“In the Lord I take refuge; how can you say to my soul, “Flee like a bird to your mountain, for behold, the wicked bend the bow; they have fitted their arrow to the string to shoot in the dark at the upright in heart; if the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?”” (Psalm 11:1–3, ESV)
This Psalm opens with a sound retort to what seems to be bad advice—to flee to the mountain like a bird to his mountain (i.e., escape stealthily and get far away from the reach of the archer’s arrows. David is apparently encouraged to flee because evil men are scheming for his downfall and it’s too dangerous for him to remain in plain sight.
But David takes refuge in the Lord and refuses to flee from man. His argument for doing so is that If the king flees, what can the righteous citizens do? The king is the foundation of the society where he holds the office as the Lord’s representative in matters of law and order in that society. If the king is shaken, how much more will the people fall apart.
It’s unfortunate that we have few national leader who are willing to take refuge in the Lord when the arrows start flying; but thank God for Christ, the church’s one foundation, and the only one who was truly upright in heart, for He did not flee when the wicked bent their bows and shot their deceitful arrows into him. Thank God, also, for pastors and elders who are willing to follow Christ’s example, even if the civic leaders will not.