Psalm 7
1. O LORD my God, in You I have taken refuge; Save me from all those who pursue me, and deliver me,
2. Or he will tear my soul like a lion, Dragging me away, while there is none to deliver.
3. O LORD my God, if I have done this, If there is injustice in my hands,
4. If I have rewarded evil to my friend, Or have plundered him who without cause was my adversary,
5 Let the enemy pursue my soul and overtake {it;} And let him trample my life down to the ground And lay my glory in the dust. Selah.
6 Arise, O LORD, in Your anger; Lift up Yourself against the rage of my adversaries, And arouse Yourself for me; You have appointed judgment.
7 Let the assembly of the peoples encompass You, And over them return on high.
8 The LORD judges the peoples; Vindicate me, O LORD, according to my righteousness and my integrity that is in me.
9 O let the evil of the wicked come to an end, but establish the righteous; For the righteous God tries the hearts and minds.
10 My shield is with God, Who saves the upright in heart.
11 God is a righteous judge, And a God who has indignation every day.
12 If a man does not repent, He will sharpen His sword; He has bent His bow and made it ready.
13 He has also prepared for Himself deadly weapons; He makes His arrows fiery shafts.
14 Behold, he travails with wickedness, And he conceives mischief and brings forth falsehood.
15 He has dug a pit and hollowed it out, And has fallen into the hole which he made.
16 His mischief will return upon his own head, And his violence will descend upon his own pate.
17 I will give thanks to the LORD according to His righteousness And will sing praise to the name of the LORD Most High.
The first time David met King Saul was after he had killed the giant Goliath. Shortly after that Saul took the boy David into his own court because he had been told that David was a good musician and that his music could relieve his own worried conscience. So David played a flute or harp and sang songs in Saul’s household about the Lord’s doings. It was not long before they all realized that he was different, that he knew God intimately so he could sing so sweetly about God. In today’s jargon we would say he had a relationship with God that showed them all that God was instructing him, making him what they saw him to be.
But that became a problem to the jealous King and Saul changed his feelings toward David, wanting to get rid of him. David had to run for his life and hide from Saul out in the country, in the wilds, for safety. He needed to watch carefully ahead, behind, and all around him every minute each day and all night lest Saul or some of Saul’s men find him. Saul even sent his army out to get David so it seemed there was no help for him unless God intervened, which He did, and this psalm tells about the ruses and tricks of the jealous wicked Saul and how David trusted God and and thanked Him for deliverance.
This psalm is full of very picturesque language. Notice the lion tearing and dragging away his prey, treacherous friends, trampling of life and honor, the pit dug in the path, the snare ready to spring, the shield and the sword, the bow and the fiery arrows and the violence all ending up in victory. Today we might use different words to describe our surroundings but like David we have turmoil and trouble and the same faithful God to deliver and keep us in spite of them all.
Every one of us can put ourselves right into this psalm, maybe not into the same cave or hideaway that David and his men were in, but in the same need of help from God. Read the psalm again, pray it and trust.
It will make a difference