Read Psalm 7:
A Shiggaion of David, which he sang to the LORD concerning the words of Cush, a Benjaminite.
1 O LORD my God, in you do I take refuge; save me from all my pursuers and deliver me, 2 lest like a lion they tear my soul apart, rending it in pieces, with none to deliver.
3 O LORD my God, if I have done this, if there is wrong in my hands, 4 if I have repaid my friend with evil or plundered my enemy without cause, 5 let the enemy pursue my soul and overtake it, and let him trample my life to the ground and lay my glory in the dust. Selah
6 Arise, O LORD, in your anger; lift yourself up against the fury of my enemies; awake for me; you have appointed a judgment. 7 Let the assembly of the peoples be gathered about you; over it return on high. 8 The LORD judges the peoples; judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness and according to the integrity that is in me. 9 Oh, let the evil of the wicked come to an end, and may you establish the righteous—you who test the minds and hearts, O righteous God! 10 My shield is with God, who saves the upright in heart. 11 God is a righteous judge, and a God who feels indignation every day. 12 If a man does not repent, God will whet his sword; he has bent and readied his bow; 13 he has prepared for him his deadly weapons, making his arrows fiery shafts.
14 Behold, the wicked man conceives evil and is pregnant with mischief and gives birth to lies. 15 He makes a pit, digging it out, and falls into the hole that he has made. 16 His mischief returns upon his own head, and on his own skull his violence descends. 17 I will give to the LORD the thanks due to his righteousness, and I will sing praise to the name of the LORD, the Most High.
Understand Psalm 7:
David faces the troubling slander of his enemies, including “the words of Cush, a Benjaminite” (v. 1a). Yet instead of responding in fear or anger, David turns to the Lord in praise. “Shiggaion” and “The Gittith” are musical terms which indicate this psalm has been prepared for the corporate worship of Israel (see Hab 3:1). In his distress, David prays four petitions to the Lord.
A. Deliver my life! (vv. 1-2)
David pictures his accusers like fearsome lions with razor-sharp claws and voracious jaws (Ps 7:2). Their roaring words threaten to tear his soul apart and rend it into pieces, but the Lord has been his refuge time and time again. The past tense verb (“I have taken refuge”) indicates that long before the present trouble arrived, David had sought refuge in the omnipotent God who promised to keep him safe (v. 1b). We too must establish a lifelong pattern of taking refuge in the Lord before the storms of slander catch us by surprise. How we respond to our present persecution depends on the well-worn path to our Person of refuge.
B. Discern my heart! (vv. 3-5)
David then beseeches the all-seeing God to declare him blameless (7:3-4). He does not claim sinless perfection (see 14:3), but simply innocence regarding the current accusations. He trusts in God’s omniscience to search his heart and unveil the truth (Heb 4:13). Then he calls upon the Lord to let his enemies triumph if he truly is deserving of judgment (Ps 7:5). Instead of defending ourselves before fallen sinners, we would do better to let the Lord search our hearts (139:23-24). We can trust that he alone knows our inmost thoughts.
C. Defend my righteousness! (vv. 6-13)
David boldly calls upon the Lord to act as Judge between the righteous and the guilty. A discerning judge calls forth witnesses, listens to the evidence, and weighs the facts before declaring a verdict. Thus, David pleads for his day in court, yet humbly accepts God’s final decision. Even in faith, however, David’s prayer crescendos in its urgency: “Act now (vv. 6-8)! Act in my defense (vv. 9-10)! Act with deadly force (vv. 11-13)!” In like manner, we call upon the Lord to act on our behalf. We trust him to judge the sinner who will not repent and to withhold condemnation from those declared righteous (Rom 8:1).
D. Display your glory! (vv. 14-17)
David finally concludes that even false accusations, painful suffering, and God’s judgment against sin are all designed for the display of God’s glory. The Lord does all things for the sake of his glorious name (Isa 48:11). He would even receive glory when his beloved Son died for our sin and he continues to receive glory when we suffer in the footsteps of Christ (1 Pet 2:19-21). Thus, we resolve with David “give to the LORD the thanks due to his righteousness, and . . . sing praise to the name of the LORD, the Most High” (Ps 7:17).
Apply Psalm 7:
- Like David, learn to trust the Lord before your trials come. Spend time daily in his Word and prayer, so that God is not a stranger when you desperately need his help. The path to refuge must be so well-worn that you can walk it in the dark.
- When enemies slander and accuse, turn to the Lord by singing hymns of old. Sing them with your church or on your own.
- Read the Psalms which were the songs of ancient Israel and the early church. The Psalms capture the vast range of human emotion and can express your thoughts before you even know the words yourself.
- Write songs or poetry of your own and record your thoughts in a journal. Wrestle with your theology in writing. Then pray like David:
- “Lord, deliver my life for you are eternally powerful.”
- “Lord, discern my heart for you are all-knowing.”
- “Lord, defend my righteousness for you are perfectly just.”
- “Lord, display your glory for you are ultimately sovereign.”
- Finally, remember the gospel: You can endure unjust suffering as God’s gracious gift (1 Pet 2:19-20) because your Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, also suffered unjustly (vv. 21-22). Christ alone was blameless before his accusers—not merely at the cross, but in every aspect of life. Yet wicked men still conspired to put him to death. They falsely accused him and convicted him without trial. They claimed he planned to destroy the temple, blasphemed against God, and plotted to overthrow the Roman Empire. They riled up the crowd to cry out, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” They mocked him as he staggered to Golgotha and as he hung upon the cross. Not once, however, did Jesus sin against his accusers: “When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed” (v. 23). It hurts and feels unfair to be sinned against, yet that is but a small taste of what Christ suffered on our behalf. “He bore our sin in his body on the tree” (v. 24). Therefore, how can we, who have died to sin and now live to righteousness, do anything else but follow in his steps?
Pray Psalm 7:
- Lord, deliver me from my persecutors (vv. 1-2).
- Discern my heart to see if I am blameless in this matter (vv. 3-5).
- Remind me that I am declared righteous in Christ Jesus (vv. 6-8).
- O God, deal with the wicked according to your righteousness (vv. 9-16).
- May you be glorified, O Lord Most High (v. 17).
Counsel Psalm 7:
Learn to care for suffering people who endure slander and false accusations. Teach them how to bring their troubles before the Lord in prayer. Fill their hearts with gospel truths that combat the lies of the enemy. Then help them to respond to their accusers in a way that still glorifies God.
