Online House of Prayer

Aneel Aranha is an author, preacher, and evangelist who has spoken to hundreds of thousands of people around the world. You can find a huge selection of his reflections, articles, sermons, songs and other resources on his website www.aneelaranha.com.

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Online House of Prayer

Psalm 11

January 12, 2023 • Aneel Aranha • Season 3 • Episode 11

0:00 | 3:14

The world might mock your faith, but do you believe the upright will see the face of God? Consequently, will you remain pure in heart?

Psalm 011 - The Refuge of the Upright

In the LORD I take refuge.
How then can you say to me:
“Flee 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
at the upright in heart.
When the foundations are being destroyed,
what can the righteous do?”
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.

When we sing this psalm, we again declare that God will protect and look after the upright. Our enemies might mock us, telling us that God is blind and unmindful of what we go through, but that is not true. God observes everything and everyone on earth and will bring justice one day. The upright will see his face.

The upright are not those who are sinlessly perfect but those who have faith in God and trust in his love and mercy. David was not a perfect human being. On the contrary, he was far from it. He did things most of us would never dream of doing. Yet, God called him a man after his own heart. Why? David’s sins were terrible, and we would instantly condemn anyone who did what he did.

However, God sees beyond the deeds. He looks at the heart, and he found David’s pointed toward himself. David had a deep desire to follow God’s will and do everything God wanted him to do. David trusted God completely and totally. As for his sins, he admitted to them and repented for them, and God forgave him.

We can be like David, accepting the forgiveness God grants the repentant through his Son Jesus and following him in faith and obedience. Jesus also said that the pure in heart would see God (Matthew 5:8). People who are pure in heart are upright. But what does it mean to see the face of God? It means that one day we will stand before God in his kingdom and see him face to face.

And, hopefully, he will say to us as he said of Jesus a couple of times: Behold, my beloved child, with whom I am well pleased (Matthew 3:17;17:5).

God be with you.