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.
Describe the psalmist's situation in verses 1-2.
Study verses 3-5. Why would it take guts to ask this of God?
If you were to ask this of God, what might God say in response to you?
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. NIV
The writer's tone changes again in verse 6. How would you describe the feelings in verses 6-9?
The problems the writer mention seem daunting. Why would the writer petition the Lord? What could the Lord do?
::::: Application Challenge :::::
Think about an injustice that threatens you or the people around you. Read through these first nine verses of Psalm 7 again, but this time with that current injustice in mind. Pray as you read— and let the words of this psalm stir your emotions towards God.
::::: Digging Deeper :::::
Psalm 7 tradationally has the following introduction included with it: "A shiggaion of David, which he sang to the Lord concerning Cush, a Benjamite." This note is quite interesting: 1) No one really knows what shiggaion means (though it is probably some kind of musical term); 2) No one really knows who Cush the Benjamite is (he doesn't appear anywhere in the Bible); 3) No one really knows if David wrote this psalm, had someone else write it, or if it was written in David's honor generations later.
After reading the first nine verses of this psalm, how does it make you feel that this psalm was included in the Book of Psalms?
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