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In You Do I Take Refuge
A Shiggaion of David, which he sang to the LORD concerning the words of Cush, a Benjaminite.
7 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.
(ESV)
Psalm 7 Commentary
by Brad Boyles
As I read Psalm 7, I found myself asking if God was not righteous, would I pray to Him? In other words, what logical reason do we have for pleading our case before the Lord? First, it is important to understand that the Psalmist’s plea for innocence is not a theological violation of Scripture. It is not a self-righteous plea. The context, much like Job’s, is specific to an instance where the consequences seem to be unbalanced with the behavior. Job was a God-fearing man who was pursuing righteousness but suffering unbelievable consequences.
The Psalmist is actually asking God to search his heart and find anything that is impure because he is unaware of why this suffering has come upon him. So, an appeal is presented to the judge. That appeal is centered squarely on the fact that we know the Lord is righteous. He is fair and just. He is worthy to be trusted. So the mere fact that we can approach Him in this way verifies our belief that He is holy. We don’t pray to convince ourselves that we are righteous, but because we believe He is. Have you ever thought of it this way?
The thought of praying to a God who does not rule justly is nerve-racking, but honestly, this is the view that some have of God. Some picture Him as an isolated Being that does whatever He wants. His involvement depends on His mood and His decisions are seemingly random. If this is our view of God, then our commitment level to prayer will dwindle.
The fact is that our God is full of grace and truth. He loves us and knows what’s best. He hears us and wants to be involved in our lives. Finally, He always rules with justice and righteousness. This should bring us to our knees more than ever.