It sounds so simple, but what about when shootings and lootings are all over the city? What about when viruses, politics, and fake news fills our airwaves? How can we trust the Lord when it seems like our world is out of control?

This is the same kind of scared thinking King David faced.  In Psalm 11 we can almost hear his exasperated words cry out: “I trust in the LORD for protection. So why do you say to me, ‘Run to the mountains; the evil bows are bent, the wicked arrows are aimed to shoot under cover of darkness at every heart open to God.  The bottom’s dropped out of the country and good people don’t have a chance’” (Psalm 11:1-3).

Do these three-thousand-year-old words sound a little too familiar?  Here we are today with almost the same worries. We watch the news and see a crumbling world, so we lock our doors, buy plenty of ammo and never, never-ever, talk to strangers.

​David was regularly under the threat of death, yet despite all the worries of his time, he continued to say, “I trust the Lord for protection” (Psalm 11:1). Even when it seemed like the foundations of law and order were collapsing, David held fast to the promise that “the Lord still rules from heaven and watches over us” (Psalm 11:4).

Now, it only makes sense that if God is watching over us, he must be looking in our direction! And if God can see us, we must be able to see God.  Remember the game, “Peek-a-boo, I see you!” we play with little children? They get it. They know that if you can see them, then they can see you. Your eyes meet and everyone smiles.

The best part of Psalm 11 is God’s promise at the end, which says, “Those who do what is right will see my face” (Psalm 11:7).  Yes, in the end, we will see God’s face!  

Whose face do you enjoy gazing at? Only the face of someone you love. We love staring into our baby’s face. Oh, how we love our children. The mystery of their birth and the newness of life captivates us as we try to hold their faces in our memory.

And it is the same with our Father. God is looking at us and wants to hold us in his loving hands,if only we would let him. He wants us to rest with him, pray to him and look at him. He wants us to be still and know that he is God (Psalm 46:10). He loves us and wants us to love him back. And when do, we get to experience the strength and peace of his love no matter what is happening around us. Indeed, we get to see God’s face because his care and protection is all around us.