Psalm 11

[A new worship/prayer experience started last night at OUMC - if you're ever anywhere near us Wednesdays at 7:00 p.m., you're welcome to join us!  We began with Evening Prayer and moved into quiet meditation and expression of that meditation, specifically on Psalm 11.  My response to the Word last night was to draw and then write.  If you ever need some quiet time to just be still before God, come join us.  You don't have to do anything or bring anything, and as you can see from my drawing, you certainly don't need to be an artiste :)]

What imagery!  The wicked bend their bows and set arrows on the strings to shoot from the shadows at the upright in heart.  But zoom out from that image and it's part of a question - why do you say to me that image, and the foundations being destroyed, when I take refuge in the Lord?  I take refuge in the Lord, therefore what can man do to me?  What can disease do to me?  What can the devil do to me?  I take refuge in the Lord.  The Lord is in his temple and on his throne and examines everyone on earth, so why do I need to worry about them?  Why would I need to flee them?

Well, fleeing to a place of refuge can be a healthy coping strategy, depending on the conflict.  Sometimes we do need time away.  Jesus went away to secluded places, although maybe he didn't flee there.  It's good to get away sometimes, to rest, gain perspective, take a break from the conflict.  And I don't think that is superseded by taking refuge in the Lord.  Sometimes taking refuge in the Lord means doing it out of town.

There was one Friday night at Penn that was so full of drama among my group of friends that around 9:00 p.m. I called my Grandma to ask if I could come up that night for the weekend.  She said yes, of course, just that the house might be a little messy and they'd be in bed when I arrived.  But I needed out, I needed a change of scenery and physical distance from the conflict.

I also remember hiding out a lot the fall of my second year of seminary.  Just before the semester started, I'd gotten married, gotten a new name, and moved.  Then we got a dog and then my husband was on crutches for the rest of that semester.  A psychologist told me that hiding out rather than hanging out with friends was actually a healthy way to deal with all that stress.

But this psalm says don't flee... what do I do with that?  There is a time to get away and a time to stay put?  A time to flee and a time to stand your ground?  The Lord loves justice... when it's a matter of injustice, then stand your ground?  Is the idea of the foundations being destroyed a lie?  Is that why one is fleeing in the first place?  Because the foundations are supposedly being destroyed?  So... if your foundation is firm, by taking refuge in the Lord, then... you don't need to flee from the wicked, just from stress?  Then... you rest secure in the Lord, standing against injustice, wherever that physical location may be.