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7. Psalm 7

1 LORD my God, I take refuge in you;
   save and deliver me from all who pursue me,

2 or they will tear me apart like a lion
   and rip me to pieces with no one to rescue me.

    3 LORD my God, if I have done this
   and there is guilt on my hands—

4 if I have repaid my ally with evil
   or without cause have robbed my foe—

5 then let my enemy pursue and overtake me;
   let him trample my life to the ground
   and make me sleep in the dust. The Hebrew has Selah (a word of uncertain meaning) here.

    6 Arise, LORD, in your anger;
   rise up against the rage of my enemies.
   Awake, my God; decree justice.

7 Let the assembled peoples gather around you,
   while you sit enthroned over them on high.
   
8 Let the LORD judge the peoples.
Vindicate me, LORD, according to my righteousness,
   according to my integrity, O Most High.

9 Bring to an end the violence of the wicked
   and make the righteous secure—
you, the righteous God
   who probes minds and hearts.

    10 My shield Or sovereign is God Most High,
   who saves the upright in heart.

11 God is a righteous judge,
   a God who displays his wrath every day.

12 If he does not relent,
   he Or If anyone does not repent, / God will sharpen his sword;
   he will bend and string his bow.

13 He has prepared his deadly weapons;
   he makes ready his flaming arrows.

    14 Whoever is pregnant with evil
   conceives trouble and gives birth to disillusionment.

15 Whoever digs a hole and scoops it out
   falls into the pit they have made.

16 The trouble they cause recoils on them;
   their violence comes down on their own heads.

    17 I will give thanks to the LORD because of his righteousness;
   I will sing the praises of the name of the LORD Most High.


11 God judgeth the righteous etc. Others read, God is a righteous Judge, and God is angry every day. The words will certainly admit of this sense; but as the doctrine is fuller according to the first reading, I have preferred following it, as I see it is more approved of by the most learned divines, and, besides, it is more suitable to the subject which David is now considering. As Saul and his accomplices had, by their calumnious reports, so far succeeded in their wicked design as to have produced a general prejudice against David, so that he was condemned by almost the whole people, the holy man supports himself from this one consideration, that whatever may be the confusion of things in the world, God, notwithstanding, can easily discern between the righteous and the wicked. He, therefore, appeals from the false judgments of men to Him who can never be deceived. It may, however, be asked, How does the Psalmist represent God as judging every day, when we see him delaying punishment frequently for a long time? The sacred writings certainly most justly celebrate his long-suffering; but, although he exercises patience long, and does not immediately execute his judgments, yet, as no time passes, yea, not even a day, in which he does not furnish the clearest evidence that he discerns between the righteous and the wicked, notwithstanding the confusion of things in the world, it is certain that he never ceases to execute the office of a judge. All who will be at the trouble to open their eyes to behold the government of the world, will distinctly see that the patience of God is very different from approbation or connivance. Surely, then, his own people will confidently betake themselves to him every day.


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