Foundations that Hold | Psalm 11 | Morning Psalms & Prayers
Watch This Episode on Psalm 11
Psalm 11 asks, “If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?” In this episode of Morning Psalms and Prayers, Pastor Mark Groen reflects on the steadfast refuge we have in God, who reigns from His heavenly throne. Through Scripture, prayer, and reflection, we begin the day reminded that God’s righteousness is our foundation, and His mercy is new each morning.
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Good morning and welcome to Morning Psalms and Prayers for Thursday, June 11th. We begin with a prayer for illumination by Hughes Oliphant Old. Let us pray. Eternal Father, whose dwelling place is in the secret wellspring of heavenly light, send forth your light and truth that every secret fear in our hearts might be opened to joy. Grant to us, your Holy Spirit, that we might sense the joyful secret abiding within us. Grant to us, the Spirit of Truth, that we might dwell in the secret place of the Most High and abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Well, it is June 11th and we are in Psalm 11. Hear the word of the Lord. 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? The Lord is in his holy temple. The Lord's throne is in heaven. His eyes see. His eyelids test the children of man.
The Lord tests the righteous, but his soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence. Let him rain coals on the wicked. Fire and sulfur and a scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup. For the Lord is righteous. He loves righteous deeds. The upright shall behold his face. And so as we think about these verses today, I want to think first off about verse three. If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do? This is an important question for us to ask. What happens when a foundation is destroyed? Well, What is standing on it doesn't have much time left, does it?
Your house isn't going to be too secure if your foundation is gone. And the same holds for our lives. If we have our foundations pulled out from under us, What will we do? If we don't have the foundation of who God is, and His power, and His majesty, and His standards, and His law underneath us, how long can we stand? If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do? This is why it is so important that we understand the foundations of what we believe and why we believe it. This is why it's important that we understand that God's laws are a reflection of His character and of His holiness.
because we want to be able to understand not only who God is, but how we are to live in response to that, how we are to live to reflect his character. And we see here also in verse 4 that the Lord is in his holy temple. The Lord's throne is in heaven. His eyes see, his eyelids test the children of man. God is able to see what is happening in his world. He is in control. He is on his throne. We've been seeing this through the last week. The Lord is in his holy temple. He is in control.
And so we should be thinking about how that affects our lives. Do we want to be in rebellion against the king? The Lord is in His holy temple. Do we want to stand against Him? Because it doesn't do us any good to stand against Him. We will not be victorious. We've seen that in the previous Psalms that we've looked at this week. We need to remember that God is, in fact, on His throne. And we need to remember verse 5, the Lord tests the righteous. You know, we are given the opportunity each and every day to determine whether we're going to live in rebellion or whether we're going to live in subjection to our King.
God loves the righteous and He tests them. But remember, he does not like our rebellion and our sin. Obviously. That's why it's so important that we try to conform our lives to his will, that we think about what God would have us do. What is his law? What is the basis for his law? That changes not only the way we live, but it changes the way we think about the world. And it gives us not only a heart for what is true, but it also gives us compassion. Because we remember that except for the grace of God, there go we.
If it were not for God's grace in our lives, we would be children of wrath. We would be the one that he hated because of our wickedness and our violence. And so this causes us to remember the grace and the mercy of God that we so desperately need. And so may today be another day where our focus is that grace and is that mercy because we understand that we have a foundation in who God is. He is the one who is on the throne and we desire to be the one that lives our lives in accordance with who he is.
We don't want to be like the wicked. We want to live our way, live our lives in a righteous way. Let us go to prayer. Father in heaven, you are in your holy temple. You are on your throne in heaven and we are so grateful that we are not only your subjects, but your children because of what Jesus has done for us. We trust in your goodness and your love as the foundation for our lives and we seek to reflect you as we live in your world today. We lift up the children of our community to you today.
As the summer months are starting to get in full swing, we know that activity will be increasing, and so we pray for safety and protection as students move around town to summer rec activities and to the swimming pool. We know that this spring has been particularly difficult with the way the school year ended for them, and so we pray that this would be a time of restoration. Bless and renew their friendships as they enjoy the opportunities that being youthful affords. And as we begin our day, We praise you for your righteousness. We know that you love righteous deeds and that the upright shall behold your face.
May our deeds today be upright and reflect your character in all things. Bless our interactions today and may we see them as an opportunity to witness to who you are and what you have done for us in Jesus Christ. In whose name we pray. Amen. Have yourself a very good Thursday. Take care.
🌄 Keep Your Feet on Solid Ground
When the world feels unstable, God's Word reminds us where true security is found. Psalm 11 calls us to trust—not in the shifting sands of circumstance—but in the righteous God who reigns from His holy temple.
If this devotional encouraged you, here are more ways to stay rooted:
📖 Explore the full sermon: Rising Above the Storm – A deeper look at Psalm 11 and what it means to trust God when foundations shake.
✍️ Reflect with our devotional series: Above the Storm – Five short readings that help you stay anchored in Christ.
🎙️ Watch Dwell in the Word: Psalm 11 – A brief devotional teaching on the same passage.
God’s truth holds firm—and so can we. Come back tomorrow for more Psalms and prayer.
