"What will the righteous do when the foundations are destroyed?"

[Psalm 11]

When reflecting on the year 2005, one of the things that comes to mind is Hurricane Katrina, which struck New Orleans, USA. It is said that as a result of this hurricane, about one million people from New Orleans had to move to other states. Some have even referred to this as the "Black Exodus." Why did such a great disaster strike New Orleans? Many believe that it was because the levees were not built and reinforced properly. One of the surprising facts is that, in early 2005, the U.S. Army requested $37 million to repair the levees of New Orleans, but the government reduced the amount to just $3.9 million. Another surprising fact is that the New Orleans Levee Commission used the funds meant for levee maintenance to buy casinos, displaying mismanagement. This is truly unfortunate. The investment needed for repairs was not made, and the funds that were allocated were not used properly. As a result, the hurricane caused two levees along Lake Pontchartrain to collapse, leading to widespread flooding in much of New Orleans.

We must ask ourselves if we have properly built our foundations. A heart, home, and church that are built on solid foundations will not be shaken by waves of sin, like a storm akin to Hurricane Katrina. They will stand firm, protecting the heart, home, and church. However, if we do not invest in building strong foundations, or if we do so but spend our resources elsewhere instead of building our own heart, home, and church, we will inevitably crumble and break when the waves of sin come crashing in. We must think about the foundations of our heart, home, and church.

In Psalm 11:3, David, the psalmist, says, "What will the righteous do when the foundations are destroyed?" The word "foundations" in the original Hebrew is literally translated as "their foundations." This refers to "justice and truth" (J. Ridderbos). That is, when David was being persecuted by Saul, the foundations of justice and truth had collapsed. How is our time today? Not much different. We live in a time when the foundations of justice and truth have been destroyed. How should we live in such a time? Let us draw two lessons from today's passage.

First, in a time when the foundations of justice and truth have been destroyed, we must rely even more on God.

Look at Psalm 11:1: "In the Lord I take refuge; how then can you say to me, 'Flee like a bird to your mountain'?" From this verse, we see that the psalmist David says, "In the Lord I take refuge..." That is, David, while being persecuted by Saul and his followers in a time and situation where justice and truth could not be found, relied on God. By trusting in the Lord amidst hardship and persecution, he was able to feel a sense of security because of God (Park Yun-seon).

However, what is interesting here is the suggestion made by David’s friends. They advised David, saying, “Flee like a bird to the mountain...” (v. 1). The reason for this advice was that "the wicked bend their bows; they set their arrows against the strings to shoot from the shadows at the upright in heart" (v. 2). This advice seems very persuasive. Seeing that the wicked wanted to harm David, his friends urged him to flee to the mountain, just like a sparrow flying into the bushes. However, David did not accept the seemingly convincing advice of his friends. Instead, he fled to the Lord. The reason was that David relied solely on the Lord.

If we were in a dangerous situation like David, how would we react? We need to think about this. Would we take refuge in the Lord and find security in Him, or would we listen to the advice of our friends to flee to the mountain and trust in someone or something other than the Lord for safety? We already know the answer. If we rely on someone or something other than the Lord, there will be no true sense of security. It is possible that we might experience temporary safety by trusting in someone or something else, but only the Lord can provide the peace and true security that we need. Therefore, we must flee to the Lord. He alone is our fortress and the one we can take refuge in. Especially in this time when the foundations of justice and truth have been shaken, we must rely on the just and truthful God, so that we may enjoy true protection and security.

Finally, secondly, in this age where the foundations of justice and truth have been shaken, we must walk in the way of righteousness.

Why must we walk in the way of righteousness? The reason is that God is righteous, and He loves righteous deeds. Look at Psalm 11:7: "For the Lord is righteous, he loves justice; the upright will see his face." We, who have been justified, also love righteousness, so we must faithfully walk in the way of righteousness. Especially when circumstances are urgent, the more urgent the situation, the more we must stand firm in the way of righteousness (Park Yun-seon). Truly, the day of God’s judgment is near. We are living in an era of great darkness and abundant sin. The forces of darkness are trying to tempt the "upright in heart" (v. 2), attempting by all means to lead them away from the way of righteousness and onto the path of sin. In such a time, walking faithfully and to the end in the way of righteousness as "the upright" (v. 7) is no small challenge. Especially in an era where the foundations of justice and truth have been shaken, maintaining a pure heart, loving righteousness, and walking in that path is indeed a great challenge.

We live in a time where the wide paths of evil are clearly visible and audible in every direction. Therefore, walking the narrow and difficult path of righteousness alone is impossible without relying on the Lord. That path is a lonely one, the very same path that the Lord walked. David was able to walk this path because he believed that the Lord, in whom he trusted, saw both the righteous and the wicked (verses 4-7). In particular, David knew that God, who sees the wicked as if piercing them deeply (v. 4 - "examines"), "hates the wicked and those who love violence" (v. 5), and he also knew that the Lord would judge them in His time (v. 6). In this context, David also believed that God "examines" (v. 5) the righteous. The word "examines" refers to "testing." In other words, before God helps the righteous, He first tests them. Indeed, God tests the righteous to see if their hearts are right (v. 2), and if they are honest (v. 7). Moreover, God tests whether they depend completely on Him. After passing the test, He helps them. David fully trusted in God, had a right heart, and was also an honest person. That is why he could receive God's help.

The age we live in is one where justice and truth have fallen. Even when we look at ourselves, who call ourselves Christians, we see that the foundations of justice and truth in our hearts have crumbled greatly. The foundation of our families also seems to be crumbling, and it looks like the foundation of our churches is also falling. How should we live in such a time? We must depend even more on God and strengthen the foundation of justice and truth in our hearts, in our homes, and in our churches. Truly, when that foundation is firmly established, we must build ourselves, our families, and our churches upon it. When we do so, no matter how strong the waves of sin, like a hurricane, may crash upon us, we will be safe. We must continue to walk faithfully on the path of righteousness. Even though the wide paths of evil are so clearly visible and audible around us, we must walk the narrow path of righteousness. Therefore, we must shine the light of God's justice and truth in this dark world.

With a heart that fully trusts in our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the foundation of our lives, homes, and churches,

Pastor James (Praying that we may walk faithfully on the path of righteousness by relying on God)