I was meditating on Ps. 11 recently.  Verse 3 visualize my experience as I watch nightly news.  “The foundations of law and order have collapsed.  What can the righteous do?”   In this Psalm, David  affirms his faith in a righteous, unchanging God.  “Even though the world appears hopelessly chaotic, both the godly and the wicked can count on God’s justice.  The godly can depend on him as a refuge and shelter” (NLT Study Bible). 

I  want to encourage younger men, committed to follow Jesus, in their concern for their families in the midst of our chaotic, changing world.  Make the commitment expressed by David, “I trust in the Lord for protection” (v. 1).  We can be assured of our trust in an unchanging God, who laid the very foundations of the world.  “In ages past you laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands” (Ps. 102:25).  The creative order will change, but not our unchanging God. “Even they will perish, but you remain forever; they will wear out like old clothing.  You will change them like a garment and they will fade away” (Ps 102:26). 

God remains the same.  He never changes.  This should give us absolute confidence in the future of our children and grandchildren.  I personally take great comfort in these verses. “But you are always the same; your years never end.  The children of your people will live in security.  Their children’s children will thrive in your presence” (Ps 102:27-28).

You could be asking, as you listen to the dominant narrative of our day, why should I put my trust in the Lord.  “So why do you say to me, ‘Fly to the mountains for safety!'”  (Ps 11:1). It sounds like the phrase, “Head for the hills!”  Many men  are tempted to abandon responsibility for being protector and exemplar of their families and heading for the hills. It sure can be tempting, when those who are opposed to the sovereignty of God continue to shoot their arrows at us, often from the shadows. “The wicked are stringing their bows and setting their arrows in the bowstrings.  They shoot from the shadows at those who do right” (Ps 11:2)  

Habakkuk lamented the loss of law and order, “Therefore the law is paralyzed, and justice never prevails.  The wicked hem in the righteous, so the justice is perverted” (Hab 1:4).  But the Psalmist assures us, “Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; love and faithfulness go before you” (Ps 89:14).  But David acknowledges, “The Lord is in his holy temple, the Lord still rules from heaven. He watches everything closely, examining everyone on earth” (Ps 11:4). 

After Job’s long lament before God in which he did not get any satisfactory answers from his three friends, God finally replied to Job from the whirlwind. “Who is this that questions my wisdom with such ignorant words?  Brace yourself, because I have some questions for you and you must answer them.  ‘Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?  Tell me, if you know so much.  Do you know how its dimensions were determined and who laid its cornerstone as the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy? (Job 38:1-7).  Job replied, “I was talking about things I did not understand, things for too wonderful for me …. I take back everything I said, and I sit in dust and ashes to show my repentance” (Job 42:3 & 6).

Men, don’t let “the talking heads” cause you to wonder if God is still on his throne.  Remember, “For the Lord is righteous and he loves justice.  Those who do what is right will see his face” (Ps 11:7)

Isaiah 63 portrays the victorious king’s return to Zion.  The prophet asks why the king’s garments are red, as if he had been stomping grapes in a winepress.  The Lord replies he has returned from stomping on the nations; it is their blood that is spattered on his garments. “I trampled them in my anger and trod them down in my wrath; their blood spattered my garments, and I stained all my clothing” (v. 3b).  The Lord laments, however, because there was no one to help.  “I looked, but there was no one to help, I was appalled that no one gave support; so my own arm achieved salvation for me and my own wrath sustained me” (v. 5).  

Isaiah then offers a lengthy prayer (7-19), proclaiming God’s faithfulness to his people.  But despite God’s kindness, they rebelled, prompting God to turn against them and become their enemy.  “Yet they rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit.  So he turned and became their enemy and he himself fought against them” (v. 10).  They had forgotten how God in his love and mercy had redeemed them. “In all their distress he too was distressed, and the angel of his presence saved them; In his love and mercy he redeemed them; he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old” (v. 9).  

 They ask, “….where is he who brought them through the sea, with the shepherd of his flock?  Where is he who set his Holy Spirit among them” (v. 11). They cry out to the Lord, “Look down from heaven and see, from your lofty throne, holy and glorious.  Where are your zeal and your might?” (v. 15). They ask, “Why, Lord, do you make us wander from your ways, and harden our hearts so we do not revere you?” (v. 17)

Then in heart felt prayer they cry out, “”Oh, that you would rend the heaven and come down, that the mountains would tremble before you” (Is 64:1).  The prophet affirms the uniqueness of God in doing “awesome things.” God had shown his favor and faithfulness to his people in the past.  But the people had ignored God.  “No one calls on your name or strives to lay hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us and have given us over to our sins”(Is 64:7).

They acknowledge God to be their Father.  “Yet, O Lord, you are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand” (Is 64:8).  In intercession, they prayed, “Do not be angry beyond measure, Lord; do not remember our sins forever. Oh, look on us, we pray, for we are all your people” (Is. 64:9).  When they saw Jerusalem a desolation and all their treasure lying in ruins, they ask God, “After all this, O Lord, will you hold yourself back?  Will you keep silent and punish us beyond measure?” (Is. 64:13).  God replied, “I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me; I was found by those who did not seek me….All day long I have held out my hands to an obstinate people” (Is. 65:1-2).  

But God give this wonderful promise. “Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth.  The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in what I will create…” (Is.65:17-8). 

In the end God’s plan will prevail among the Hebrew people as well as it will in our day.   God will show up and make all things new.  This is our hope and certainty in such troubled times as ours. But our hearts need to seek God in repentance.