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In the Lord I take refuge. How then can you say to me: \u201cFlee like a bird to your mountain. For look, the wicked bend their bows; they set their arrows against the strings to shoot from the shadows\xa0at the upright in heart. When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do?\u201d The Lord is in his holy temple; the Lord is on his heavenly throne. He observes everyone on earth; his eyes examine them. The Lord examines the righteous, but the wicked, those who love violence, he hates with a passion. On the wicked he will rain fiery coals and burning sulfur; a scorching wind will be their lot. For the Lord is righteous, he loves justice; the upright will see his face. (Psalm 11)

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What do you do when you\u2019re backed against a wall?\xa0 Only hanging on by a thread?\xa0 Threatened?\xa0 Stuck?\xa0

That\u2019s the context of this psalm.\xa0 When everything is hopeless and you feel helpless what do you do?\xa0 Some might say: flee away!\xa0 Run as far as you can!\xa0 Escape your troubles!\xa0 Elijah did that.\xa0 He ran for his life all the way to the mountain of God in the desert to try to find some steady and solid place in which he could reclaim his trust in God in a time when he felt all alone and abandoned.\xa0 When he arrived though, God asked him: \u201cwhat are you doing here, Elijah?\u201d\xa0 An arresting question.

Of course, maybe the writer of this psalm felt the sarcasm of those who were telling him to flee.\xa0 They were taunting, shaming.\xa0 Taking advantage of the fact that the psalmist was all alone.\xa0 We do attempt to assume that everyone is tolerant and nice and whatnot, but there are bullies out there.\xa0 People that cheer for our downfall. \xa0People that would love nothing more than to see us throw in the towel and walk away a failure.\xa0

Of course, when we\u2019re talking about those who might root against us because we\u2019re Christian, or people who might root against the church, we may very well be talking not about bullies but about people who have been hurt by the church.\xa0 There are a lot of them.\xa0 And those of us inside the church increasingly feel some of that pain too.\xa0 Residential schools are one example.\xa0 Sex abuse scandals another.\xa0 It\u2019s hard to stand firm in the name and identity of \u201cChristian\u201d these days when it means wearing all these public sins that tarnish the name of \u201cchurch.\u201d \xa0So maybe folks are right and it is time for us to just go away already.\xa0 Indeed, lots of people have.\xa0

So: \u201cWhen the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do?\u201d\xa0 When the church is shrinking, when its witness is broken, when our discipleship falters, and when even God seems distant: what can we who place our hope in Christ do?\xa0 Should we give up and flee?

We can\u2019t.\xa0 Somehow beyond all doubt and arrows shot from the shadows, we hold faith that the temple is not empty after all and that the King still sits on his throne.\xa0 Somehow, someway, even when everything is hopeless and we feel helpless, we remain because of this curious confession the psalm begins with: \u201cin the Lord I take refuge.\u201d\xa0

We do not stand as the church because of our own righteousness\u2014indeed, left to ourselves the record doesn\u2019t look so good.\xa0 No, we stand because Jesus stands.\xa0 We stand because the one in whom we\u2019ve taken refuge forgives and redeems us.\xa0 We stand because we trust that he will do right and that he finally will see us through until the day we see him.

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