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Valiant for Truth: A Meditation on the Eleventh Psalm
Psalm 11
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?
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 an horrible tempest: this shall be the portion of their cup.
7 For the righteous LORD loveth righteousness; his countenance doth behold the upright.
Devotional
(continued)
The Trial of Faith
The righteous, for their obedience to the Word of God, and for their refusal to swerve from the narrow way of eternal life, are made the object of attack. So it has ever been. And those who know not sufferings and hardships, and the poisonous venom of the tongues of men, may well wonder if they be among the righteous. The Lord Jesus said, "Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you ! for so did their fathers to the false prophets."
Now all the sufferings of the children of God for righteousness' sake are for the trial of their faith. The Lord tests the righteous. He puts their piety through the fire of tribulation, not that He might condemn them, but that He might purify them for Himself. God will have nothing unclean to dwell with Him. He is preparing for himself a people that shall be without spot or wrinkle or any such thing. It is in the furnace of affliction that the dross is consumed, and only what remains that which can stand the pure eyes of Him with whom we have to do. As Peter says, "The trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ."
The wicked will also undergo trial, but it is not the trial of faith, for they have not faith. To them calamities will come due to divine displeasure and abhorrence. Fire and brimstone with the devil and his angels will be their portion. If the wicked only knew the wrath that hangs over them! Now, since they shall be swept away in the judgment, why should they be feared by the godly ?
The Victory of Faith
It is the joy and comfort of Christians that God has revealed Himself as One to whom the very hairs of their heads are all numbered. His ear is always open to their cry. Their patience and labors of love are known to Him, for He has not set Himself off from the world, but "upholds all things by the word of his power." Wicked ways do not go by unnoticed and the cries of the righteous do not ascend to heaven unheeded. The godly know that when it is best to send help, their righteous God will speedily do so. He will not suffer them to be tempted above that they are able, but will with the temptation also make a way of escape, that they might be able to bear it,
Helpless, the believer clings to Jesus only. But he needs no other refuge, for all that he needs, in Him he finds. Those who are planted firmly on Christ Jesus are standing on a rock from which they shall never be moved. Only in Him are we safe from condemnation and the eternal pains of hell.
Is your trust stayed on the Saviour, who alone is able to establish and keep you unto the day of judgment?
"Lift Up Your Heart" is a series of devotionals by the late Rev. David Freeman, an ordained minister in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church for most of his life. These devotionals, in fact, are part of the early history of our denomination. The first of them was published in The Presbyterian Guardian in 1935; the denomination now known as the Orthodox Presbyterian Church was officially formed in 1936. We believe that "the Word of our God stands forever" (Isaiah 40:8; see 1 Peter 1:25). Thus it is no surprise that meditations based on that Word have continued relevance today. Dr. Freeman's devotionals are proof of that fact.
David Freeman was a graduate of Princeton Theological Seminary (Th.B., 1928; Th.M. , 1930) and of Dropsie Univiersity (Ph.D., 1951). He served as pastor at Grace (later New Covenant) Presbyterian Church (OPC), Philadelphia, PA (1936-1946), Knox Presbyterian Church (OPC), Philadelphia, PA (1949-1962), and Grace Presbyterian Church (OPC), Fall River, MA (1962-1967). He authored many articles and (along with his son, David H. Freeman) is the author of the book A Philosophical Study of Religion, which appeared in 1964. He went to be with the Lord in 1984.
There is one change from the way the daily devotional was handled in the past with John Skilton's Think On These Things: New devotionals for the new series appear on weekdays only (Monday through Saturday. It is suggested that you use your pastor's sermon text(s) as the basis for your mediations on the Lord's Day.
We trust that you will find these devotionals, once again made available seventy years after they first appeared, to be a personal help in your own Christian walk today!
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