人的恶意（诗11:2）：「他们弯弓，预备箭」；我们被告知（诗64:3）他们的箭是什么——就是刺人的话，如此类的话——他们借此竭力使人对神的盼望灰心，大卫感受这些如骨中的剑。〔2〕他以敬虔的厌恶抵挡这试探（诗11:3）。他看这暗示为击打每个以色列人所建立的根基：「你们若毁坏根基——你们若将善人从他们对神的盼望中拉走，你们若能说服他们宗教是骗局、是儿戏，并借讥诮使他们放弃它——你们就毁灭了他们，实在伤了他们的心，使他们成为众人中最可怜的。」宗教的原则是义人的信心和盼望所建立的根基。这些我们当在益处上、在本分上坚守——抵挡一切不信的试探；因为这些若被毁坏——我们若放弃这些——「义人还能作什么呢？」善人若没有可投靠的神、没有可信靠的神、没有可盼望的将来福分，便要灭亡。
⁴ 耶和华在他的圣殿里，耶和华的宝座在天上；他的慧眼察看世人。
⁵ 耶和华试验义人；惟有恶人和喜爱强暴的人，他心里恨恶。
⁶ 他要向恶人密布网罗，有烈火、硫磺、热风，作他们杯中的分。
⁷ 因为耶和华是公义的，他喜爱公义；正直人必得见他的面。
人说摇撼一棵树使它扎根更深更稳。大卫仇敌挫败他对神信靠的企图，反而使他更紧紧依附起初的原则，并在此重温——大为满足自己，并使一切不信之试探闭口。那令他信心震惊——也曾令许多人信心震惊的——是恶人在恶道上兴旺、最好的人有时却陷入困苦窘迫；因此这样的恶念易于生发：「事奉神是徒然的；我们倒可称骄傲的人为有福。」但为要扑灭并羞辱这一切念头，我们在此受呼召来思考：
一、天上有一位神：「耶和华在他的圣殿里」——在上面；他在那里虽不在我们眼前，我们却仍在他眼前。不要让圣徒的仇敌向他们夸胜，仿佛他们茫然不知所措；不，他们有神，他们知道何处寻见他，也知道如何将祷告指向他——他们在天上的父。或作：他在他的圣殿里，即在他的教会中；他是借着中保与百姓立约相交的神——圣殿是其预表。我们不必说：「谁要升到天上，为我们从那里带一位神来信靠呢？」不，这道离我们不远，神在道中；他的灵在他的圣徒——那些活的殿——里面，「主就是那灵」。
二、这位神治理世界。耶和华不仅在天上有居所，更有宝座；他「在地上立定他的权柄」（伯38:33）；因为「他的宝座立定在天上，他的国统管万有」（诗103:19）。因此天被称为「掌权」（但4:26）。我们当借信心看见神在这宝座上——在他荣耀的宝座上，无限超越地上君王的辉煌威严；在他治理的宝座上，向一切受造之物赐律法、赐动作、赐方向；在他审判的宝座上，照各人所行的报应各人；并在他施恩的宝座上——他的百姓可坦然前来得怜恤、蒙恩惠；如此我们便不见有理由因欺压者的骄傲权势、或义人所受的任何苦难而灰心。
三、这位神完全知道每个人的真品格：「他的慧眼察看世人」；他不仅看见他们，更看透他们——不仅知道他们所说所行的一切，更知道他们所想、所谋、他们实际的态度如何，无论他们如何假装。我们可知人似乎如何，他却知人实在如何——如炼金者试金之后知其价值。神「以眼」、「以目」试验，因为他认识人——不像地上君王凭报告和表象，而是凭他严格的察看——这察看不能错，不能被欺骗。这可在我们被人欺哄——甚至被我们所自以为试过的人欺哄之时安慰我们：神对人的判断，我们确知是照真理的。
四、他若使善人受苦，是为试验他们，因此是为他们的益处（诗11:5）。耶和华试炼世人的一切儿女，为要「在他们末后的日子使他们得福」（申8:16）。故此不要让它摇动我们的根基、灰心我们的盼望和信靠。
五、无论逼迫者和欺压者一时如何兴旺得势，他们如今都在神的怒气之下，并将永远在其下灭亡。1. 他是圣洁的神，因此恨恶他们，不能容忍看他们：「恶人，和那喜爱强暴的，他心里恨恶」；因为没有比这与他的正直和良善之本性的对立更为强烈。他们的兴旺远不能作神爱他们的凭据，他们对其的妄用确实使他们成为他恨恶的对象。他虽恨恶所造的没有一样，却恨恶如此使自己变坏的人。哈蒙德博士对诗11:5 另有译法：「耶和华试验义人和恶人」（无误地分辨他们——这超过我们所能），「那喜爱强暴的，恨恶自己的性命」，即逼迫者必自取灭亡（箴8:36），如接下文所示。2. 他是公义的审判者，因此必刑罚他们（诗11:6）。他们的刑罚将是：〔1〕无可避免的：「他要向恶人密布网罗」。这里有两个比喻，表明恶人之刑的无可避免。它要从天上「雨」降在他们身上（伯20:23）——对此无栏可挡、无从可逃；见书10:11，撒上2:10。它如夏日突如其来的阵雨叫行人惊异。它如网罗抓住他们，将他们牢牢拘禁，直到算账之日来到。〔2〕极其可怖的：「有烈火、硫磺、热风」，明显暗指所多玛、蛾摩拉的毁灭，极其恰当——因那毁灭意在作「永火」之报应的样式（犹7）。神怒气的火，附着他们自己罪咎的硫磺，必烧得确实而猛烈，必烧到最低的地狱和永恒的极线。恶人在死时被卷入何等可怖的狂风！他们必须在死人和被定罪之人的会中，永远以火湖硫磺为床！这就是这里所说的；这就是「他们杯中的分」——全能者所指定、所分配给他们的产业（伯20:29）。这是将放在他们手中的「忿怒之杯」，他们必喝其「渣滓」（诗75:8）。每个人都被分了他杯中的分。那以耶和华为他杯中之分的人，必得他所选的，并永远在其选择中快乐（诗16:5）；但那拒绝他恩典的人，必被使喝他怒气的杯（耶25:15；赛51:17；哈2:16）。
六、诚实善良的人虽可能被践踏被蹂躏，神却实在并且将要承认他们、恩待他们、向他们仰脸；这正是神要严厉追讨逼迫者和欺压者的理由——因为他们所欺压所逼迫的，是他所宝贵的；因此「凡摸他们的，就是摸他眼中的瞳人」（诗11:7）。1. 他爱他们和他自己恩典在他们里面的工作。他自己「是公义的神」，因此无论在何处发现公义，就喜爱它，并为受伤害受欺压的义人申冤；他喜悦为他们施行审判（诗103:6）。我们在此当效法神，如他喜爱公义一样喜爱公义，使我们常在他的爱中。他恩待地看顾他们：「正直人必得见他的面」；他不仅与他们和平，将喜乐放在他们心里——借让他们知道他如此而作。他如慈父以喜悦看他们，他们如孝顺之子以他的笑脸为满足为充足。他们「行在耶和华的光中」。
唱诵此诗时，我们当勉励并约束自己常常信靠神，当倚靠他保护我们的无辜，并使我们快乐；当畏惧他的皱眉甚于死亡，并渴慕他的恩宠甚于生命。
英文原文
Confidence in God
To the chief musician. A psalm of David.
¹ In the LORD put I my trust: how say ye to my soul, Flee as a bird to your mountain?
² For, lo, the wicked bend their bow, they make ready their arrow upon the string, that they may privily shoot at the upright in heart.
³ If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?
Here is, I. David's fixed resolution to make God his confidence: In the Lord put I my trust, Ps 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 Ps 11:2,3 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, Ps 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" (Ps 75:3,82:5), "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, Ps 14:6, Ps 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 Ps 11:2,3 are David's answer to this sarcasm, in which, (1.) He complains of the malice of those who did thus abuse him (Ps 11:2): They bend their bow and make ready their arrows; and we are told (Ps 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, Ps 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.
⁴ The LORD is in his holy temple, the LORD's throne is in heaven: his eyes behold, his eyelids try, the children of men.
⁵ The LORD trieth the righteous: but the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth.
⁶ Upon the wicked he shall rain snares, fire and brimstone, and a horrible tempest: this shall be the portion of their cup.
⁷ For the righteous LORD loveth righteousness; his countenance doth behold the upright.
The shaking of a tree (they say) makes it take the deeper and faster root. The attempt of David's enemies to discourage his confidence in God engages him to cleave so much the more closely to his first principles, and to review them, which he here does, abundantly to his own satisfaction and the silencing of all temptations to infidelity. That which was shocking to his faith, and has been so to the faith of many, was the prosperity of wicked people in their wicked ways, and the straits and distresses which the best men are sometimes reduced to: hence such an evil thought as this was apt to arise, Surely it is vain to serve God, and we may call the proud happy. But, in order to stifle and shame all such thoughts, we are here called to consider,
I. That there is a God in heaven: The Lord is in his holy temple above, where, though he is out of our sight, we are not out of his. Let not the enemies of the saints insult over them, as if they were at a loss and at their wits' end: no, they have a God, and they know where to find him and how to direct their prayer unto him, as their Father in heaven. Or, He is in his holy temple, that is, in his church; he is a God in covenant and communion with his people, through a Mediator, of whom the temple was a type. We need not say, "Who shall go up to heaven, to fetch us thence a God to trust to?" No, the word is nigh us, and God in the word; his Spirit is in his saints, those living temples, and the Lord is that Spirit.
II. That this God governs the world. The Lord has not only his residence, but his throne, in heaven, and he has set the dominion thereof in the earth (Job 38:33); for, having prepared his throne in the heavens, his kingdom ruleth over all, Ps 103:19. Hence the heavens are said to rule, Da 4:26. Let us by faith see God on this throne, on his throne of glory, infinitely transcending the splendour and majesty of earthly princes—on his throne of government, giving law, giving motion, and giving aim, to all the creatures—on his throne of judgment, rendering to every man according to his works—and on his throne of grace, to which his people may come boldly for mercy and grace; we shall then see no reason to be discouraged by the pride and power of oppressors, or any of the afflictions that attend the righteous.
III. That this God perfectly knows every man's true character: His eyes behold, his eye-lids try, the children of men; he not only sees them, but he sees through them, not only knows all they say and do, but knows what they think, what they design, and how they really stand affected, whatever they pretend. We may know what men seem to be, but he knows what they are, as the refiner knows what the value of the gold is when he has tried it. God is said to try with his eyes, and his eye-lids, because he knows men, not as earthly princes know men, by report and representation, but by his own strict inspection, which cannot err nor be imposed upon. This may comfort us when we are deceived in men, even in men that we think we have tried, that God's judgment of men, we are sure, is according to truth.
IV. That, if he afflict good people, it is for their trial and therefore for their good, Ps 11:5. The Lord tries all the children of men that he may do them good in their latter end, De 8:16. Let not that therefore shake our foundations nor discourage our hope and trust in God.
V. That, however persecutors and oppressors may prosper and prevail awhile, they now lie under, and will for ever perish under, the wrath of God. 1. He is a holy God, and therefore hates them, and cannot endure to look upon them: The wicked, and him that loveth violence, his soul hateth; for nothing is more contrary to the rectitude and goodness of his nature. Their prosperity is so far from being an evidence of God's love that their abuse of it does certainly make them the objects of his hatred. He that hates nothing that he has made, yet hates those who have thus ill-made themselves. Dr. Hammond offers another reading of Ps 11:5: The Lord trieth the righteous and the wicked (distinguishes infallibly between them, which is more than we can do), and he that loveth violence hateth his own soul, that is, persecutors bring certain ruin upon themselves (Pr 8:36), as follows here. 2. He is a righteous Judge, and therefore he will punish them, Ps 11:6. Their punishment will be, (1.) Inevitable: Upon the wicked he shall rain snares. Here is a double metaphor, to denote the unavoidableness of the punishment of wicked men. It shall be rained upon them from heaven (Job 20:23), against which there is no fence and from which there is no escape; see Jos 10:11, 1Sa 2:10. It shall surprise them as a sudden shower sometimes surprises the traveller in a summer's day. It shall be as snares upon them, to hold them fast, and keep them prisoners, till the day of reckoning comes. (2.) Very terrible. It is fire, and brimstone, and a horrible tempest, which plainly alludes to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, and very fitly, for that destruction was intended for a figure of the vengeance of eternal fire, Jude 1:7. The fire of God's wrath, fastening upon the brimstone of their own guilt, will burn certainly and furiously, will burn to the lowest hell and the utmost line of eternity. What a horrible tempest are the wicked hurried away in at death! What a lake of fire and brimstone must they make their bed in for ever, in the congregation of the dead and damned! It is this that is here meant; it is this that shall be the portion of their cup, the heritage appointed them by the Almighty and allotted to them, Job 20:29. This is the cup of trembling which shall be put into their hands, which they must drink the dregs of, Ps 75:8. Every man has the portion of his cup assigned him. Those who choose the Lord for the portion of their cup shall have what they choose, and be for ever happy in their choice (Ps 16:5); but those who reject his grace shall be made to drink the cup of his fury, Jer 25:15, Isa 51:17, Hab 2:16.
VI. That, though honest good people may be run down and trampled upon, yet God does and will own them, and favour them, and smile upon them, and that is the reason why God will severely reckon with persecutors and oppressors, because those whom they oppress and persecute are dear to him; so that whosoever toucheth them toucheth the apple of his eye, Ps 11:7. 1. He loves them and the work of his own grace in them. He is himself a righteous God, and therefore loves righteousness wherever he finds it and pleads the cause of the righteous that are injured and oppressed; he delights to execute judgment for them, Ps 103:6. We must herein be followers of God, must love righteousness as he does, that we may keep ourselves always in his love. He looks graciously upon them: His countenance doth behold the upright; he is not only at peace with them, and puts gladness into their hearts, by letting them know that he is so. He, like a tender father, looks upon them with pleasure, and they, like dutiful children, are pleased and abundantly satisfied with his smiles. They walk in the light of the Lord.
In singing this psalm we must encourage and engage ourselves to trust in God at all times, must depend upon him to protect our innocence and make us happy, must dread his frowns as worse than death and desire his favour as better than life.
在本诗中我们看见大卫与一个强烈的试探争战并夸胜——那试探引他疑惑神、在危险之时借不正当手段求自身安全。据推测,这是在他初觉扫罗嫉妒的锋芒、并曾一而再地被掷枪之时所作。那时有人劝他逃亡国外。他说,「不,我信靠神,故我仍守本位。」请留意:一、他如何陈明那试探,或许还与之交涉(诗11:1-3);二、他如何回答它,以神的统治与护理(诗11:4)、他对义人的恩眷、并为恶人所保留的震怒(诗11:5-7)使之沉默。在公众惧怕之时、教会仇敌的凌辱公然威吓之时,默想这篇诗将大有裨益。