Psalm 7: My Shield Is With God

A Shiggaion of David, which he sang to the Lord concerning the words of Cush, a Benjaminite.

O Lord my God, in you do I take refuge;
save me from all my pursuers and deliver me,
lest like a lion they tear my soul apart,
rending it in pieces, with none to deliver.

O Lord my God, if I have done this,
if there is wrong in my hands,
if I have repaid my friend with evil
or plundered my enemy without cause,
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

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

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

The Lord judges the peoples;
judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness
and according to the integrity that is in me.

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!

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

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

If a man does not repent,
God will whet his sword;
he has bent and readied his bow;
he has prepared for him his deadly weapons,
making his arrows fiery shafts.

Behold, the wicked man conceives evil
and is pregnant with mischief
and gives birth to lies.

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

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

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.

Psalms 7:1-17 (ESV)

What Do You Think?

"Pursuers" refers to anyone, or any thing, "running after" you with hostile intent. What things have been pursuing you this week?

David seems to be allowing the possibility that he was in the wrong, that he had treated someone unfairly. What was David's prayer regarding his sin, and how does it relate to the issue of going to someone to ask for forgiveness?

The theme of this psalm, however, seems to be undeserved attacks from others...David regards himself as having righteousness and integrity. What does David ask of God in response to the unfair treatment he's received from his enemies? How does his prayer relate to the issue of forgiving one's enemies?

When was the last time you "ranted and raved" in prayer to God? How did it help, you or the situation, to honestly express in prayer your frustration and anger?

Digging Deeper

"Shiggaion" is probably a musical term that describes the style or form of this psalm. "Shiggaion" means aberration, something that wanders or strays from the normal or typical. Smith's Bible Dictionary suggests that it means "a wild, mournful ode". It may be a form of what we might call "free verse", a poem without consistent rhyme or rhythm.

"Cush, a Benjaminite" perhaps may refer to a man named Shimei who cursed and threw stones at David (2 Samuel 16).

"Selah" (SEL-law) means suspension, as in a pause in the music. It comes from a word meaning to hang up or weigh. David's use in this psalm is probably intended to give emotion emphasis to what had just been said.

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