לַמְנַצֵּחַ לְדָוִד בַּיהוָה חָסִיתִי אֵיךְ תֹּאמְרוּ לְנַפְשִׁי (נוּדוּ) [נוּדִי] הַרְכֶם צִפֹּור׃   11:1

Psal. 11:1   For David's leader.

                      I trust in the Lord.

                              What can You say to my soul,

                      “Flee your mountain, bird?”

The error indication and its correction in this verse are rather strange.   More >>

כִּי הִנֵּה הָרְשָׁעִים יִדְרְכוּן קֶשֶׁת כֹּונְנוּ חִצָּם עַל־יֶתֶר לִירֹות בְּמֹו־אֹפֶל לְיִשְׁרֵי־לֵב׃   11:2

Psal. 11:2   For, behold, the wicked ones can bend the bow;

                               they affix their arrow on the string

                      to shoot in darkness at the upright of heart.

כִּי הַשָּׁתֹות יֵהָרֵסוּן צַדִּיק מַה־פָּעָל׃   11:3

Psal. 11:3   Certainly they can destroy the foundations.

                              The righteous one, what can he do?

יְהוָה בְּהֵיכַל קָדְשֹׁו יְהוָה בַּשָּׁמַיִם כִּסְאֹו עֵינָיו יֶחֱזוּ עַפְעַפָּיו יִבְחֲנוּ בְּנֵי אָדָם׃   11:4

Psal. 11:4   The Lord is in His holy Temple;

                               the Lord is in the heaven of His throne.

                      His “eyes” can behold,

                              His “eyelids” can investigate the children of humankind.

יְהוָה צַדִּיק יִבְחָן וְרָשָׁע וְאֹהֵב חָמָס שָׂנְאָה נַפְשֹׁו׃   11:5

Psal. 11:5   The Lord may test the righteous,

                              but His soul hates the wicked and the lover of violence.

יַמְטֵר עַל־רְשָׁעִים פַּחִים אֵשׁ וְגָפְרִית וְרוּחַ זִלְעָפֹות מְנָת כֹּוסָם׃   11:6

Psal. 11:6   He will rain sheets of fire and brimstone upon the wicked,

                              and a tempest of horrors shall be the portion of their cup.

כִּי־צַדִּיק יְהוָה צְדָקֹות אָהֵב יָשָׁר יֶחֱזוּ פָנֵימֹו׃   11:7

Psal. 11:7   For the Righteous One, the Lord, loves righteous acts;

                              the upright can behold His countenance.

In this chapter David’s belief about the Lord’s interaction with the wicked is one of His “hatred” and violent

retribution, but this conclusion, which he shares with many other authors of bible books, contradicts other

considerations.  And it also troubles me deeply.  Why?  Because when we believe that, we ignore what the Lord

tells us.  Remember, the Lord Himself says that He waits patiently for the wicked one to repent and

turn to Him.  He would prefer that.  Then why would He destroy them before their time has come?  He

gives everyone, the righteous, the wicked, the foolish, and the wise, the opportunity to live out their lives and

learn from their experiences and mistakes.  He patiently waits until the last moment of one’s life in His desire to

save a soul.

See Jere. 18:7 and 8, Jere. 26:3, Jere. 26:13, Ezek. 18:32, Joel 2:12 to 14, and Jona. 3:9 and 10 for

pertinent examples of the Lord’s message.  Every one of us is precious to Him.

On the other hand, please allow me to make an “outlandish” supposition.  Doesn’t the Lord know at the moment

of creation who will repent and who will not?  If so, it only seems to us that He waits patiently.  Wouldn’t He have

already taken care of the situation?

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