#DailyDevotion Where Is The LORD Now?

Psalm 11 ⁴The LORD is in His holy temple; the Lord’s throne is in heaven – His eyes see, yes, His eyes examine mortal man. ⁵The LORD tests the righteous.

While David’s enemies may mock him saying, “Flee to the hills” because they ignorantly think the LORD is a mountain god or the mountain is his god, David knows the difference. The LORD is His holy temple; the LORD’s throne is in heaven. While He is near, He is transcendent as well. He sits on high. From there He sees everything. Nothing escapes his notice. Let’s not get too human with God though. He doesn’t see as we see. He is not limited by our limits.

Now on the one hand, the LORD’s eyes examine mortal man, or as the King James translates it, “his eyes behold, his eyelids try, the children of men.” I’m not sure how eyelids try the children of men but they do. I believe it means he sees through all of our shenanigans. Nothing gets by Him. We often think people get away with everything, especially the wicked and those in power, but we are wrong. The LORD our God sees everything.

Verse five takes a turn. The LORD test the righteous. Peter writes in his first epistle chapter 4, “ ¹²Dear friends, don’t be surprised that you’re being tested by a fiery trial as though something strange were happening to you. ¹³But as you share Christ’s sufferings, be happy so that you will also be full of joy when His glory will be revealed.” In chapter one he writes, “⁷Gold is tested by fire, and your faith, when it is tested, should be found to be much more precious than gold, which perishes.” You should expect to be tested by God. You faith will be tried by God if you have faith in Jesus. It should not surprise you. If everything is going wrong in your life and you are a Christian, don’t doubt your faith but rather be confirmed in it. Don’t doubt God’s love towards you. Believe His promise He disciplines His children.

He hates anyone who is wicked and loves crime. ⁶He has snares come down like rain on the wicked. Fire, sulfur, and a scorching wind will be the drink in their cup.

Wait, I thought God loved everyone. Well, yes that is true. God also is righteous and holy. As such He hates those who are wicked and loves crime. We saw this before in Psalm 5. While it looks like they are getting away with everything, the LORD has snares come down like rain on them. Their fate is fire, sulfur and scorching wind. It’s somewhat built into His system. Some may mistakenly call it karma. We only see the wicked when they are having a good time. We do not see their end regularly. It takes place in darkness. We should not be jealous of them when it appears how well they are doing. True, the LORD does want them to repent and believe in Jesus Christ and be saved. His love for them had Him send Jesus to die for their sins. Jesus has experienced their fate on the cross. But if they do not repent, eternal hell fire will be their end as they will get what they deserve. Even in this life, the temporal punishments for their sins still take place. The wicked see it and still do not repent.

⁷Yes, the LORD is just and loves righteousness. The righteous will see His face.

Here is the truth. The LORD is just. He does not punish us more than our sins deserve. He loves righteousness. The righteousness He loves best is when we put our trust in Jesus. This then is followed by a change in life. He promises we will see his face as our faith is in Him. John writes, “We shall be like Him for we shall see Him as He is.”

Heavenly Father, grant us faith and be our refuge so that when Christ returns we may see your face and enter eternal life. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.