Psalm 7
A Shiggaion of David, which he sang to the Lord concerning the words of Cush, a Benjaminite.
1 O Lord my God, in you do I take refuge; save me from all my pursuers and deliver me,
2 lest like a lion they tear my soul apart, rending it in pieces, with none to deliver.
This psalm was likely written while David was fleeing from Saul. It references a Benjaminite named Cush, and since Saul was of the tribe of Benjamin, this person was likely one of his associates, and a particularly nasty one at that. David declares that his refuge is in the Lord, his God. His security while being hunted day and night is the LORD himself. He asks that the LORD save him from all of his pursuers and deliver him. If the Lord doesn’t do this, David is convinced that he will be torn apart body and soul with no one to save him. There’s no one else that can deliver like the Lord. David was outnumbered, out-resourced, and running out of time. There were only so many places he could hide. He hid with friends and even with enemies, but he was running out of options. Not to minimize David’s life and death experience, but what are you running from? What is pursuing you and threatening to tear your soul apart? It’s not too difficult to make the leap that this metaphor of pursuit provides. Is it the hamster wheel of success and accomplishment? Is it the pursuit of popularity and “likes” (literally and figuratively)? Is it the day to day crush of responsibilities at work and at home? These are the ones that pursue me, but everyone has those demons that are hunting them. There is none to deliver except the Lord himself. When you’re out of breath from the beast that’s breathing down your neck, cry out to the Lord like David, take refuge in Him.
3 O Lord my God, if I have done this, if there is wrong in my hands
4 if I have repaid my friend [the one at peace with me] with evil or plundered my enemy without cause,
5 let the enemy pursue my soul and overtake it, and let him trample my life to the ground
and lay my glory in the dust. Selah
A man of integrity admits his mistakes. David is willing to admit his own culpability in the current situation. No one is perfect and relationships are complex and interdependent. Perhaps David did something inadvertently to trigger his associates to turn on him. That’s probably not this case, but the fact that he’s humble enough to suggest this demonstrates just what kind of humble man that he was. David searches his heart to see if he has repaid his friends with evil or taken from his enemy without cause. So convinced of his innocence is he that he calls down a curse upon himself if he is guilty. He is willing to be judged and convicted himself if that is what is right. It is a three-fold curse: Let me be caught by my enemy who is pursuing me, then let him trample my life into the ground, and then let my reputation (my glory) be ruined as well. Caught, killed, and disgraced. May I be quick to admit my faults when I am in conflict with someone. May I not immediately presume my innocence when facing what I feel to be a false accusation. Perhaps there is some truth there that I should consider and instead of crying foul, cry for forgiveness.
6 Arise, O Lord, in your anger; lift yourself up against the fury of my enemies; awake for me; you have appointed a judgment.
8 Let the assembly of the peoples be gathered about you; over it return on high. The Lord judges the peoples; judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness and according to the integrity that is in me.
The psalmist appeals to YHWH to arise in anger and lift himself up against the fury (anger) of David’s enemies. “Wake up! You have appointed a judgment and I want to see it.” He envisions the peoples gathered around him, with YHWH presiding as judge. Indeed he does judge the peoples. David includes himself in God’s judgment, “Judge me according to my righteousness, according to the integrity that is in me.” The Hebrew word for “peoples” is different in verses 7 and 8. However, in context, there doesn’t seem to be a distinction in meaning. The theological truth here is that YHWH is the ultimate judge of everyone. It doesn’t seem to be singling out just the psalmist’s enemies, but all people. This is made more clear by David calling on YHWH to judge him as well. We all live under the judgment of God because we live under the rule of God. He has created and established a moral order and he is the enforcer of that order. I believe this happens primarily when individuals violate the moral law and then receive the natural consequences of that violation. Romans 1:18ff make this clear. The laws of nature and nature’s God govern every person whether they believe it or not. David uses the imagery of God presiding over the peoples, presumably declaring them guilty and then executing some kind of sentence. This is what judges do. In reality, this happens every day without a great assembly and formal divine court proceedings. Then the most unusual thing about David’s reaction is that he welcomes this judgment upon himself. Perhaps he is only asking for God’s judgment upon him in this specific matter and can confidently declare himself innocent. He has been falsely charged and he appeals to the divine know-it-all to join that declaration by vindicating him before his enemies. But what if it’s more general? Can I pray this prayer? “Lord, judge me according to my righteousness, according to my integrity.” It’s not a bad prayer if it’s prayed in humility, similar to the prayer of Psalm 139:23,24 -- “Search me O God and know my heart. Test me and try my anxious thoughts. See if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” Or Psalm 19:12-14 -- “forgive my hidden faults”. May my life be an open book that you can judge today O LORD.
9 Oh, let the evil of the wicked come to an end, and may you establish the righteous— you who test the minds and hearts,[the hearts and kidneys] O righteous God!
10 My shield is with God, who saves the upright in heart.
David prays that the wicked would come to an end and that the righteous (the just) would be established. It is a prayer for justice in the form of a curse. Anyone who has been a victim of injustice or has seen it (so that’s everyone who’s a decent human being) has felt this prayer. The problem today is defining who the wicked are. Both sides of the political spectrum consider the other wicked for different reasons. This is why we need a just judge, an objective standard and a third party. So here David alludes to that judge, the one who tests the hearts and kidneys, the one who knows what is inside of us. We’re good at judging actions, but motives are much more tricky. We need God’s judgment because he alone knows our innermost thoughts and every word before it is spoken. “O righteous God”, “My shield” -- these bring back images from Psalms 3 and 4 tying this first unit of five psalms together. David prays for justice while inviting God’s righteous judgment on himself. He is striving for integrity, and it seems for a season of his life that he truly had it. There’s no other way to describe his relationship with Saul. David acted with utmost integrity toward Saul even though he himself was the duly anointed king. Jonathan likewise acted with complete integrity, and it was in an arguably more uncomfortable position than David. I want to pray this with David, and with the spirit of Jesus who reminded us that the judgment of God is on everyone (Judge not, lest ye be judged). Look in the mirror first to make sure there’s not a plank in your own eye. Strive to live a life of integrity, being upright in heart. Trust in the Lord as your shield and savior, and let him take care of justice on the wicked.
11 God is a righteous judge, and a God who feels indignation every day.
12 If a man [he] does not repent, God [he] will whet his sword; he has bent and readied his bow;
13 he has prepared for him his deadly weapons, making his arrows fiery shafts.
The Hebrew of verse 11 is quite direct: “God is angry every day”. This statement is rightly interpreted as “God expresses his wrath every day.” This is not the picture of a God who is in a bad mood all the time, so watch out! Rather, this is a statement that God is a just God, consistent with the theme of the entire psalm. He is a just judge and one can see examples of his justice every day on at least two levels. On the more general level, there is the principles of Romans 1 - “they receive in themselves the due penalty for their perversion”. There is a sin cost that is built into the system that cannot be avoided. It’s like the sales tax in a transaction, there’s no way around it. If you drink acid you will be eaten from the inside out. That’s just the way the world is wired. You can choose your actions, but you can’t choose your consequences. The second level of God’s justice is more specific. It’s not in the daily working out of the natural consequences of our behavior, but it is the intentional interventions of God on behalf of his people and because of his just nature. This is what is described in verses 12-13 where God intentionally picks up and prepares weapons for judgment. God is sharpening his sword, drawing back his bow, and dipping the points of his arrows into fire. Verse 12 is tricky because of the ambiguity of the pronouns. The “he’s” seem to be about God in the immediate context (God expresses wrath every day and he is preparing deadly weapons to do so). But then what do you do with the word “repent”? Well God can repent. He can change directions and relent from bringing his just judgment. I think this is the most likely interpretation. However, given verses 14-16, it could be argued that the “he” in verse 12 could refer to the wicked man described in those three verses that follow. I don’t think this is likely because the reader doesn’t know the verses that follow until he gets there. Thus, the immediate context suggests that the “he” in verse 12 is God. The lesson here is simple. As the abolitionist said, “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.” Justice is hard-wired into creation and into human beings as image-bearers of God. While there is plenty of injustice in the world, the good news is that God is sharpening his sword and bending his bow to make right what we have made wrong. That’s good news and bad news depending on where you are in relation to the direction of God’s arrow.
14 Behold, the wicked man conceives evil and is pregnant with mischief and gives birth to lies.
15 He makes a pit, digging it out, and falls into the hole that he has made.
16 His mischief returns upon his own head, and on his own skull his violence descends.
17 I will give to the Lord the thanks due to his righteousness, and I will sing praise to the name of the Lord, the Most High.
David describes the way that God’s justice works immediately after the description of God preparing to vent his wrath. The wicked man allows evil to get into the broken places of his life and there he nurtures and allows it to grow and develop, often with little outward signs of the darkness within. And when it has a life of its own, it emerges and spews lies. He digs a pit to trap others (a pitfall), but then he falls into the hole he has made. The mischief that he has planned for others backfires and comes down on his own head, and violence descends on his skull. There is a fall into a trap and a mortal head wound. How many times do we see this illustrated in life. Visit a prison and you will see men who have lived out this scenario. Sometimes they are mad at God about it, sometimes they are angry at society and others, and sometimes they will own the truth that are at least in part responsible for their own downfall. May I never be on the wrong side of God’s justice. May I never allow evil to take root in my life. May I fix the broken places so evil cannot get inside and fill any empty place. Like the psalmist, let me give thanks to the LORD because of his justice and sing praise to the name of the LORD, the Most High. This last verse leads right into Psalm 9, suggesting that Psalm 8 was placed there by the editor for effect, to once again orient us to the truth (in contrast to the lies that are the fruit of evil).