PSALM 7 Psalm of petition- written while David was being ruthlessly attacked by “Cush the Benjamite”, who was one of Saul’s radical kinsmen. “Cush” literally means “Ethiopia. The crime Saul and his followers charged David with was a crime so public that everybody knew about it. Therefore, he doesn’t mention it. They accused him of treason and conspiracy against Saul’s royal authority and of laying in wait to kill Saul. Saul was ready to believe these lies because of his jealousy of David. But David didn’t lift his hand against Saul. 1 Samuel 24:6 – David says “Far be it from me because of the LORD that I should do this thing to the Lord’s’ anointed, to stretch out my hand against him “. This may be called the “song of the slandered saint.”
1 Lord my God, I take refuge in you; save and deliver me from all who pursue me,
2 or they will tear me apart like a lion and rip me to pieces with no one to rescue me.
3 Lord my God, if I have done this and there is guilt on my hands—
4 if I have repaid my ally with evil 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.
6 Arise, Lord, in your anger; rise up against the rage of my enemies. Awake, my God; decree justice.
7 Let the assembled peoples gather around you, while you sit enthroned over them on high.
8 Let the Lord judge the peoples. Vindicate me, Lord, according to my righteousness, according to my integrity, O Most High.
9 Bring to an end the violence of the wicked and make the righteous secure—you, the righteous God who probes minds and hearts.
10 My shield is God Most High, who saves the upright in heart.
11 God is a righteous judge, God who displays 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 Whoever is pregnant with evil, conceives trouble and gives birth to disillusionment.
15 Whoever digs a hole and scoops it out falls into the pit they have made.
16 The trouble they cause recoils on them; their violence comes down on their own heads.
17 I will give thanks to the Lord because of his righteousness; I will sing the praises of the name of the Lord Most High.
SECTIONS
I. The innocent take refuge in God (1-5)
II. God is a righteous judge (6-11)
III. A person reaps what he sows (12-16)
IV. Thank the Lord (17)
THEME: Letting God do the vindication for us and mete out his perfect justic
QUESTIONS
What does David believe will happen if he doesn’t take refuge in God and ask his help? Is that the first place you run when you are in trouble?
What kind of things do people usually turn to in times of trouble?
How can we take refuge in God? What way do you do it?
Compare Psalm 6 & Psalm 7. How is David approachig God differently in Psalm 7 than he did in Psalm 6?
Have you ever asked God to rise to your defense? What was the result?
What does David mean in verse 3-5? What is he actually saying to God?Is David innocent or is he being prideful
What does David mean when he says you are God who probes minds & hearts?
What does verse 14 mean to you “whoever is pregnant with evil, conceives trouble & gives birth to disillusionment?
In what way can people come against you? (ie gossip)
Wht principle is revealed in vere 15-16- what does it mean?
Knowing that we reap what we sow, how does this influence your decisions and how you live your life? How does this influence how you treat other people?
Have you ever seen a person reap what they sowed? Did you see someone do something wrong and seem to get away with it and then later they pay for it in some way? Did you ever do something wrong or hurt someone and then had the very same experience done to you? Did you learn from the experience?
ADDITIONAL VERSES
Psalm 91:4 – He will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness is a shield and buckler
Psalm 27:5 – For he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble; he will conceal me under the cover of his tent; he will lift me high upon a rock
Romans 12:19 – Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord.
Galatians 6:7-8 – Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life
Job 4:8 – As I have seen, those who plow iniquity and sow trouble reap the same.
Matthew 12:36 But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment.
Eph 4: 31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.
Source: https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/topics/Slander
This is a description of the danger to which David was exposed from slanderous tongues. The wounds of a sword will heal, but the wounds of the tongue cut deeper than the flesh, and are not soon cured.” David’s words do not mean that he’s perfect, only that he is innocent of the crime of which he was charged.
gossiper=someone that spreads around information–true or enlarged–that they have no business spreading.
slanderer=someone that spreads around false information and lies.
Studyandobey.com
Again, David isn’t saying that he was sinless. He’s proclaiming himself to be innocent of the crime of which Cush accused him. There is a big distinction between the two. A person can be humble and know he’s a sinner and at the same time rightly protest his innocence in court cases, or when wrongly accused. David even asks God to let his enemy kill him if indeed he’s guilty. David himself thought he deserved death if he had done the crime. When we do wrong, we should quickly admit it. But humility doesn’t require taking responsibility for things which we haven’t done. Sometimes silence in the face of false accusations can be the right action. At the same time, both David and Paul vigorously defended themselves against unjust claims.
God is the judge, not us. Even as a king, David took this matter to God to deal with. It often doesn’t work when we try to “take the law” into our own hands and push for our rights. We shouldn’t try to jump in and take God’s responsibility by meting out our own judgment. We’re to be patient and trust that He’ll do it. He sees whatever injustice we’re facing and some day He’ll make it right. We all reap what we sow (14-16) – This principle is seen throughout the Bible. It’s a divine “spiritual law.” If you don’t plant crops, you won’t get a harvest. If you’re lazy, you won’t earn an income. If you’re rude and unkind to others, you won’t have friends, etc. But if you’re generous to others in need, you’re likely to find that people are generous to you. This is what David means when he says if they dig a pit, they will fall into it. God often intervenes to make this principle work on a more spiritual level. One case is Haman, who was hanged on the gallows he built for Mordecai.This is God’s justice working itself out in nature and the world around us(read the story of Esther in the bible).
From blueletterbible.org
David didn’t pray for special favoritism with God; he prayed for God to be just and he searched his own heart to help put him right before God. David seemed concerned for universal justice which was always the motive behind David’s personal appeals for vindication.” (Kidner) There is a commonly and dangerously rejected truth about God. We will all one day stand before a God of great love and mercy. But God cannot ignore sin.
And while all sins are not equally sinful, yet there are no small sins against a great God. The justice of God is easy to understand if we compare it to what we expect from an earthly judge. We don’t think it is right if a human judge excuses crime in the name of compassion; we expect judges to be just. Yet many think that God will be an unjust judge on the Day of Judgment. The only thing that holds back the immediate judgment of God against the sinner is the undeserved mercy of God, giving the sinner an unknown period of time to repent.”The wrath of God may be slow, but it is always sure.
The wicked brings forth iniquity: This statement is important. It shows that a wicked heart will show itself in wicked deeds. He conceives trouble and brings forth falsehood: This shows the source of sin – from within the sinner. The sinner gives birth to sin as a mother gives birth to children – from within. Gdd often brings the same calamity on the wicked that they had planned for the righteous.
Bible-studys.org
We couldn’t stand before the righteous Judge in our own right, but we have an agreement with God that the righteousness of Christ will save us from judgement. We need not run away from the righteous Judge, any more than David did here. When God the Father looks at the Christian, He sees the blood of His righteous Son, Jesus Christ.
From: Wendypope.org
Read Ephesians 4:29 Paul’s words in Ephesians hurt me but in a good way. They convicted me concerning the way I use my words and made me realize my words have the power to hurt or heal. My words had not been encouraging nor did they benefit those who listened. They had been gossipy, tearing down instead of building up. My conversations were far from beautiful, beneficial, and pure. In order for the right words to come out of our mouth, the right words must go into our heart. Luke 6:45 says, “For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.” After hearing Paul’s hurtful but helpful words and learning this truth from Luke, I began putting the right things in my heart by asking myself some tough questions.
What am I watching? What am I listening to? What am I reading? Who am I hanging out with? (We become like the company we keep.) Where do I spend my time?
Give yourself the same self-examination to discover how you’re filling your heart. God wants our words to be gifts. By allowing the Lord to keep watch over our lips, we give Him control of what is said as well as what remains unsaid. His Word supplies all the power we need to replace hurting words with healing words. Can we challenge ourselves to spread healing? If someone speaks disrespectfully with hurtful words, respond with wholesome words, keeping the conversation pure. In dialogues with one another, we can exchange words that build each other up and benefit everyone who listen. Win the war against your tongue.
Psalm 141:3 Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips.
Prov 12:18-The words of the reckless (who speak rashly or speak thoughtless words) pierce like swords, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.
Psalm 19:14-May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.
God does not desire for His people to be victims: we are more than conquerors. Even though gossip and slander can be depressing, you don’t have to let circumstances make a helpless martyr out of you. Draw on the Holy Spirit and be strong in Him. Even if the gossipers are telling semi-truths about your struggles or your past, you are a new creation in the Lord. Trust Him and His love for you.
Kindredgrace.com
Unfortunately, there is no controlling gossip and slander. If it is so very difficult to bridle our own tongue, what makes us think we might be able to tame someone else’s tongue? No matter what you do, you cannot stop someone else from talking about you. The only person you have control over is yourself, your words, and your responses. Once you realize this, it will enable you to see clearly what options you do have. Instead of thinking in vain that you wish they would stop, you can decide what to do with your situation and move forward with your life
My reflecton on Psalm 7
This was a psalm I was memorizing right around the time of the terrorists attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and on the Pentagon. I wasn’t living far from all the action. Oh did I want the Lord to take vengeance on the wicked people who had taken so many lives!
With David I prayed “rise up against the rage of my enemies. Awake, my God; decree justice.” and “Bring an end to the violence and make the rightous secure.” I prayed that with all my heart. I wanted God to bring his wrath on those who would attack us. But at the same time God worked in me never to hate the people who did this. Strangely I didn’t feel hatred toward muslims. God showed me it was Satan at work in them to do these terrrible things. We’ve all heard the phrase, “God hates the sin and not the sinner” meaning that Jesus died for all while we were yet sinners. But God hates sin not only in the work of a terrorist but in me too!
Not long after the terrorist attack, I had a chance to prove how much I could separate the sin from the sinner one day after church service. We had some friends who wanted to join us for breakfast. So we decided to drive in our separate cars to a favorite restaurant. They were following closely behind us. On the way, I saw a young man and woman who were riding bikes along the side of the road. All of a sudden the young man fell over on his bike. I saw him crash to the ground. I yelled for my husband to stop the car and ran to the man’s side. I could see he was Arabic. His hand was bleeding and I took it into my hands to get a closer view of the damage. There was a deep gash I knew would require stitches. So we offered to drive him to the hospital. He kept saying he was fine but having been a nurse, I knew he wasn’t. So we helped him and the woman into our car to drive them to the hospital. Our friends driving behind us had stopped too, and they put the bikes in the car so no one would steal them. On the way to the hospital, my husband felt a strong urge to tell them about Jesus. So he said he was doing what Jesus wanted him to do because Jesus loves us all and this was the least we could do. The young woman sitting in the back seat with me had tears in her eyes and gave me a huge hug. I think at that moment, this was the love of Jesus pouring out and overflowing. There was no them and us, no enemies. We were just the beloved children of a very loving, merciful and gracious Father.
I love how Martin Luther King Jr. says, “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” Our Christian religion believes we pray for our enemies, those who hate us. Jesus said, “But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and send rain on the righteous and unrighteous. If you love only those who love you, what reward is there for that? Even tax collectors do that” In John 13:35 Jesus says, “Everyone will know you are my disciples because of your love. Our God is a God of love and mercy, and as his child I know he wants me to learn to love and be merciful. In this world with all the violent protests, hatred of each other in politics, and blaming one another, it’s especially my Father’s desire that I learn to demonstrate his love.
SONG: Be Still My Soul, What a Friend we Have In Jesus, Faith is the Victory.