Down to Earth But Heavenly Minded

What does Psalms Chapter 7 mean?

Scripture does not indicate exactly which situation inspired David to write this psalm. There were times when David was pursued by enemies who looked to kill him (1 Samuel 19:1; 20:31–33; 24:1–2). First Samuel chapter 24 includes one such moment of danger, where David expresses thoughts very close to those seen in this passage. The middle verses of the psalm indicate David is responding to false accusations. These may have come from the person named in the title of this psalm. No further information is available about Cush the Benjaminite (Psalm 7:1–2).

Inviting God’s judgment can be a risky proposition (Matthew 7:1). David is confident, however, that these accusations are false. He emphasizes his innocence by accepting whatever punishment God might apply. This is somewhat like a modern person saying, “you can take me to jail if I’m lying,” when they know they are telling the truth. David is not literally asking God to do these things to him—rather, he is highlighting his confidence that those claims are false (Psalm 7:3–5).

Rather than seeking revenge on his own (Romans 12:19), David calls on God to issue judgment. He recognizes the Lord’s role as a perfect, all-knowing God who will always come to the right conclusions. David prays that consequences for sin will fall on those who are attacking him. David’s confidence in God allows him to leave all judgment to the Lord. He knows that God sees the evil men do every day, and trusts that His response will be righteous (Psalm 7:6–11).

In closing the psalm, David depicts the Lord as a warrior preparing for battle. The evil person faces a God with a bent bow and a sharp sword. For their part, the evil person deliberately instigates evil, fosters it, and brings about lies and injustice. The end for the wicked person is to suffer from their own sins. Even the traps they lay for other people will, in the end, be part of the judgment against them. Free from those concerns, David can worship and honor God with praise (Psalm 7:12–17).

Chapter Context
This psalm was written by David. He prays to the Lord, the righteous Judge of the universe, to judge his wicked enemies. David may have written this psalm when he was being pursued by Saul’s forces (1 Samuel 24:1–2). Themes expressed by David in 1 Samuel chapter 24 resemble those found in Psalm 7. The accusations he responds to may have come from Cush, mentioned in the psalm’s title.

Verse by Verse

Verse 1. O Lord my God, in you do I take refuge;save me from all my pursuers and deliver me,

David had a personal relationship with the Lord. His faith was intimate (Psalm 145:8). In this verse he uses terms of intimacy and relationship. These echo his exclamation in Psalm 23:1: “The LORD is my shepherd.” Because God was his personal Lord, David was able to take refuge in Him. He sincerely believed God could save him from those who were pursuing him, seeking his death. He realizes that God may not choose to save him (Psalm 7:2), but he asks for victory with confident faith.

Possibly, in this case, David’s pursuers were Saul’s men (1 Samuel 24:1–2). They hunted relentlessly for David in the wilderness, but the Lord preserved David’s life. Enemies and difficult circumstances may threaten believers today, but believers can count on a personal relationship with the Lord to sustain them. Jesus assures believers of perfect security that no one can destroy. He affirms in John 10:28, “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.” Paul writes in Romans 8:37: “We are more than conquerors through him who loved us.”

The term transliterated “shiggaion” is rare and difficult to interpret. It seems to involve concepts such as singing, grief, feeling, passion, and so forth. This likely is being used as a musical term, implying a song with deep expressive emotion.

Likewise, Scripture gives no details on the Benjaminite, Cush, or how he interacted with David. It’s possible he invented lies, and this is David’s response (Psalm 7:3–7).

Context Summary
Psalm 7:1–5 sets the stage for the rest of the psalm. It reveals David’s confidence in God to save him from his enemies. He believes he deserves defeat only if he has done wrong, such as by cheating or stealing. The rest of the psalm asks God to judge him according to his righteousness and his enemies according to their evil deeds. This psalm is described using an obscure term which probably refers to something musical. No information is given about Cush, or what he said.

Verse 2. lest like a lion they tear my soul apart,rending it in pieces, with none to deliver.

In this verse, David acknowledges what will happen if the Lord doesn’t rescue him (Psalm 7:1). His enemies will tear him apart like a lion shredding its victim. The Hebrew term nephesh can be translated “soul,” though in many contexts it refers to life (Genesis 9:4; Leviticus 24:17; Psalm 31:13; Proverbs 29:10), as in this instance. In his early life, David had rescued his sheep from lions and bears (1 Samuel 17:34–36). Now he felt his enemies would devour him like a lion.

Believers often praise the Lord for protecting them. They acknowledge they would have fallen victim to harsh circumstances if it had not been for God’s watchful care. The apostle Paul endured many trials: imprisonments, countless beatings, near-death experiences, lashings, beatings with rods, stoning, shipwreck, various dangers, sleeplessness, thirst, hunger, exposure to cold, and a narrow escape at Damascus, not to mention other cities he had to flee (2 Corinthians 11:23–33). In his letter to the Philippians, Paul testified: “I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:12–13).

Here, David is possibly concerned about the threat of Saul’s men, who are pursuing him (1 Samuel 24:1–2). He may also be referring to slander and lies (Psalm 7:3–8). Those may be connected to Cush, who is briefly mentioned at the beginning of this passage (Psalm 7:1).

Verse 3. O Lord my God, if I have done this,if there is wrong in my hands,

Scripture does not explicitly identify any sin, by David, that would match what he says in these verses. This seems to be David’s response to an accusation, more than an actual confession. In prior verses, David mentioned his enemies (Psalm 7:1–2), so these verses (Psalm 7:4–5) may be a declaration of his innocence. Less likely is that they are a sincere plea for God’s mercy if their accusations turn out to be true.

This verse uses two “if” statements: “if I have done this,” and “if there is wrong in my hands.” That does not mean David wonders whether he has committed these acts. Rather, David’s enemies may have slandered him. They might have accused him of taking bribes or committing some treachery. Since David’s conscience was clear and his motives and deeds were pure, he asked the Lord to search him and vindicate him. This is somewhat like a modern person saying, “you can take me to jail if I’m lying, but I know I’m telling the truth.”

Believers may be slandered, but they should live in such a way that no one can legitimately bring an accusation against them. Paul insists in 1 Timothy 3 that an overseer must be above reproach and be well-thought of by outsiders (1 Timothy 3:2, 7), and he writes that all believers ought to be “blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish” (Philippians 2:15). Peter expresses a similar idea in his writing (1 Peter 3:13–17).

Verse 4. if I have repaid my friend with evilor plundered my enemy without cause,

David’s third “if” statement (Psalm 7:3) is in this verse. He writes: “if I have repaid my friend with evil or plundered my enemy without cause.” Apparently, David’s enemies had accused him of both treacherous actions. Perhaps those were “the words of Cush” mentioned earlier (Psalm 7:1). He knew those claims were false. This section (Psalm 7:3–5) is a declaration of David’s innocence and his assurance that there is no truth in these attacks.

Not only was David innocent of harming a friend or taking advantage of an enemy, he often did the opposite. He could have taken revenge on Saul when he had the opportunity, but David refused to do so. First Samuel 24 recalls a time Saul entered a cave where David and his men were hiding. David’s men tried to talk David into taking advantage of Saul. They even suggested that the Lord had given Saul into David’s hand (1 Samuel 24:4). But David merely cut off a corner of Saul’s robe because he viewed Saul as the Lord’s anointed (1 Samuel 24:5–6). He then showed this to Saul, as proof that he had no intentions of seeking Saul’s life (1 Samuel 24:11).

Verse 5. let the enemy pursue my soul and overtake it,and let him trample my life to the groundand lay my glory in the dust. Selah

These consequences are dramatic, nothing David truly expects to happen. His enemies (Psalm 7:1–2) may have accused him of terrible things (Psalm 7:3–4); these are slander. David is confident he is innocent of those crimes, so he emphasizes his innocence by accepting severe punishment “if” such things were true.

A modern person might say, “you can take me to prison if I’m lying, but I know this is the truth.” In a similar sense, David was willing for God to allow enemies to overtake him and kill him. He was willing for the enemy to humiliate and humble him, even ruining his good name for all of eternity. However, he was comfortable stating his innocence; he was innocent of all the malicious charges that the enemy laid against him.

It should be the goal of every believer to be faithful to the Lord until death. The apostle Paul ran the Christian race faithfully by disciplining his body (1 Corinthians 9:25–27) and by doing the Lord’s will. At the end of his life, he could declare, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7). His honor did not lie in the dust; he would receive the crown of righteousness from the Lord (2 Timothy 4:8).

Verse 6. Arise, O Lord, in your anger;lift yourself up against the fury of my enemies;awake for me; you have appointed a judgment.

In this verse, David urges God to actively defend him against his furious enemies (Psalm 7:1–2). They may have been physically threatening him, as well as being those who have falsely accused David of various crimes (Psalm 7:3–5). Trusting God to make things right, David asks for divine judgment to come on those who have slandered him. David refers to the Lord as having anger . Although God is loving and loves even sinners, He does not love sin; He punishes those who sin and fail to repent. Romans 1:18 affirms: “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men.” David also notes that God has appointed a judgment. Although God may judge a person’s sin today, He will render a final judgment of everyone on an appointed day by His Son Jesus (Acts 17:31).

David trusted God to make matters right. Romans 12:17 tells us not to take revenge on our enemies: “Repay no one evil for evil.” Verse 19 issues a similar command: “Beloved, never avenge yourselves” (Romans 12:19). It also tells us to “leave it to the wrath of God,” and explains, “for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.’”

Context Summary
Psalm 7:6–11 follows the section in which David asked the Lord to vindicate him. This seems to have been a response to slander. Here, he asks God, the righteous Judge, to bring consequences to his wicked enemies. David expresses faith that God sees and is angered by sin and that the Lord serves as David’s Protector.

Verse 7. Let the assembly of the peoples be gathered about you;over it return on high.

David continues to pray that God would bring judgment to enemies who have slandered him, or attacked him (Psalm 7:3–5). David knows he is innocent. So, he asks the Lord to take over judgment and respond to these lying attackers (Psalm 7:6). This verse evokes the image of a courtroom with a large crowd in attendance.

Other passages also refer to God as Victor and Lawgiver (Psalm 68:18; Isaiah 2:2–4). Revelation 20:11–15 is perhaps the most vivid passage portraying God as the supreme Judge. It depicts God seated on a white throne with people from every period of history gathered before Him. The scene takes place after Christ’s 1,000–year reign on earth and Satan’s final rebellion. Satan is cast into the lake of fire, where he will be joined by all the unbelievers of history. God will judge those who stand at the Great White Throne Judgment. First, books will be opened that provide evidence of their sinning, and then the book of life will be opened, and whoever’s name is not written in it will be cast into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:12–15; 21:27).

Verse 8. The Lord judges the peoples;judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousnessand according to the integrity that is in me.

David acknowledges God’s role as the ultimate judge of all people; he appeals to the Lord to judge him. This is not a request to be taken lightly (Matthew 7:1–2). In this case, David knows the terrible accusations of his enemies are entirely false (Psalm 7:1–5). Rather than take revenge himself, he is calling on God to bring consequences to those who have attacked him (Psalm 7:6–7).

David did not claim to be perfect or sinless (Psalm 32:1–5; 51:1). Rather, he placed his life before the Lord as evidence of his uprightness and honesty. He was sensitive to sin and endeavored to avoid it by obeying God’s Word. David writes in Psalm 19:9–14: “the fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the LORD are true, and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb. Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward. Who can discern his errors? Declare me innocent from hidden faults. Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me! Then I shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.”

In response to David’s righteous and honest lifestyle, the Lord said, “I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after my heart, who will do all my will” (Acts 13:22).

Verse 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!

David observes that the righteous God tests minds and hearts. He knows what every person is thinking, and He discerns the thoughts and motives of every person’s heart (Psalm 139:1, 4, 23–24; 1 Samuel 16:7). In the time of Noah, the Lord “saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Genesis 6:5). David’s primary purpose here is to continue asking God for judgment on those who have brought false accusations (Psalm 7:6–8).

Human judges may make mistakes, even if their intentions are good. They might sincerely be mistaken, rendering an unfair verdict and sentencing the one pronounced guilty. God, however, never makes a mistake. His judgment is always right because He is perfect. There is no trace of sin in Him. As this verse notes, God will one day end all evil, and those who honor God will be secure forever.

Jesus, the Son of God, will judge the world in righteousness (Acts 17:31); He is qualified to do so because He is completely righteous. Even Pilate, who consented to Jesus’ crucifixion, said, “I find no guilt in this man” (Luke 23:4). The apostle Peter describes Jesus as “a lamb without blemish or spot” (1 Peter 1:19).

Verse 10. My shield is with God,who saves the upright in heart.

A warrior uses his shield to defend himself from attack. In the same way, David believes God defends him against his enemies. The phrase “with God” implies that David is entrusting his defense entirely to the Lord. There may be a physical aspect to this prayer of protection (1 Samuel 24:1–2), but it may also be about slander and lies (Psalm 7:1; 3–5). David is confident that God is the ultimate, righteous Judge (Psalm 7:6–9). David knows he is innocent of those crimes, so he has reason to believe the Lord will vindicate him.

God’s deliverance is not always as soon as we would prefer (Habakkuk 1:2–4), but it is always complete. He delivered the Israelites at the Red Sea from the approaching Egyptian cavalry (Exodus 14). The Lord parted the waters so the Israelites could cross safely, but closed them when the Egyptians entered, drowning their army. In the time of Daniel, God delivered Daniel’s three friends from a furnace that was heated seven times beyond its normal temperature, and the three men emerged unharmed without even the smell of smoke on them (Daniel 3:19–27). The Lord also delivered Daniel from a den of hungry lions (Daniel 6:19–23).

The Lord defends His people today, as well. Nothing happens without our Lord’s permission. As difficult as those experiences may be, they are meant for our good and His glory (John 16:33; Romans 8:18–39).

Verse 11. God is a righteous judge,and a God who feels indignation every day.

David acknowledges God as a righteous Judge. Part of that perfect righteousness is God’s ability to know everything that happens. Because He is all-knowing, God knows every sinful thought and action that human beings commit (Psalm 139:2–3). Because humanity constantly sins (Romans 3:10–11, 23), the Lord has reason to be “indignant” every day.

When He judges, God judges righteously. He is neither random nor inconsistent. God sees sin as it is, and judges it as it deserves to be judged. He does not let unrepentant sin pass without judgment. Although many people believe God is too kind and loving to send anyone to hell, God’s righteousness does not allow Him to simply excuse sin. To the contrary, all sinners who do not believe on Jesus as Savior will spend eternity in hell (John 3:18). Every day of their life on earth they are the objects of God’s wrath. John 3:36 assures us that “whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.”

Verse 12. If a man does not repent, God will whet his sword;he has bent and readied his bow;

This verse pictures God as a warrior with a bent bow, prepared to sharpen His sword. He is ready to strike anyone who refuses to repent. To repent means to change the mind; a “repentant” person changes his attitude about sin. He wants to turn his back on sin and believe that Jesus died for him, a sinner. In changing his mind, a sinner who used to love sin comes to hate it, while learning to love Christ, who paid the penalty of sin by shedding His blood on the cross. David has been praying for God to bring judgment on slanderous enemies (Psalm 7:8–11), possibly the person mentioned at the beginning of the psalm (Psalm 7:1).

Jesus said, “Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish” (Luke 13:3). Graciously, God forgives repentant sinners who believe on Jesus as their Savior. All heaven rejoices when a sinner repents. Jesus told a group of Pharisees and scribes who objected to His association with sinners: “I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance” (Luke 15:7).

Context Summary
Psalm 7:12–17 is the closing section of this psalm. David expresses confidence in God’s inevitable punishment of the wicked. David’s enemies would be defeated by God, whom David describes as a warrior prepared for battle. The psalm began with a prayer for deliverance and concludes with thanks for answered prayer.

Verse 13. he has prepared for him his deadly weapons,making his arrows fiery shafts.

A portrayal of God as a mighty warrior continues here. He is depicted as having deadly weapons ready (Psalm 7:12). His arrows are fiery shafts. In His relationship with unrepentant sinners, God is a wrathful avenger (John 3:36). David celebrates this as he asks God to bring judgment (Psalm 7:6–9) on those who have assaulted and slandered him (Psalm 7:1–5). Rather than seeking revenge, David trusts in God’s timing (Romans 12:19).

Revelation 6:15–17 reports the actions of unrepentant nonbelievers in the tribulation period, when Jesus, the Lamb of God, opens the sixth seal of the seven-sealed scroll. They hide among the rocks of the mountains and pray to the mountains and rocks to fall on them and hide them from the wrath of God and the Lamb. They call out, “The great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?” (Revelation 6:17). Under the seventh bowl judgment of the tribulation period, we read, “The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell, and God remembered Babylon the great, to make her drain the cup of the wine of the fury of his wrath” (Revelation 16:19).

Verse 14. Behold, the wicked man conceives eviland is pregnant with mischiefand gives birth to lies.

The Hebrew of this verse is somewhat tricky to translate, leading to different opinions on how it should be rendered in English. The general message is the same, regardless of those choices. Those who are evil have injustice lurking in their lives. They invent trouble and bring about deception and more evil. The metaphor between sin and pregnancy is repeated in other Scriptures (Job 15:35; Isaiah 59:13).

The ESV presents a clever—if biting—metaphor creating a direct line of evil through conception, pregnancy, and birth. This does not follow the literal order of the Hebrew words, but it does match their sense. Looking for trouble—seeking selfish, ungodly things—leads naturally to injustice, which leads to even more lies and evil. This closely resembles comments made by James. He noted the progression of sin from desire to conception to birth to maturity. He writes: “But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death” (James 1:14–15). Sinning begins with evil thoughts and results in wicked deeds.

Other translations, such as the NASB, refer to the same ideas but in a less linear way. This is more strictly accurate to the order of the words in Hebrew.

David is referring to his enemies who slandered him and plotted to destroy him. This may have been Cush, the Benjaminite (Psalm 7:1), though Scripture does not say so directly.

Verse 15. He makes a pit, digging it out,and falls into the hole that he has made.

David expresses his assurance that his enemies will meet with retribution. The prior verse imagined sinful impulses like a perverse form of pregnancy: they are conceived in evil and lead to even more trouble (Psalm 7:14). Here, the theme continues by emphasizing how those who plan evil will eventually suffer from their own schemes (Proverbs 6:12–15; 11:17). In a symbolic sense, the slanderer (Psalm 7:3–5) or the plotter is digging a trap for others, only to fall in it himself (Psalm 7:16).

Scripture includes specific examples of this “poetic justice.” An Egyptian Pharaoh issued an order to drown all the Hebrew infants in the Nile, but Egypt’s own cavalry drowned in the Red Sea (Exodus 1:22; 14:26–28). King Saul was David’s bitter and relentless foe. At one time he hurled a spear at David, hoping to pin him to the wall, but David escaped. He hunted David in the wilderness with intent to kill him, but David escaped. Ultimately, Saul was wounded by an arrow and then died by his own sword (1 Samuel 31:3–4). Haman, the wicked enemy of the Jews in Persia, constructed gallows that he intended for Mordecai, but it was Haman who was hanged (Esther 7). Herod planned to kill the apostle Peter, but the Lord delivered Peter, and struck Herod, causing Herod to die a horrible death (Acts 12).

Verse 16. His mischief returns upon his own head,and on his own skull his violence descends.

Scripture indicates that those who plan to do evil, eventually, see their schemes coming back to harm them (Proverbs 6:12–15; 11:17). The prior verse was another example, with David stating that those who lay traps for others can expect to be caught in their own plots. In that sense, their own efforts will come back in what is often called “poetic justice.”

Scripture gives examples of people who were warned against evil and eventually done in by their own schemes. Queen Jezebel imported Baal worship into Israel and murdered prophets of the Lord (1 Kings 18:4). But in the end, Elijah was instrumental in killing the prophets of Baal (1 Kings 18:40). Both Jezebel and her evil husband, Ahab, met violent deaths. Ahab was killed in battle (1 Kings 22:29–35), and Jezebel was thrown from a widow, trampled by horses, and eaten by dogs (2 Kings 9:30–35). At the end of the tribulation period the Devil’s two wicked henchmen—the beast and the false prophet— will be thrown into the lake of fire (Revelation 19:19–20). After 1,000 years of imprisonment, Satan will join the beast and the false prophet in the lake of fire (Revelation 20:10). Wickedness pays dreadful wages!

Verse 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.

David celebrates the Lord’s victory over his enemies. He gives thanks to God, acknowledging that He is righteous. He also praises God, calling Him “the LORD, the Most High.” In Hebrew this is Yhwh ‘Elyon. We first see “God Most High,” which in Hebrew is ēl ‘Elyon, in Genesis 14:18 where Melchizedek is identified as “priest of [ēl ‘Elyon,] God Most High.” This name occurs multiple times in the Psalms. It identifies God as the supreme, exalted sovereign in heaven.

When the angel Gabriel told Mary she would conceive a son, he said the son “will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High” (Luke 1:32). A demon-possessed man fell down before Jesus and called Him “Jesus, Son of the Most High God” (Mark 5:7; Luke 8:28). Like God the Father, Jesus the Son is sovereign. Colossians 1:17 says, “he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”

David is confident in God and the justice which is in store. Believers can be sure they are victors through Jesus, the Son of the Most High God (John 3:16–18; Romans 8:31–39; 1 Corinthians 15:50–58)!

End of Psalm 7

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