PSALM 7
Psalm 7
This is the first of the Imprecatory Psalms, which are in and of themselves imprecatory prayers. It was written by David in response to Cush the Benjaminite, who had apparently slandered David before Saul as a traitor to the crown.
TO LEARN MORE ABOUT IMPRECATORY PRAYERS READ OUR BOOKLET: THE IMPRECATORY PSALMS
Psalm 7:1-2
BIBLE TEXT: "O Lord my God, in thee do I put my trust: save me from all them that persecute me, and deliver me: Lest he tear my soul like a lion, rending it in pieces, while there is none to deliver." (Psalm 7:1-2 KJV)
BIBLE TWEET: Like David, we too should pray for God to acquit us from the accusations of our accuser, lest he rip our souls to shreds like a lion.
BIBLE TAKEAWAY: However, unlike David, our accuser is not Cush the Benjamite, but Satan, the accuser of the brethren, who walks about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. (Revelation 12:10; 1 Peter 5:8)
Psalms 7:3-5
BIBLE TEXT: "O Lord my God, If I have done this; if there be iniquity in my hands; If I have rewarded evil unto him that was at peace with me; (yea, I have delivered him that without cause is mine enemy:) 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." (Psalm 7:3-5 KJV)
BIBLE TWEET: It is only with a clear conscience and a clean heart that we can confidently call on God to clear our name when we are falsely condemned by character assassins.
BIBLE TAKEAWAY: We have nothing to fear as long as our slanderers are shooting blanks at us, but much to fear if we ever load our persecutors’ pistols with live ammunition.
Psalm 7:6-9
BIBLE TEXT: "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. So shall the congregation of the people compass thee about: for their sakes therefore return thou on high. The Lord shall judge the people: judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness, and according to mine integrity that is in me. Oh let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end; but establish the just: for the righteous God trieth the hearts and reins." (Psalm 7:6-9 KJV)
BIBLE TWEET: When the Heavenly court is convened, when the Judge of all the earth is seated, all the people will assemble, and He who tries men’s hearts will vindicate the upright in heart and vanquish all the wicked.
BIBLE TAKEAWAY: Someday a raging God will rise in retribution against all who have raged against His redeemed.
Psalm 7:10
BIBLE TEXT: "My defence is of God, which saveth the upright in heart." (Psalms 7:10 KJV)
BIBLE TWEET: On the day of judgment, Christ will either save you as your Advocate or sentence you as your Judge. What He does for you then will be determined by what you do with Him now.
BIBLE TAKEAWAY: Christ does not advocate for our acquittal on the basis of our perfection, but on the basis of His propitiation. (1 John 2:1-2)
Psalm 7:11
BIBLE TEXT: "God is a just judge, And God is angry with the wicked every day." (Psalm 7:11 NKJV)
BIBLE TWEET: God’s judgment is always just and the wicked are always under His wrath.
BIBLE TAKEAWAY: Sinners are already rightfully judged by God, all that remains is the carrying out of God’s judgment.
NKJV - New King James Version
Psalm 7:12-13
BIBLE TEXT: "If anyone does not repent, God will sharpen His sword; He has strung His bow and made it ready. He has prepared His deadly weapons; He tips His arrows with fire." (Psalm 7:12-13 HCSB)
BIBLE TWEET: God’s sword is sharpened and unsheathed, His bow is strung and bent, and His arrows are tipped with fire toward the unrepentant.
BIBLE TAKEAWAY: The life of the unrepentant sinner may appear serendipitous, but it is not safe, for he or she constantly lives in the crosshairs of divine condemnation.
HCSB - Holman Christian Standard Bible
Psalm 7:14
BIBLE TEXT: "Behold, the wicked brings forth iniquity; Yes, he conceives trouble and brings forth falsehood." (Psalm 7:14 NKJV)
BIBLE TWEET: The wicked conceive the diabolical and then endeavor to bring forth its desolation and deception.
BIBLE TAKEAWAY: The soul that conceives evil cannot give birth to good.
NKJV - New King James Version
Psalm 7:15-16
BIBLE TEXT: "He made a pit and dug it out, And has fallen into the ditch which he made. His trouble shall return upon his own head, And his violent dealing shall come down on his own crown." (Psalm 7:15-16 NKJV)
BIBLE TWEET: All the wicked, like Haman, who scheme to hang the righteous, will sooner or later end up swinging on their own gallows. (Esther 9:24-25)
BIBLE TAKEAWAY: The schemes of sinners to stamp out the saints are all Sisyphean.
Sisyphus was a legendary king in Greek mythology condemned eternally to repeatedly rolling a heavy rock up a hill in Hades only to have it roll down again as it nears the top. Therefore, a Sisyphean task is an exercise in futility that can never be accomplished or completed.
NKJV - New King James Version
Psalm 7:17
BIBLE TEXT: "I will praise the Lord according to his righteousness: and will sing praise to the name of the Lord most high." (Psalm 7:17 KJV)
BIBLE TWEET: David ends this imprecatory prayer, prayed in the midst of his persecution, not on a low note of woe, but on a high note of praise and worship!
BIBLE TAKEAWAY: To bless God for mercies is the way to increase them; to bless Him for miseries is the way to remove them.
“We would worry less if we praised more. Thanksgiving is the enemy of discontent and dissatisfaction.” - (Harry Ironside)