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363 / 1113 · Psalms 7 · The United Kingdom · Undated; heading 'of David' (debated)

Judge Me, LORD

Debated
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Being falsely accused is its own kind of torment. A rumour starts at work or in the village, a complaint is filed, and suddenly you are explaining yourself to people who have already decided. You know you did not do it, but you cannot prove a negative. Many Indian families know what it is to wait years for a court date. Psalm 7 is the prayer of a man in that position. His heading names an accuser, and the psalm reads like a legal appeal lodged with the one judge who cannot be bribed and who actually sees the heart.

Where it sits in the story: In Act 3 God gave Israel laws, judges and a king to maintain justice, yet human courts often failed. Psalm 7 appeals over them to God himself as judge of the nations. Its conviction that evil eventually recoils on the one who plans it runs through the Bible, from Haman on his own gallows to the final judgment. It sits in the early David collection among prayers from people under pressure.

What this chapter is doing: To model an innocent sufferer's appeal to God's justice: seeking refuge, honestly submitting one's own conduct to examination, and trusting God to judge rather than taking revenge.

Why it is read here: This psalm carries David's name (or sits in the David collection), but no heading ties it to an event. We gather these near the end of David's life — 'the sweet psalmist of Israel' (2 Samuel 23:1) — rather than guess an occasion for each. 'Of David' can mean by, for, or in the tradition of David.
The walk-through
  • 7:1–2 — David takes refuge in the LORD and asks to be saved from pursuers who would tear him apart like a lion, with no one to rescue him.
  • 7:3–5 — He swears an oath of innocence: if he has done wrong or repaid a friend with evil, then let the enemy catch him and trample him into the dust. He is willing to be examined.
  • 7:6–9 — He calls God to rise in anger and convene the court of the nations. 'Judge me', he asks, according to my righteousness, and let the evil of the wicked end, for God tests hearts and minds.
  • 7:10–13 — God is his shield and a righteous judge who is angry at evil every day. If the wicked will not turn, God sharpens his sword and bends his bow.
  • 7:14–17 — The wicked conceive trouble and give birth to lies; they dig a pit and fall into it, and their violence lands on their own heads. David ends by thanking the LORD for his righteousness.
What it showsThe heading calls this a 'Shiggaion', perhaps a lament or an irregular kind of song, and connects it with the words of 'Cush, a Benjaminite', which would fit the hostility of Saul's tribe toward David. The oath form in 7:3–5 resembles ancient Near Eastern declarations of innocence.
Where the evidence stopsCush is otherwise unknown, and neither Samuel nor Chronicles records the incident, so the heading cannot be tied to a specific event. The exact meaning of 'Shiggaion' is uncertain.

Key verse: Psalm 7:9  ·  So what: When we are wronged, we usually want either to fight back or to fold. Psalm 7 offers a third path: tell God the whole case, invite him to examine your own part in it too, and leave the verdict with him. The oath in verses 3 to 5 is a useful check: are we willing to be judged by the standard we want applied to others?

← A Bed Soaked with TearsYou have just read Psalm 6, a sufferer's tears turned to assurance. Next is Psalm 8, a hymn under the night sky that marvels at God's glory and at the strange dignity he has given to human beings.What Is Man? →
Sources & further reading
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