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1 Lord my God, I take refuge in you;
save and deliver me from all who pursue me,
2 or they will tear me like a lion
and rip me to pieces with no one to rescue me.
3 Lord my God, if I have done this
and there is guilt on my hands –
4 if I have done evil to him who is at peace with me
or without cause have robbed my foe –
5 then let my enemy pursue and overtake me;
let him trample my life to the ground
and make me sleep in the dust.[c]
6 Arise, Lord, in your anger;c
rise up against the rage of my enemies.
Awake, my God; decree justice.
7 Let the assembled peoples gather round you,
Rule over them from on high.
8 Let the Lord judge the peoples.
Judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness,
according to my integrity, O Most High.
9 O righteous God who searches minds and hearts
bring to an end the violence of the wicked
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and make the righteous secure –
you, the righteous God
who probes minds and hearts.
10 My shield[d] is God Most High,
who saves the upright in heart.
11 God is a righteous judge,
a God who expresses his wrath every day.
12 If he does not relent,
he[e] will sharpen his sword;
he will bend and string his bow.
13 He has prepared his deadly weapons;
he makes ready his flaming arrows.
14 He who is s pregnant with evil
and conceives trouble gives birth to disillusionment.
15 Whoever digs a hole and scoops it out
falls into the pit they have made.
16 The trouble they cause recoils on himself;
his violence comes down on his own head.
17 I will give thanks to the Lord because of his righteousness;
and I will sing the praises of the name of
the Lord Most High.
(NIV)
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Psalm 7 The superscription indicates that the psalm was written while David was being ruthlessly attacked by “Cush the Benjamite”, who was evidently one of Saul’s radical kinsmen. David is confident in both his own innocence (verses 3-5), and the certainty of divine retribution on the much-deserving Cush (verses 6-17).
Verses 1-17: This psalm is basically a plea for divine defence in the light of the oppressor’s allegations and actions. David’s confidence in God the Judge is the backbone of Psalm 7 (compare Abraham in Gen. 18:25). As this truth grips him more and more, he moves from a tense anxiety to a transcendent assurance. This psalm follows David through 3 progressively calming stages of expression in response to the painfully false accusations that were being hurled against him
1. Stage One: David’s Concern as He Passionately Begs the Attention of the Divine Judge (7:1-5).
2. Stage Two: David’s Court Appearance as He Painstakingly Argues His Case before the Divine Judge (7:6-16).
3. Stage Three: David’s Composure as He Patiently Waits for the Verdict of the Divine Judge (7:17).
Psalm 7 introduces one of the more mysterious terms found in superscriptions of the psalms, “a Shiggaion (Hebrew), of David”. It is probably related to the idea of wondering, reeling, veering, or weaving. Consequently, the term may also indicate the song’s irregularity in rhythm (compare Hab. 3:1). “He sang” also indicates that this was a vocal solo. The occasion, “concerning Cush, a Benjamite”, cannot be readily identified from the historical books. However, whoever this was or whatever the name represented, some enemy had obviously been falsely charging David (compare Shimei, 2 Sam. 16:5; 19:16).
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