Psalm 7

Lord my God, I take refuge in you;
    save and deliver me from all who pursue me,
or they will tear me apart like a lion
    and rip me to pieces with no one to rescue me.
Lord my God, if I have done this
    and there is guilt on my hands—
if I have repaid my ally with evil
    or without cause have robbed my foe—
then let my enemy pursue and overtake me;
    let him trample my life to the ground
    and make me sleep in the dust.
Arise, Lord, in your anger;
    rise up against the rage of my enemies.
    Awake, my God; decree justice.
Let the assembled peoples gather around you,
    while you sit enthroned over them on high.
    Let the Lord judge the peoples.
Vindicate me, Lord, according to my righteousness,
    according to my integrity, O Most High.
Bring to an end the violence of the wicked
    and make the righteous secure—
you, the righteous God
    who probes minds and hearts.
My shield is God Most High,
    who saves the upright in heart.
God is a righteous judge,
    a God who displays his wrath every day.
If he does not relent,
    he will sharpen his sword;
    he will bend and string his bow.
He has prepared his deadly weapons;
    he makes ready his flaming arrows.
Whoever is pregnant with evil
    conceives trouble and gives birth to disillusionment.
Whoever digs a hole and scoops it out
    falls into the pit they have made.
The trouble they cause recoils on them;
    their violence comes down on their own heads.

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

• Psalm 7:1-17

Type of Psalm

Didactic: These psalms are psalms that are intended to teach.  In most cases the psalm instructs us in moral principles.

Matthew Henry’s Summary

“It appears by the title that this psalm was penned with a particular reference to the malicious imputations that David was unjustly laid under by some of his enemies. Being thus wronged, I. He applies to God for favour, ver. 1, 2. II. He appeals to God concerning his innocency, ver. 3-5. III. He prays to God to plead his cause and judge for him against his persecutors, ver. 6-9. IV. He expresses his confidence in God that he would do so, ver. 10-16. V. He promises to give God the glory of his deliverance, ver. 17.”

• Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry’s Commentary

Noted Biblical Scholars, Teachers, and Preachers Comments

Psalm 7:2 ‘Lest they tear me like a lion’: “Often the psalmist’s enemies are symbolized by vicious, attacking animals, with ‘the king of beasts’ occurring frequently (Pss. 10:9; 17:12; 22:13, 16, 21)”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

My Thoughts

We could break this psalm down, after the entrance, with God is just.  God is powerful.  Praise God.

But the first verses are important.  David humbles himself and confesses.  Sometimes we might not know that we screwed up royally that day, but when we go to God, we need to be in a humble frame of mind, and we may not remember, but God is all knowing.  As someone said recently, God does not forget, but He washes away the sin, so that He does not hold it in account against us.  Thus, a prayer to confess the wrongs in our life that we were unaware of or that we forgot is sometimes necessary.

And the way my memory and focus is lately.  I might need that prayer of confession every day.

Psalm 8

Lord, our Lord,
    how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory
    in the heavens.
Through the praise of children and infants
    you have established a stronghold against your enemies,
    to silence the foe and the avenger.
When I consider your heavens,
    the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
    which you have set in place,
what is mankind that you are mindful of them,
    human beings that you care for them?
You have made them a little lower than the angels
    and crowned them with glory and honor.
You made them rulers over the works of your hands;
    you put everything under their feet:
all flocks and herds,
    and the animals of the wild,
the birds in the sky,
    and the fish in the sea,
    all that swim the paths of the seas.
Lord, our Lord,
    how majestic is your name in all the earth!

• Psalm 8:1-9

Type of Psalm

Psalms of praise: Exactly as stated.  God is being praised.

Matthew Henry’s Summary

“This psalm is a solemn meditation on the glory and greatness of God. It begins and ends with the same acknowledgment of the transcendent excellency of God’s name. For the proof of God’s glory the psalmist gives instances of his goodness to man; for God’s goodness is his glory. God is to be glorified, I. For making known himself and his great name to us, ver. 1. II. For making use of the weakest of the children of men, by them to serve his own purposes, ver. 2. III. For making even the heavenly bodies useful to man, ver. 3, 4. IV. For making him to have dominion over the creatures in this lower world, and thereby placing him but little lower than the angels, ver. 5-8. This psalm is, in the New Testament, applied to Christ and the work of our redemption which he wrought out; the honour given by the children of men in 1:11 (ver. 2, compared with Matt. xxi. 16) and the honour put upon the children of men by him, both in his humiliation, when he was made a little lower than the angels, and in his exaltation, when he was crowned with glory and honour. Compare ver. 5. 6, with Heb. ii. 6-8, 1 Cor. xv. 27.”

• Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry’s Commentary

Noted Biblical Scholars, Teachers, and Preachers Comments

Psalm 8:4 ‘a beautiful creation’: “God made the world; it is a beautiful thing and something to venerate. It’s a great loss—if tragic loss—that we’ve suffered in the last generation. We have lost the ability to wonder. We know so everlasting much and we‘re so sure of ourselves. But David stood and wondered in the presence of God’s creation; he raised his eyes and said, ‘What is man, that thou art mindful of him?’ (Psalm 8:4). And Isaiah and Jeremiah and Ezekiel and all the rest of them stood and wondered in the presence of God Almighty’s creation. …
“The footprints of God are everywhere about us. And while we can’t see Him, we can see His luminous trail like a bird that sings while hidden in a tree. As Middleton said, ‘The bird sings darkling.’ We can’t see the bird, but we can hear her sing. God sings among His branches and sings in His universe. You and I cannot gaze upon Him, for no man can see God and live. But we can hear Him sing His song of creation and redemption. And we can feel the pressure of His breath upon us as we move through the world. We’ll never see things rightly till we see them as the garments of God.”

• A. W. Tozer, Success and the Christian

My Thoughts

This is a short, but beautiful, prayer of praise.

I do not remember if it was the theme for a sermon I heard this past summer, but it is close.

God is the God of the Universe.  How majestic is the universe and all that is within it.  David only saw with the naked eye.  If he could see what we see from telescope photography, he could not have said it better.

But then, God is the Creator of this earth.  Again, David had no idea we were in the Goldilocks zone.  Any closer to the sun and we would burn up.  Any further away and we would freeze.  If the moon was not extremely close to where it is, we would not have the tides if further away, or the tides would destroy everything on the coastlines if any nearer.  Yet, we have life and that single cell that Darwin thought was not much of anything is filled with the same wonders of intricate design that it could never have happened by chance.

Praise to the Lord.

Psalm 9

I will give thanks to you, Lord, with all my heart;
    I will tell of all your wonderful deeds.
I will be glad and rejoice in you;
    I will sing the praises of your name, O Most High.
My enemies turn back;
    they stumble and perish before you.
For you have upheld my right and my cause,
    sitting enthroned as the righteous judge.
You have rebuked the nations and destroyed the wicked;
    you have blotted out their name for ever and ever.
Endless ruin has overtaken my enemies,
    you have uprooted their cities;
    even the memory of them has perished.
The Lord reigns forever;
    he has established his throne for judgment.
He rules the world in righteousness
    and judges the peoples with equity.
The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed,
    a stronghold in times of trouble.
Those who know your name trust in you,
    for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you.
Sing the praises of the Lord, enthroned in Zion;
    proclaim among the nations what he has done.
For he who avenges blood remembers;
    he does not ignore the cries of the afflicted.
Lord, see how my enemies persecute me!
    Have mercy and lift me up from the gates of death,
that I may declare your praises
    in the gates of Daughter Zion,
    and there rejoice in your salvation.
The nations have fallen into the pit they have dug;
    their feet are caught in the net they have hidden.
The Lord is known by his acts of justice;
    the wicked are ensnared by the work of their hands.
The wicked go down to the realm of the dead,
    all the nations that forget God.
But God will never forget the needy;
    the hope of the afflicted will never perish.
Arise, Lord, do not let mortals triumph;
    let the nations be judged in your presence.
Strike them with terror, Lord;    let the nations know they are only mortal.

• Psalm 9:1-20

Type of Psalm

Didactic psalms: These psalms are psalms that are intended to teach.  In most cases the psalm instructs us in moral principles.

Imprecatory psalms (9:20): Asking for vengeance against enemies.  From the two examples above, these requests for vengeance are usually not specific in how God does it.  I have written about this type of psalm or prayer in that they are legitimate requests to God.  We know that God will eventually stamp out all evil in the world.  Praying that God would do as He promises that He will eventually do is legitimate, but when a face is applied to that evil, our first reaction should be one of forgiveness and mercy.

Psalms of thanksgiving for God’s mercies to individuals:  Giving God thanks as noted.

Matthew Henry’s Summary

“In this psalm, I. David praises God for pleading his cause, and giving him victory over the enemies of his country (ver. 1-6), and calls upon others to join with him in his songs of praise, ver. 11, 12. II. He prays to God that he might have still further occasion to praise him, ver. 13, 14, 19, 20. III. He triumphs in the assurance he had of God’s judging the world (ver. 7, 8), protecting his oppressed people (ver. 9, 10, 18), and bringing his and their implacable enemies to ruin, ver. 15-17.”

• Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry’s Commentary

Noted Biblical Scholars, Teachers, and Preachers Comments

Psalm 9:18 ‘not too lofty, not too low’: “To the mariner, who needs to know his position when far out at sea, even one lone star gleaming amid the clouds may be precious. So to those who are among the poor and needy ones, the light of God in this text will be most joyful to their heart. He who dwells in the valley of humiliation lives in a place where he may delight in safety because he is certain, while he abides there, to give all the glory for his delight to his God. It is not a land that every person chooses; it lies too low for some people’s tastes. Some love the high places of the earth where they can exalt themselves. But he who is wise will choose to be numbered among the hungry whom the Lord fills with good things and not among the rich whom he sends away empty.”

• Charles H. Spurgeon, from his sermon illustrations

My Thoughts

Our enemies fall before us, and God upholds us.

Our enemies are in ruin, but the Lord reigns forever.

God judges with equity.  He will never forsake those who truly seek Him.

He shows Mercy.  He lifts me up.

God never forgets the needy.  There is always hope for the afflicted.

And then for those who do not like imprecatory psalms, I would think we would want the proud enemies to be struck with fear so that they know they are mortal.

The United Nations and the world leaders today have their crusades, Climate Change being one of them.  Yet, God is never mentioned, and all the rhetoric says that we can fix global problems.

Our world leaders have no clue that they are indeed mortals, and the nations of this world are not guaranteed to be around in the not too distant future.

Some Serendipitous Reflections

Psalm 7

“1. Have you felt falsely accused? How did you appeal your case? Like David?
“2. If the content of your prayers from the last month were analyzed, how much concern for injustice would we find: Zippo? Piddly? ‘Over my dead body’ (as in v.5)?
“3. Would you want God to judge you according lo your righteousness or the integrity of your heart? Why?
“4. What ‘pit’ of your own making have you fallen into lately? Are you digging out? Or piling it down on your head?
“5. For what aspect of God‘s character are you especially thankful today?”

Psalm 8

“1. Can we do anything we want to God’s creation? What are our limits? Responsibilities?
“2. What is man, according to the pessimist? The optimist? Sinner? Sufferer? Which are you today?
“3. Have you ever wondered, gazing at a starry sky, how God could be ‘mindful’ of your little life? Do you feel important to God?”

Psalm 9

“1. Which of God’s wonders have you felt like singing about this week? Or are you still distracted from enjoying God’s wonders by the pursuit of ‘enemies’?
“2. What word best describes you: (a) Oppressed? (b) Afflicted? (c) Needy? (d) Wicked? (e) Wonderful? Why?
“3. Does your private worship affect your public witness? How has your public witness affected your desire to pray, plead and sing?
“4. What hope does this psalm give people suffering injustice? What is your advice to them?
“5. Does God carry out judgments in this life or does he wait for a future ‘Judgment Day’? Why has God waited so long?”

• Lyman Coleman, et al, The NIV Serendipity Bible for Study Groups

There is one set of questions for each psalm.

Substitute whatever group for any reference to a small group or ask who could come to your aid.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.