Psalm 11

In my study of the Psalms I was struck by a verses sandwiched into the middle of Psalm11--"When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do?"

Without identifying my own political persuasion let me just comment on some things I think that make that question from three thousand years ago relevant today.

*Same-sex marriage continues to gain political advocacy.

*Abortion on demand remains a so-called twenty-first century "right".

*North Africa's political climate is rife with unrest and the nation of Israel seems increasingly vulnerable to attack.

*Countries like Iran and North Korea flaunt their nuclear capabilty with frightening arrogance.

*Greece, Portugal and Spain--once strong financially--now are in deep economic crisis.

*Our sixteen trillion dollar debt shows no signs of diminishing with congressional gridlock hampering any potential resolution.

*The current pre-election climate demonstrates how deeply-divided philosophically our country is and the accusations of deceit and dishonesty by both parties makes it difficult to discern what is true.

*Increasing incidents of mass murder escapades by disgruntled unbalanced individuals continue to result in unfathomable tragedies in our work place and on school campuses.

*The number of welfare recipients has increasing astronomically over the last four years, consistent with high unemployment figures.

*A large neighboring city of nearly 300,000 has declared bankruptcy, and there are other large cities--as well as entire states--precariously close to the same.

This resume of pain that affects our sense of well-being is not about to get better.  I am not a harbinger of doom but the forecast for the future of America and the world is alarming and discomfiting.  It seems as if the very foundations of our civilization as we know it are being diminished, if not destroyed.

"What are the righteous to do...?"  In the context the "righteous" are those who have heeded the commandments of God and are seeking to follow His guidance and to find "refuge" in Him.

The comforting tone of this Psalm is that God is alert to all that is going on--observing and examining the ways of men, both wicked and righteous, and in the end His justice will be executed. We are encouraged in the end that "the upright will see His face".

Until then, we must seek His face and His forgiveness for what we have is what we asked for.