Psalms 11 — Jamieson–Fausset–Brown
11:1
1. my soul--me (Psa 3:2). Flee--literally, "flee ye"; that is, he and his companion. as a bird to your mountain--having as such no safety but in flight (compare 1Sa 26:20; La 3:52).
11:2
2. privily--literally, "in darkness," treacherously.
11:3
3. Literally, "The foundations (that is, of good order and law) will be destroyed, what has the righteous done (to sustain them)?" All his efforts have failed.
11:4
4. temple ... heaven--The connection seems to denote God's heavenly residence; the term used is taken from the place of His visible earthly abode (Psa 2:6; 3:4; 5:7). Thence He inspects men with close scrutiny.
11:5
5. The trial of the righteous results in their approval, as it is contrasted with God's hatred to the wicked.
11:6
6. Their punishment is described by vivid figures denoting abundant, sudden, furious, and utter destruction (compare Ge 19:24; Job 18:15; Psa 7:15; 9:15). cup--is a frequent figure for God's favor or wrath (Psa 16:5; 23:5; Mt 20:22, 23).
11:7
7. his countenance--literally, "their faces," a use of the plural applied to God, as in Ge 1:26; 3:22; 11:7; Is 6:8, c., denoting the fulness of His perfections, or more probably originating in a reference to the trinity of persons. "Faces" is used as "eyes" (Psa 11:4), expressing here God's complacency towards the upright (compare Psa 34:15, 16).