Psalm 7: On the Run

Tradition has it that Psalm 7 was written by David as he eluded Saul’s attempts on his life. But this is not the only way to understand it. We appropriately can identify with Psalm 7’s words whenever we find ourselves in a situation where adversaries unjustly conspire against us. It can likewise apply if we are the subject of gossip or false accusations. Throughout history, many Christians inferred Psalm 7 to be a dialog between Jesus and the Father as the crucifixion approached. As with many psalms, there is more than one way to relate the passage to our present situation.

Let’s begin with the historical context. This can help us realize that we are not alone when attacked unjustly. These kinds of things happened to David in the distant past, to people throughout the ages, to Jesus, and to many alive today.

Psalms 3 through 6 present David as an older man in his sixties, more than thirty years into his reign. David could not claim innocence in those psalms. Psalm 7 is different, as we will see. Let’s determine if we can identify the period of David’s life to which this psalm applies.

The superscription contains a phrase:

concerning the words of Cush, the Benjamite.

Who is this Cush? The Bible doesn’t say. What words did he speak? We don’t know that either. His identity must have been known when the book of psalms was originally compiled, but unfortunately, this information is lost to history. We do know that Cush was a Benjamite, as was Saul. Perhaps he was assailing David with false accusations. This would explain David’s appeal to God.

Yahweh, my God, if I have done this, if there is iniquity in my hands, if I have repaid my friend with evil, if I have plundered my enemy without cause, let the enemy pursue my soul, and overtake it. Yes, let him tread my life down to the earth (v 3–5).

Saul’s jealousy of David was triggered when he heard the following:

The women sang to one another as they played, and said,
Saul has slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands.

Saul was very angry, and this saying displeased him. He said,

They have ascribed to David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed only thousands. What can he have more but the kingdom?

Saul watched David from that day and forward (1 Sam 18:7–9).

The charge against David is documented in 1 Sam 22:13:

Saul said to him, “Why have you conspired against me, you and the son of Jesse, in that you have given him bread, and a sword, and have inquired of God for him, that he should rise against me, to lie in wait, as it is today?”

But then, David spared Saul’s life (1 Sam 24). Saul’s response:

You are more righteous than I; for you have done good to me, whereas I have done evil to you. You have declared today how you have dealt well with me, because when Yahweh had delivered me up into your hand, you didn’t kill me. For if a man finds his enemy, will he let him go away unharmed? Therefore may Yahweh reward you good for that which you have done to me today (1 Sam 24:17–19).

But then, Saul was at it again (1 Sam 26). So the time frame of Psalm 7’s composition is somewhere between 1 Sam 24 and 26 when David was a young man in his late twenties. As we consider the reading of Psalm 7 below, there are significant parallels in David’s words in 1 Sam 24 and 26 to his prayer in the psalm.

Yahweh will render to every man his righteousness and his faithfulness. (1 Sam 26:23).

May Yahweh judge between me and you, and may Yahweh avenge me of you. . . . As the proverb of the ancients says,
Out of the wicked comes wickedness. . . .
May Yahweh therefore be judge, and give sentence between me and you, and see, and plead my cause, and deliver me out of your hand (1 Sam 24:12–13, 15).

Let’s now consider the psalm itself:

A meditation by David, which he sang to Yahweh,
concerning the words of Cush, the Benjamite.

¹Yahweh, my God, I take refuge in you.
Save me from all those who pursue me. Deliver me,

²Lest they tear apart my soul like a lion,
Ripping it in pieces,
While there is no one to deliver.

³Yahweh, my God,
If I have done this,
If there is iniquity in my hands,

⁴If I have repaid my friend with evil
If I have plundered my enemy without cause,

⁵Let the enemy pursue my soul, and overtake it.
Yes, let him tread my life down to the earth.
And lay my glory in the dust.

Selah.

There is a pause at this point as the psalm changes from a defensive tone to one of offence.

⁶Arise, Yahweh, in your anger.
Lift up yourself against the rage of my adversaries.
Awake for me.
You have commanded judgment.

⁷Let the congregation of the peoples surround you.
Rule over them on high.

⁸Yahweh administers judgment to the peoples.
Judge me, Yahweh, according to my righteousness.
Judge my integrity that is in me.

Verse 8 provokes controversy among evangelicals. David seems to be declaring himself righteous, whereas only Jesus can make that claim. Throughout the psalms, psalmists frequently declare themselves righteous (or innocent) and their enemies guilty (or evil).

Joseph Galineau objects:

We have no difficulty with the opening of this psalm but the confident protestation of innocence that follows it is frightening: we prefer to invoke God’s mercy rather than invite his strict scrutiny.

I believe CS Lewis brings clarity to distinguish between being right and being righteous:
Probably all of us at one time or another are right about some particular issue. What is more, the worse man could be right against the better man. Their general characters have nothing to do with it. . . . We need therefore by no means to assume that the Psalmists are wrong, deceived, or lying when they assert that, as against their particular enemies at some particular moment, they are completely in the right. Their voices while they say so may grate harshly upon our ear and suggest to us that they are unamiable people. And to be wronged does not make people amiable. . . . The poet is merely in the right, and by verse 8 he is saying ‘give sentence with me, O Lord, according to my righteousness and according to the innocence that is in me.’ (Reflections on the Psalms, 20–21).

⁹Oh let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end.
Establish the righteous;
Their minds and hearts are searched by the righteous God.

St. Augustine (354–430 CE) comments:

Let the wickedness of sinners . . . be consummated, that is, arrive at the height of wickedness, that just judgment may be able to come at once. But since it is not only said, “Let the filthy be filthy still;” but it is said also, “Let the righteous become more righteous (Rev 22:11).

¹⁰My shield is with God.
He saves the upright in heart.

David takes the situation to God. Victory will be solely through him.

¹¹God is a righteous judge,
Yes, a God who has indignation every day.

Origen of Alexandria (185–253 CE), like many Church Fathers, reads Psalm 7 allegorically, viewing it as a dialog from the Son to the Father, representing Christ’s passion and his ultimate victory over the powers of darkness. God’s perfect judgment will be finalized at the end of the age.

¹²If a man doesn’t repent,
He will sharpen his sword;
He has bent and strung his bow.

¹³He has also prepared for himself the instruments of death.
He makes ready his flaming arrows.

¹⁴Behold, he travails with iniquity.
He has conceived mischief.
He has brought out falsehood.

¹⁵He has dug a hole.
He has fallen into the pit which he made.

¹⁶The trouble he causes shall return to his own head.
His violence shall come down on the crown of his own head.

Martin Luther writes:

Every disordered spirit is its self-punishment. This is the wonderful wisdom of God, that He does not punish the ungodly except with their own stratagems. He mocks them with their own mockeries. He pierces them with their own javelins (Luther’s Works, 10:86).

Christopher Ash writes:
We don’t have to wait for the final judgment to know that God punishes sin. The one who hates is consumed by bitterness. The lustful man acts out a lust, and it disappoints. A liar hopes to make his life better but ends up enmeshed in a spider’s web of deceit so that no one trusts him anymore. The one who rebels against authority finds himself in an anarchic world that is partly of his own making. A covetous person grasps and ends dissatisfied. The one who is a false accuser destroys his own integrity, virtue, and reputation (The Psalms: A Christ Centered Commentary, 85).

¹⁷I will give thanks to Yahweh according to his righteousness.
I will sing praise to the name of Yahweh Most High.

Conclusion

According to the Church Father, Athanasius (328–373 CE),

If anyone plot against you and someone tells you of it, sing Psalm 7, and put your trust in God who will deliver you (Letter to Marcellinus).

This is true in many cases, but not always. Sometimes, beyond our understanding, innocent people get hurt. Certainly it was true of Christ who was falsely accused and crucified. We can be sure though; nobody gets away with anything in the end. There will be a final reckoning. There is an eternity following our limited lifespans.

Thanks for listening,

Modern Renditions

Psalm 7 by Christian EDM Central
Psalm 7 by Celtic Psalms Project
In You I Take Refuge by Karl Kohlhas
4. A Cry for Justice and a Declaration of Trust by Singing Bible
Vindicate Me by Psalm Project

For Further Meditation

Agpeya: Prayer Book of the Hours, (Coptic Orthodox Church of Saint Mark, 2017).
Christopher Ash, The Psalms: A Christ Centered Commentary: Psalms 1–50, Vol. 2, (Crossway, 2024).
Athanasius, “letter to Marcellinus: On the Interpretation of the Psalms.”
Augustine, “Exposition on the Psalms.”
Basil, The Fathers of the Church: A New Translation, Vol. 46.
Basil, On Prayer.
Bonhoeffer Dietrich, Psalms: The Prayer Book.
C. Hassell Bullock, Encountering the Book of Psalms, (Baker 2001).
Hilary of Poitiers, “Homilies on the Psalms.”
Joseph Galineau, The Psalms: A New Translation Singing version, (Paulist Press, 1991).
Jerome, The Fathers of the Church: The Homilies of Jerome 1–59, Vol 1.
Dereck Kidner, Kidner Classic Commentaries: Psalms 1–72, (IVP Academic, 1973).
C. S. Lewis, Reflections on the Psalms, (New York: Harcourt, Brace, 1958).
Temper Longman III and David E. Garland, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Psalms, Vol. 5, (Zondervan, 2008).
Origen of Alexandria, Fathers of the Church: Homilies on the Psalms Codex Monacensis Graecus 314, (Catholic University of America Press, 2020).
Origen, Commentary on Psalms.
Pettingill, Christ in the Psalms, (Van Kampen Press, 1937.
Rashi, “On Psalms.”

Dan Harvey, author of Wrestling with Faith and Experiencing the Apocalypse

Psalm 7: On the Run

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