𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝕱𝖔𝖚𝖓𝖉𝖆𝖙𝖎𝖔𝖓𝖘 𝕺𝖋 𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝕹𝖊𝖜 𝖂𝖔𝖗𝖑𝖉: 𝕾𝖊𝖈𝖑𝖚𝖘𝖎𝖔𝖓 𝕬𝖓𝖉 𝕷𝖆𝖕𝖘𝖊

Psalm 11 — When Foundations Collapse, the Righteous Stand Under God’s Rule

Psalm 11 Living Bible {Paraphrased}

1 How dare you tell me, “Flee to the mountains for safety,” when I am trusting in the Lord?

² For the wicked have strung their bows, drawn their arrows tight against the bowstrings, and aimed from ambush at the people of God.

³ “Law and order {the foundations} have collapsed,” we are told. “What can the righteous do but flee?”

⁴ But the Lord is still in his holy temple; he still rules from heaven. He closely watches everything that happens here on earth.

⁵ He puts the righteous and the wicked to the test; he hates those loving violence.

⁶ He will rain down fire and brimstone on the wicked and scorch them with his burning wind.

⁷ For God is good, and he loves goodness; the godly shall see his face.

Definitions: Reclusive, Solitary, Secluded, and Related Spiritual Terms

• Reclusive — someone who deliberately withdraws from social life and avoids groups.
• Solitary — someone who lives or spends most time alone.
• Secluded — someone who stays apart from others, often physically or socially.

Words with a spiritual or church‑related angle

• Withdrawn — someone who pulls back emotionally or socially from the church body.
• Isolated — someone who has become cut off from fellowship, whether by choice or circumstance.
• Lapsed — traditionally used for someone who no longer participates in religious community or practice.

The Foundations of the New World: Seclusion and Lapse

Since COVID-19 emerged in 2020, the world has entered a new era. The old foundations have been shaken and, in many places, dismantled. What was once established as non-discrimination had, in practice, become discriminatory. New leaders have risen, and many who claim authority now act unlawfully—committing wrongs while calling them righteousness.

Yet when God renews foundations, He also prepares His Church to endure what follows.

God has been working within the born-again believer. He has allowed a season of seclusion and spiritual “lapse”—not as defeat, but as preparation. To the world, the Church appears withdrawn, fearful, or reclusive. But the truth is deeper: the Lord is training His people for the war ahead. A restrained, separated character is not weakness; it is survival for the evil days to come.

The celebrations have ended. This seclusion does not mean God has stopped loving His people, nor that the Church has lost love. But many assume love has grown cold because gatherings have diminished—what Scripture calls “love feasts” (Jude 1:12). Family meetings, visits, and shared tables have been replaced by isolation and screens. People now communicate through social media instead of face-to-face fellowship. They go live instead of going to see one another. When biological warfare struck in 2020, the love feasts became, in effect, “every man for himself.”

Many have been conditioned by the devastation of COVID-19. Fear and caution became a way of life. The fear of death—and of losing those we love—settled into isolation until it felt normal. That is my observation. But the Lord has shown me something different: this is not merely fear. God Himself has permitted this seclusion and lapse as a shaping of His Church.

The Holy Spirit has shown me that the Church is not truly afraid of contagion, because the Lord protects His people. Many do not even realize they are being preserved by Him; they simply walk forward. “Surely He shall deliver thee…” (Psalm 91).

You may long for the return of the love feasts, but war is coming, and the world will not revert to the old system. This is a new world with new foundations, and the former ways will not return as they were. Seclusion and lapse are becoming the norm, and you must think in terms of endurance.

Those who belong to God have been remade in character to outlive what is coming. Those who do not know Him must still find a way to survive—but they will have to rely on their own understanding. And the sign of the unprepared is this: they love the old world and its ways. The Christian, however, loves the Lord—not the world. This is how you discern who is truly walking with God.

The Path to God: Seclusion, Lapse, and the Foundations of Another World

Seclusion and spiritual “lapse” are becoming foundations within the believer—marks of a people being formed for another world. For we are not of this world: “They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world” (John 17:16). Scripture also declares, “Our citizenship is in heaven” (Philippians 3:20), and “Here we have no continuing city, but we seek the one to come” (Hebrews 13:14).

In this season, we no longer strive to know others in the old way, nor to be sustained by constant gatherings and social approval. A deeper longing is rising: to depart this life and be with God—“to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better” (Philippians 1:23). The desire to know Him face to face becomes overwhelming, consuming lesser desires.

This holy hunger displaces what once ruled the flesh: the craving for “love feasts,” the pursuit of pleasure, and the social norms of the old life. As it is written, “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world” (1 John 2:15–17). God is not merely removing us from crowds; He is drawing us toward Himself, until the Church is marked by separation, endurance, and a single-eyed pursuit of His presence.

Psalm 91 — Divine Shelter for the Secluded Church in a New World

Psalm 91 Living Bible

1 We live within the shadow of the Almighty, sheltered by the God who is above all gods.

² This I declare, that he alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my God, and I am trusting him. ³ For he rescues you from every trap and protects you from the fatal plague.

⁴ He will shield you with his wings! They will shelter you. His faithful promises are your armor. ⁵ Now you don’t need to be afraid of the dark anymore, nor fear the dangers of the day;

⁶ nor dread the plagues of darkness, nor disasters in the morning.

⁷ Though a thousand fall at my side, though ten thousand are dying around me, the evil will not touch me.

⁸ I will see how the wicked are punished, but I will not share it.

⁹ For Jehovah is my refuge! I choose the God above all gods to shelter me.

¹⁰ How then can evil overtake me or any plague come near?

¹¹ For he orders his angels to protect you wherever you go.

¹² They will steady you with their hands to keep you from stumbling against the rocks on the trail. ¹³ You can safely meet a lion or step on poisonous snakes, yes, even trample them beneath your feet!

¹⁴ For the Lord says, “Because he loves me, I will rescue him; I will make him great because he trusts in my name.

¹⁵ When he calls on me, I will answer; I will be with him in trouble and rescue him and honor him. ¹⁶ I will satisfy him with a full life and give him my salvation.”

𝖂𝖔𝖗𝖑𝖉 𝖜𝖎𝖙𝖍𝖔𝖚𝖙 𝖊𝖓𝖉. 𝕬𝖒𝖊𝖓.

 All Scripture quotations are taken from the Living Bible Version (TLB) unless otherwise noted. This message may be freely shared for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.