Psalm 11:3: “If the foundations are destroyed, / What can the righteous do?”

January 17th, 2024 by Pastor Ed in devotional

King David seemed to be referring to the basic order of society, from the individual to the family to the highest places in the government. Scripture asserts that God has created and is sustaining the order of the world in all its complexities, including established institutions and the social and civil order of the community and heads of government. So the problem is, what can believers do when a society is headed the wrong way? David concluded that the only place we can turn is to God Almighty.

As believers, when the foundations of life are taken out from under us, we can still be confident that if we cling to God, we will remain secure. British writer G.K. Chesterton said it this way: “As long as matters are really hopeful, hope is mere flattery or platitude; it is only when everything is hopeless that hope begins to be a strength.”¹ This does not mean hoping in some abstract idea of hope, but having hope in the God of hope.

There is a great story about this that always brings a smile to my face. A man approached a little league baseball game one afternoon. He asked a boy in the dugout what the score was. The boy responded, “Eighteen to nothing—we’re behind.” “Boy,” said the man, “I’ll bet you’re discouraged.” “Why should I be discouraged?” replied the little boy. “We haven’t even gotten up to bat yet!” In real life there are no truly hopeless situations, but there are often people who have grown hopeless about their circumstances. They need to put their problems back into the hands of the Creator as David did in this psalm.

“LORD, we have placed our hope in You this day. Take us by the hand and lead us along the path You want us to travel, in Jesus’ name.”

¹ G.K. Chesterton, Heretics (Nashville: Sam Torode Book Arts, 2011)