Hi. I’m Daniel Westfall on the channel “Pray with Me”.
Today we consider Psalm number 7, which is titled, “A song of David, which he sang to the Lord concerning Cush, a Benjamite.” We don’t know anything about Cush except what we infer from this psalm.
I find Psalm 7 remarkable in three ways.
First, David uses a variety of names for God. He twice calls him “Jehovah my God”, three times “Jehovah”, once “the Most High”, “God Most High”, “O righteous God”, and “Jehovah Most High”. The first words in the psalm are “O Lord my God” and the last words are “Jehovah Most High.” How good it is if our prayers and our life are bookended by God. God at the beginning, God at the end, and God in all parts of the middle.
The second remarkable thing about Psalm 7 is that David appeals to God on the basis of his, David’s, righteousness. David complains to God that his pursuers want to shred him like a lion and rip him to pieces with no one to rescue him. David responds to this threat by saying to God,
“If I done evil to one who is a peace with me,
if I am guilty,
then let my enemy catch up with me
let him trample my life to the ground,
let him make me sleep in death.
Judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness.”
If your background is North American evangelical (like mine), you probably recoil at the thought of pointing out your righteousness to God. But David has no such reluctance.
The third remarkable thing about Psalm 7 is how it describes evil as a boomerang. Listen to how it works:
“He who digs a hole . . . falls into the pit he has made,
The trouble he causes recoils on himself;
His violence comes down on his own head.”
One of the strongest arguments against doing evil is that you reap what you sow! One of God’s most terrible judgements is to let our evil take its natural course, until it comes full circle to hurt or destroy us.
Let’s pray.
Our father, David calls you Jehovah my God. There is a relationship here. We have adopted you as our God, you have adopted us as your children. In the dysfunction and violence of our human relationships we turn to you, our God. You are God Most High. Protect us by judging of the peoples of the earth.
Arise, O Lord, wake up, O God.
Attend to your relationship with us.
Notice that we have tried to serve you in righteousness and honor.
See that we have listened to your word and obeyed your laws.
Do your work as judge.
Put a restraining order on our enemies, lock them up in prison.
Respond to their anger with your anger.
Let their evil boomerang on themselves.
Let them fall into the hole they have dug
Let their violence land on their own heads.
As for us, you are our shield, God Most High.
You are a righteous judge.
You save the upright in heart.
We will sing praise to your name, Lord Most High.
Amen.
I’m Daniel on the channel “Pray with Me”.
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