Continuing a chronological Bible study:
(Psalm 7:1) (Shiggaion of David, which he sang to the Lord concerning the words of Cush the Benjamite) O Lord my God, in You do I put my trust; save me from all them who persecute me, and deliver me.
David called this psalm a shiggaion, which meant an aberration, deviating from the normal, a rambling poem. He sang it to the Lord concerning the words of Cush, the Benjamite. We aren't told anything about Cush, but he was a Benjamite, and Saul was from the same tribe, so it is plausible he was a servant of Saul who was among those surrounding David's house whooping in the night. David began his psalm by telling the Lord he put his faith in Him, and he asked that the Lord save him from those who persecuted him and deliver him from them.
(2) Lest he tear my soul like a lion, rending in pieces, while none to deliver.
As the Lord was the only one who could deliver him, Cush would otherwise tear his body apart like a lion if the Lord did not deliver him.
(3) O Lord my God, if I have done this, if there be iniquity in my hands, (4) If I have rewarded evil to him who was at peace with me (yea, I have delivered him who without cause is my enemy), (5) Let the enemy persecute my soul and take it; yea, let him tread down my life upon the earth and lay my honor in the dust. Selah.
If David had done what Cush and Saul had accused him of, if he had sinned, if he had done evil to one who was only at peace with him, then let his enemy persecute him and kill him. However, he had only delivered Saul from the Philistines and from the evil spirit that plagued him when he played his harp for him. He had done good for him although he had become an enemy of Saul's through no fault of his own. But if God had judged that he had done evil, then he accepted the punishment that should come to him.
(6) Arise, O Lord, in your anger; lift up Yourself because of the rage of my enemies and awake for me the judgment You have commanded.
David prayed that the Lord rise up in righteous anger to execute that righteous judgment which He had commanded by the prophet Samuel, to give David the kingdom. Perhaps David wished for the Lord to make it known to Saul that David was His chosen king, so that Saul would not continue to pursue him as an enemy, when he himself had done nothing to take his throne from him.
(7) So shall the congregation of the people surround you; for their sakes, therefore, return You on high.
I believe the sense is that David was saying that the Lord's people were gathered around Him, and for their sakes, he pleaded with the Lord to take His judgment seat on high and execute righteous judgment, vindicating the cause of all oppressed. He wished to be delivered from his troubles and put into the peaceable possession of the kingdom, if not for his sake, for the sake of the Lord's church and His people, and for the sake of His glory.
(8) The Lord shall judge the people; judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness and according to my integrity in me.
The Lord as judge of all the earth judges all people. David asked that the Lord judge him according to his righteous cause. David surely did not mean righteousness in himself as he knew no one was righteous before God (Psalm 143:2), "For in Your sight no one living is righteous." But David acted with integrity in all his actions with Saul, and he asked the Lord to judge him accordingly.
(9) Oh let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end, but establish the just, for the righteous God tries the hearts and reins.
David prayed that the wickedness of the wicked come to an end and that the just be established. The righteous God knows the hearts of men and can separate the wheat from the chaff, punishing the wicked and delivering the righteous. God also knows the reins, the kidneys. At first glance, that seems a strange statement, but our true feelings do seem to come from the gut. A dictionary definition of "reins" said "(especially in Biblical use) the seat of the feelings or affections, formerly identified with the kidneys."
(10) My defense is of God who saves the upright in heart. (11) God judges the righteous, and God is angry every day.
The original word "magen" that was translated as "defense" literally meant "shield." God was David's shield against all wickedness as He saved the upright in heart, those whose hearts followed God. God judged the righteous as He judged all hearts of men and was angry every day because of the wickedness that abounded.
(12) If he turn not, He will whet His sword; He has bent His bow and made it ready. (13) He has also prepared for Himself the instruments of death; He ordains His arrows against the persecutors.
If the wicked one does not turn from his wicked ways, God will prepare to bring judgment on him. God has prepared beforehand the instruments of death which we are all deserving of if we don't turn from our sins and seek to follow God. God is very patient and may give the wicked many chances to repent which may look as if He will not punish them, but that is because He truly wishes that none should perish and that all should come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). However, in the end, all will be judged righteously as only a completely righteous, just, and holy God can do because that is His very nature.
(14) Behold, he travails with iniquity and has conceived mischief and brought forth falsehood.
As a pregnant woman in labor, the wicked one is full of iniquity and conceives mischief and falsehood.
(15) He made a pit and dug it and is fallen into the ditch he made. (16) His mischief shall return on his own head, and his violent dealing shall come down on his own pate.
The traps the wicked make will eventually ensnare him. The evil schemes of the wicked may appear to be successful in the short term but eventually the evil comes back on him on the crown of his head.
(17) I will praise the Lord according to His righteousness and will sing praise to the name of the Lord Most High.
Because the righteous Lord defended and vindicated the innocent and punished the wicked, David sang praises to His Lord.
Even though this may have been considered by David to be a shiggaion, an erratic, wandering ode, its purpose is pretty clear. David prayed to God for deliverance from his enemy, professing his innocence and asking God to righteously judge him and his enemies, professing his faith in God to destroy his enemies, and giving God the glory for his deliverance.
C. H. Spurgeon wrote the following beautiful sentiment in his Treasury of David:
"What a blessing would it be if we could turn even the most disastrous event into a theme for song, and so turn the tables upon our great enemy. Let us learn a lesson from Luther, who once said, 'David made Psalms; we also will make Psalms, and sing them as well as we can to the honour of our Lord, and to spite and mock the devil.'"
No comments:
Post a Comment