Psalms 11:4

The LORD is in his holy temple, the LORD’s throne is in heaven: his eyes behold, his eyelids try, the children of men.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
LORD	יְהוָ֤ה Yah.weh	H3068	Jehovah · proper noun, a title
holy	קָדְשׁ֗וֹ ka.de.Sho	H6944	a sacred place or thing · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
temple	בְּֽהֵ֘יכַ֤ל be.Hei.Khal	H1964	a large public building · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
LORD’s	יְהוָה֮ Yah.weh	H3068	Jehovah · proper noun, a title
throne	כִּ֫סְא֥וֹ kis.'O	H3678	properly · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
heaven	בַּשָּׁמַ֪יִם ba.sha.Ma.yim	H8064	the sky (as aloft · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
eyes	עֵינָ֥יו 'ei.Nav	H5869	an eye (literally or figuratively) · noun, common feminine dual construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
behold	יֶחֱז֑וּ ye.che.Zu	H2372	to gaze at · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
eyelids	עַפְעַפָּ֥יו 'af.'a.Pav	H6079	an eyelash (as fluttering) · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
try	יִ֝בְחֲנ֗וּ yiv.cha.Nu	H974	to test (especially metals) · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
children	בְּנֵ֣י be.Nei	H1121	a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine plural construct
men	אָדָֽם 'a.Dam	H120	ruddy i.e. a human being (an individual or the species · noun, common masculine singular absolute

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Psalms 103:19 The LORD hath prepared his throne in the heavens; and his kingdom ruleth over all.
Psalms 18:6 In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried unto my God: he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, even into his…
Psalms 2:4 He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision.
Habakkuk 2:20 But the LORD is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him.
Psalms 33:13 The LORD looketh from heaven; he beholdeth all the sons of men.
Psalms 34:15-16 The eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry.
Isaiah 66:1 Thus saith the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the plac…
Jeremiah 23:24 Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Psalms 11:4–end

The shaking of a tree (they say) makes it take the deeper and faster root. The attempt of David's enemies to discourage his confidence in God engages him to cleave so much the more closely to his first principles, and to review them, which he here does, abundantly to his own satisfaction and the silencing of all temptations to infidelity. That which was shocking to his faith, and has been so to the faith of many, was the prosperity of wicked people in their wicked ways, and the straits and distresses which the best men are sometimes reduced to: hence such an evil thought as this was apt to arise, Surely it is vain to serve God, and we may call the proud happy. But, in order to stifle and sha…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Psalms 11:4

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; Psa 3:4; Psa 5:7). Thence He inspects men with close scrutiny.

John Gill on Psalms 11:4

The Lord is in his holy temple,.... Not in the temple at Jerusalem, which as yet was not built; nor in the temple of Christ's human nature; but rather in the church, where he dwells, which is an holy temple to the Lord; and which is an argument for trust in him, and a reason against the fears of men in the worst of times; see Psalm 46:1. Though it may be best to understand it of heaven, the habitation of God's holiness, and which is the true sanctuary; and which the holy places made with hands were only a figure of; since it follows, the Lord's throne is in heaven; yea, the heaven is his throne; here he sits on a throne of grace, and here he has prepared his throne for judgment; and both th…

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John Calvin on Psalms 11:4-5

Psalm 11:4-5 4. Jehovah is in the palace of his holiness: Jehovah has his throne in heaven; his eyes behold, [244] and his eyelids consider the children of men. 5. Jehovah approves the righteous man; but his soul hateth the ungodly, and him who loveth iniquity. 4. Jehovah is in the palace of his holiness. In what follows, the Psalmist glories in the assurance of the favor of God, of which I have spoken. Being destitute of human aid, he betakes himself to the providence of God. It is a signal proof of faith, as I have observed elsewhere, to take and to borrow, so to speak, [245] light from heaven to guide us to the hope of salvation, when we are surrounded in this world with darkness on eve…

The Church Fathers

If the eyes of God look on the poor, let us be numbered among the poor, so that the eyes of the Lord may look down on us. If the rich do not become poor, very little will the eyes of the Lord look on them.
— Evagrius Ponticus, NOTES ON THE PSALMS 10[11].4

So while they practice their evil ways against me, you, the righteous Judge, seated on your heavenly throne and making your own special appearance in the temple on earth, view the whole world, though sufficient for you is a mere glance of your eyes to learn about all human affairs. You know precisely the doings of the righteous and the unrighteous, and you measure out repayment for work done.
— Theodoret of Cyrus, COMMENTARY ON THE PSALMS 11:3

Do you see a ready ally, a well-prepared aid, present everywhere, seeing everything, gazing on all things, having as his particular role—even if no one requests it—to exercise providence and care, to pursue wrongdoers, to assist the wronged, to award recompense to the virtuous, to assign punishment to sinners? He is, therefore, ignorant of nothing; his eyes in fact look attentively on the whole world. He is not simply aware of things, however; he also wants to correct them.… If, in fact, he is righteous, he will not simply overlook these happenings. He rebuffs the wicked; he praises the righteous.
— John Chrysostom, COMMENTARY ON THE PSALMS 11:2

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Naioth — Dwellings, the name given to the prophetical college established by Samuel near Ramah. It consisted of a cluster of separate dwellings, and hence its name. David took refuge here when he fled from…
Heaven · God: Reigns in — God: Reigns in
Throne · .Of God — .Of God

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Psalms 11:4

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Psalms 11:4–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Psalms 11:4

John Gill on Psalms 11:4

John Calvin on Psalms 11:4-5

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Psalms 11:4

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Psalms 11:4–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Psalms 11:4

John Gill on Psalms 11:4

John Calvin on Psalms 11:4-5

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Keil & Delitzsch on Psalms 11:4-6

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Psalms 11:4

Spurgeon's Treasury of David on Psalms 11:4