Last Updated on September 22, 2021 by Pastor Ikechukwu Chinedum
While we are still in the moment of studying Psalms, today, we will be taking a look at the book of Psalm 7 meaning verse by verse. The superscription indicates that the psalm was written while David was ruthlessly assailed by “Cush the Benjamite,” who was one of Saul’s radical kin. David is confident in both his innocence (verses 3-5) and the certainty of divine retribution on the much-deserving Cush (verses 6-17).
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This psalm is a plea for divine justification in the light of the oppressor’s allegations and actions. David’s confidence in the Divine Judge is the backbone of Psalm 7 (compare Abraham in Gen. 18:25). As this truth grips him more and more, he will move from 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
Psalm 7, Meaning Verse by Verse
Verse 1: O LORD my God, in thee do I put my trust: save me from all them that persecute me, and deliver me.
All my hope and confidence are in thy favor and faithfulness to fulfill thy promise made to me. When David was under attack from Cush the Benjamite, all he could trust was God. Every other support was gone, but he needed no additional help. Nothing is known of Cush, but from Absalom’s rebellion, it emerged that Benjamin, Saul’s tribe, held some bitter enemies of David. Sometimes God’s strength is evident in helping through a trial. Other times it is evident in delivering us from trials. David was persuaded that God wanted to deliver him from this trial.
Verse 2: Lest he tears my soul like a lion, rending [it] in pieces, while [there is] none to deliver.”
Tear my soul like a lion”: Often the psalmist’s enemies are symbolized by vicious, attacking animals, with “the king of beasts” occurring frequently, Psalms 10:9; 17:12; 22:13, 16, 21). David believed there would be grave consequences if he were not delivered from these lion-like enemies. This understanding gave David an urgency in prayer. God sometimes allows for difficult circumstances so that they will awaken this urgency in us.
Verse 3: O LORD my God, if I have done this; if there be iniquity in my hands;
The crime which Saul and his courtiers charged David with, and which was made so public that everybody knew it. And therefore, it was needless, particularly to mention it. With these words, David did not claim sinless perfection. Instead, he simply rejected the idea of moral equivalence between himself and his enemies. Although David expresses himself as perhaps, we would not, and his words do not mean that he is perfect, only that he is innocent of the crime of which he was charged.
Verse 4 and 5: If I have repaid evil to him who was at peace with me, Or have plundered my enemy without cause. Let the enemy pursue me and overtake me; Yes, let him trample my life to the earth And lay my honor in the dust. Selah.
This was to Saul when he was peaceable and friendly towards David. David was charged with evil designs against Saul before Saul broke out into open enmity against him. David knew that his enemies were thirsty for his defeat. He was so confident in his righteousness in comparison to his enemies that he was willing to be given over to their desire if they were right. David is saying here, try me Lord and see if I have done wrong. He also says, if I have done wrong, I deserve to be destroyed. David knows that he has done no wrong, that these are false accusations against him.
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Verse 6: Arise, O LORD, in thine anger, lift thyself because of the rage of mine enemies: and awake for me [to] the judgment [that] thou hast commanded.
David believed that God was a being of human-like passions, such as anger. David also believed that the passions of God were on his behalf; he believed God was or would be angry for him instead of against him. It is a mistake to believe that God is without passions. Because He is God, we can say that these passions are not exactly like their human counterparts; yet they are certainly somewhat like them. God is not cold, distant, and dispassionate.
Verse 7: So shall the congregation of the people compass thee about: for their sakes, therefore, return thou on high.
David’s prayer for protection and vindication was not fundamentally selfish. He knew that his fate was vitally connected to the welfare of God’s people. It was in large measure for their sakes, the sake of the congregation.
Verse 8: The LORD shall judge the peoples; Judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness. And according to my integrity within me.
This was the attitude that protected David from presumption. He honestly invited God’s judgment and correction. Therefore, David asked for God’s blessing according to my righteousness, and according to my integrity within me. In effect, he prayed, Lord, to the extent that I am righteous before You, bless me and protect me from my enemies. When David longed for justice, it wasn’t that He wanted ultimate and perfect judgment before God; he looked for justice on the global level, justice between him and his false accuser.
Verse 9: Oh, let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end, but establish the just; For the righteous God tests the hearts and minds.
This reveals more of the heart of David’s prayer. More than anything, he prayed for God to be just. David did not pray for special favoritism with God; he prayed for God to be just, and he searched his own heart to help put him right before God. David seemed to pray here beyond his personal needs. “There is a great breadth of vision here, revealing a concern for universal justice which was always the motive behind David’s appeals for pardon.
Verse 10: My defense is of God, Who saves the upright in heart.
David knew he was at a significant disadvantage before his enemies and had to rely on the defense that is of God. With his trust in God, David did “Throw off slanders, as Paul did the viper; in holy scorn, he laughs at them.
Verse 11: God is a just judge, and God is angry with the wicked every day.
David’s prior appeal to God’s testing of man (Psalm 7:9) made him think of the justice of God. He declared this fundamental principle: God is a just judge. This is a commonly and dangerously rejected truth about God. Many anticipate that they will one day stand before a God of great love, great mercy, great warmth, and great generosity. They never imagine they will stand before a God who is perfectly just and who cannot ignore the crime of sin.
Verse 12: He will sharpen His sword; He bends His bow and makes it ready.
David here considered the readiness of God to judge the sinner. David saw the sword sharpened, and the bow bent. With God so ready to judge, the sinner should never presume that God will delay His judgment. When God delays judgment out of mercy, many people make a fatal error. They think this mercy means that God is not concerned with justice.
Verse 13: He also prepares for Himself instruments of death; He makes His arrows into fiery shafts.
This powerful poetic imagery communicates the severity of God’s judgment, hopefully providing another incentive to repentance. The wrath of God may be slow, but it is always sure.
Verse 14: Behold, the wicked brings forth iniquity; Yes, he conceives trouble and brings forth falsehood.
This seemingly obvious statement is important. It shows that a wicked heart will show itself in wicked deeds. Those wicked deeds may have the cover of respectability but will nonetheless be filled with iniquity. He conceives trouble and brings forth falsehood: This shows the source of sin that it is from within the sinner. The sinner conceives and gives birth to sin as a mother gives birth to children from within.
Verse 15 and 16: He made a pit and dug it out, And has fallen into the ditch which he made. His trouble shall return upon his head, And his violent dealing shall come down on his crown.
This shows a common method of God’s distribution of justice. He often brings the same calamity on the wicked that they had planned for the righteous. “God is righteous. The way of wickedness cannot prosper. It creates its destruction. The pit dug is the grave of the man who digs it.” His violent dealing shall come down on his crown: Two examples of this among many in the Bible are the fate of Haman, the enemy of Mordecai and the Jews (Esther 7:7-10), and the enemies of Daniel in the lion’s den (Daniel 6:24).
Verse 17: I will praise the LORD according to His righteousness, And will sing praise to the name of the LORD Most High.
David was wise enough to praise God according to His righteousness and not his own. Though David appealed to God in this psalm based on his comparative goodness, this was not a self-righteous prayer. David knew the difference between his relative righteousness and God’s praiseworthy, perfect righteousness. David ended this psalm, which began in gloom on a high note of praise. He could praise because he took his cause to God and in faith, left it there.
When Do We Need This Psalm
- When we are being judged wrongly by our friends, relatives, or at work
- When we are by oppressing by people in high authority or power
- When it seems, we are the only one living for a right cause with no one beside us
- When it seems our enemies are right above us and were powerless to fight back
- When we are suppressed by the power of darkness
Prayers
- Oh Lord, my God, my trust is in you today, deliver me from every form of persecution and oppression in the name of Jesus.
- Every attack of the attackers on assignment to ruin my life, you shall not prosper, scatter in the name of Jesus.
- Today I close up every known and unknown opening in my life-giving access to the operations of the adversaries in Jesus name.
- Oh Lord, arise today concerning my life, make a way out for me, supernaturally in the name of Jesus.
- Father today by your mighty power, let the wickedness of the wicked come to a total end in my life, family, and destiny without delay in Jesus name.
- I refuse to fall into any known and unknown pit that the wicked has set for me in life.
- Everyone that has dug a hole shall fall into it in Jesus name.
- Father, by your unquestionable power, turn every trial and trouble in my life to testimony in Jesus name.
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