Psalm 7
1 A shiggaion of David, which he sang to the LORD concerning Cush, a Benjamite.
O 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 O 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. Selah
6 Arise, O LORD, in your anger; 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 and make the righteous secure. 10 My shield 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 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 pregnant with evil and conceives trouble gives birth to disillusionment.15 He who digs a hole and scoops it out falls into the pit he has made.16 The trouble he causes recoils on himself; his violence comes down on his own head.
17 I will give thanks to the LORD because of his righteousness and will sing praise to the name of the LORD Most High.
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Psalm 7 – How to live with God as Refuge
(Verses 1-5) Twice David says, ‘O LORD my God.’, his personal ‘refuge’. God saves and delivers him from those stalking him like a lion, to tear and rip him up. Only God can rescue him. They falsely accuse him of harming and robbing others. David asks God to let them kill him if he is guilty. He is innocent, so he can pray to God like this.
(Verses 6-10) David’s faith is in God. He is confident in God’s anger against sin, His justice, His reign over men, and how He judges. He searches our hearts and minds, too. David submits to his ‘Most High’ and ‘righteous God’ who knows of his integrity in this matter. He confidently asks God to stop wicked men’s violence against him and make him secure. God sees those whose hearts are right towards Him. He is David’s ‘shield’ and Saviour. Is He yours?
(Verses 11-16) David knows he prays to the righteous divine Judge, who has wrath on sin. He punishes, and will continue to punish, sinners. A man full of evil makes trouble for himself. He will be disillusioned about his life and future. He will fall into the pit he digs for another. The Bible says that what a man sows, he will reap. God does not miss anything. Sow trouble and reap worse trouble, now in godless living and eternally in judgment.
(Verse 17) David thanks the LORD for His perfect righteousness, only possessed by God. His initial prayer asking God to ‘save and deliver’ him, now turns to praise for ‘the LORD Most High’. This God is his God, his Shield, his Saviour, his Deliverer, his and his Refuge. Again, is He yours too? Your situation may or may not be like David’s. Yet each of us needs God as our Refuge, our Saviour, our Deliverer and our Shield. That is why righteous Jesus – fully God and fully man – came to bear our sins and their judgment when dying in our place on the cross. When we admit our sins, turn from them and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, the now living Saviour, we rejoice now and will do eternally.
