Psalm 7

Shiggaion of David, which he sang unto the Lord,
concerning the words of Cush the Benjamite.

1 O LORD my God, in thee do I put my trust;
save me from all them that persecute me, and deliver me,
2 Lest he tear my soul like a lion, rending it in pieces,
while there is none to deliver.

3 O LORD my God, if I have done this,
if there be iniquity in my hands,
4 If I have rewarded evil unto him that was at peace with me;
(yea, I have delivered him that without cause is mine enemy;)
5 Let the enemy persecute my soul, and take it;
yea, let him tread down my life upon the earth,
and lay mine honour in the dust. Selah.

6 Arise, O LORD, in thine anger, lift up thyself because of the rage of mine enemies;
and awake for me to the judgment that thou hast commanded.
7 So shall the congregation of the people compass thee about;
for their sakes therefore return thou on high.

8 The LORD shall judge the people;
judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness,
and according to mine integrity that is in me.
9 Oh let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end;
but establish the just, for the righteous God trieth the hearts and reins.
10 My defence is of God, which saveth the upright in heart.
11 God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day.

12 If he turn not, he will whet his sword;
he hath bent his bow, and made it ready.
13 He hath also prepared for him the instruments of death;
he ordaineth his arrows against the persecutors.
14 Behold, he travaileth with iniquity,
and conceived mischief, and brought forth falsehood.
15 He made a pit, and digged it,
and is fallen into the ditch which he made.
16 His mischief shall return upon his own head,
and his violent dealing shall come down upon his own pate.

17 I will praise the LORD according to his righteousness;
and will sing praise to the name of the LORD most high.

JW: David prays for deliverance from his enemies, ver. 1, 2; appeals to God for his innocence, ver. 3-5; prays to him to judge his cause, ver. 6-9; expresses his confidence in God, ver. 10-17.

[On verse 4:] 'Deliver' - when it was in my power to destroy him, as 1 Sam. 24.2-6.

[On verse 7:] 'Compass' - They will come from all parts to worship thee, and offer thee praises and sacrifices. 'High' - To thy tribunal, to sit there and judge my cause. An allusion to earthly tribunals, which generally are set up on high above the people.

[On verse 12:] 'He will' - God will hasten, and speedily execute his judgments upon him.

[On verse 13:] 'Ordaineth' - Designs or fits for this very use. Of all sinners, persecutors are set up as the fairest marks of Divine wrath. They set God at defiance but cannot set themselves out of the reach of his judgments.

[On verse 14:] 'Travelleth' - This metaphor denotes his deep design, and vigorous endeavours for doing mischief, and his restlessness and pain 'till he have accomplished it.

Another one of those imprecatory Psalms where the psalmist prays for his enemies' destruction. I suppose I should acknowledge that I'm not sure how I would respond or feel if I was being pursued by enemies like David was by Saul for those years. I mean, I've had people who didn't think highly of my sense of humor, of my sometimes immature behavior, but someone seeking my head on a platter? I can't imagine it. Perhaps if I were pursued like that I'd pray something like this, too.

Still, I love that the psalmist acknowledges that there could be some fault on his part (v. 4). The ESV says, "If I have repaid my friend with evil..." This is awareness that I could be at fault in all of this. I do like, however, that Wesley points out the connection to 1 Samuel 24.2-6, an occasion in which David spares Saul's life, even though the latter was in pursuit of the former's death. I watched Prince Caspian last night. I just now realized that's a pretty good comparison of a modern-day book/movie to David's account here. (I don't care what others or the critics say, I thought that was a great production. Probably the most difficult of the Chronicles to make into a theatrical success, I thought Walden Media did a fantastic job.) There's a great scene toward the end where Caspian has the opportunity to deal the deathblow to King Miraz, who had ordered for Caspian to be killed. He raises his sword and strikes it into the ground. Even so, the enemies still pursued Caspian and the Narnians, supported by Peter, Susan, and Edmund, (Miraz was actually dealt his final deathblow by one of his commanders, who used it as a ploy to rile up the Telmarines, accusing Caspian of murdering Miraz.)

I guess David was really at his wit's end when after sparing his predator's life, he was still being pursued by his enemy. They had opportunity to repent, but they didn't. God prepared his sword and readied his bow. Continuing in the comparison with Prince Caspian, the source where the last leader of the enemy is overcome is on the bridge they had built to attack the Narnians. "He makes a pit, digging it out, and falls into the hole that he has made."

Verse 14 is vivid. You can probably pick it up in the KJV (above). If not, the ESV makes it more comparable in today's terminology: "Behold, the wicked man conceives evil and is pregnant with mischief and gives birth to lies." James says it this way: "But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death" (James 2.14-15). Accordingly, the evil that is conceived ultimately brings death and falls "into the hole that [it] has made."

But praise be unto God for when evil is extinguished, pure and new life emerges and the righteous One reigns on high!