Version: King James Version (public domain)
Psalm 7
O Lord my God, in thee do I put my trust: save me from all them that persecute me, and deliver me:
Psalm 7 is the prayer of someone falsely accused: “O Lord my God, in thee do I put my trust: save me from all them that persecute me”. David asks God to judge his case and ends in praise of “the Lord most high”.
Bible text
1 O Lord my God, in thee do I put my trust: save me from all them that persecute me, and deliver me:
2 Lest he tear my soul like a lion, rending it in pieces, while there is none to deliver.
3 O Lord my God, if I have done this; if there be iniquity in my hands;
4 If I have rewarded evil unto him that was at peace with me; (yea, I have delivered him that without cause is mine enemy:)
5 Let the enemy persecute my soul, and take it; yea, let him tread down my life upon the earth, and lay mine honour in the dust. Selah.
6 Arise, O Lord, in thine anger, lift up thyself because of the rage of mine enemies: and awake for me to the judgment that thou hast commanded.
7 So shall the congregation of the people compass thee about: for their sakes therefore return thou on high.
8 The Lord shall judge the people: judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness, and according to mine integrity that is in me.
9 Oh let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end; but establish the just: for the righteous God trieth the hearts and reins.
10 My defence is of God, which saveth the upright in heart.
11 God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day.
12 If he turn not, he will whet his sword; he hath bent his bow, and made it ready.
13 He hath also prepared for him the instruments of death; he ordaineth his arrows against the persecutors.
14 Behold, he travaileth with iniquity, and hath conceived mischief, and brought forth falsehood.
15 He made a pit, and digged it, and is fallen into the ditch which he made.
16 His mischief shall return upon his own head, and his violent dealing shall come down upon his own pate.
17 I will praise the Lord according to his righteousness: and will sing praise to the name of the Lord most high.
Original text
Shiggayon leDavid… Adonai Elohai, becha chasiti; hoshi’eni mikol rodfai vehatsileni.
Plain-language version
v. 1–2 Lord, I take refuge in you. Save me from those who chase me, before they tear me apart like a lion.
v. 3–5 If I did the wrong they accuse me of, if I repaid good with evil, then let the enemy catch me.
v. 6–9 Rise up, Lord, and judge. You know the heart: put an end to evil and support the one who is just.
v. 10–13 God is my shield and a just judge. Whoever refuses to turn back will face his justice.
v. 14–16 Evil comes back on the one who plans it: whoever digs a pit falls into it.
v. 17 I will praise the Lord, because he is just.
Historical context
The title. The Hebrew heading calls the psalm a shiggaion, a word of uncertain meaning. Many link it to the verb shagah, “to wander”, and think of an emotional song or one with an irregular rhythm. Some translations count this heading as verse 1 (the French Louis Segond does), so their numbering runs one ahead.
Cush the Benjamite. According to the title, David sang the psalm because of the words of a certain Cush, from the tribe of Benjamin, who is not identified anywhere else in the Bible. Saul was a Benjamite, and so was Shimei, who cursed David as he fled from Absalom (2 Samuel 16). For this reason many read the psalm against the background of accusations from Saul’s side.
An oath of innocence. Verses 3–5 take the form of an oath: if I have done this, let the enemy overtake me. It was a legal procedure in ancient Israel: someone without witnesses could swear before God at the sanctuary and leave the verdict to him (compare 1 Kings 8:31–32).
Explanation
Refuge before defence
The psalm opens with trust, not arguments: “in thee do I put my trust”. Only then does David present his case. The image of the lion (v. 2) shows how great the threat is: without God, his soul would be torn apart “while there is none to deliver”.
If I have done this
In verses 3–5 the psalmist does not claim to be perfect; he claims to be innocent of this charge. He even stakes his life on it: if he is guilty, “let him tread down my life upon the earth”. It is the courage of a clear conscience on that point. Psalm 27 also speaks of false witnesses rising up against the psalmist (v. 12).
The God who tries the heart
Verse 9 asks for an end to wickedness and support for the just, because “the righteous God trieth the hearts and reins”. The Hebrew says “hearts and kidneys” (libot ukhlayot): the kidneys were seen as the seat of the deepest emotions. The accused does not appeal to a human court but to the one who sees from within.
The pit and the digger
Verses 14–16 describe evil as a pregnancy that gives birth only to falsehood, and then as a trap: “He made a pit, and digged it, and is fallen into the ditch which he made.” God’s justice also appears here as consequence: evil returns to the one who plans it. The psalm closes in praise of “the Lord most high”.
How each tradition reads it
Catholic
In the Vulgate numbering, Psalm 7 keeps the same number. Christian tradition read it as the prayer of the persecuted just man, and Saint Augustine comments on it in his Enarrationes in Psalmos. For Catholic readers, the psalm teaches to entrust judgement to God and to examine one’s own conscience before asking for justice.
Protestant
Many evangelical readers turn to Psalm 7 in times of slander and injustice: instead of taking revenge, the psalmist hands his cause to God, as Paul advises in Romans 12:19. Verse 10 sums up that trust: “My defence is of God, which saveth the upright in heart.”
Jewish
The Talmud asks who this Cush the Benjamite was and answers that he was Saul: just as a Cushite stands out by the colour of his skin, Saul stood out by his deeds (Moed Katan 16b). On this reading, the psalm is David’s answer to the king’s persecution.
Academic
Most commentators classify Psalm 7 as the individual lament of an accused person, with an oath of innocence (vv. 3–5) similar to Job 31. The Hebrew has difficult passages: in verses 12–13, the one who whets the sword and bends the bow may be God, as the KJV understands it, or the wicked man himself, whose weapons would then turn against him (vv. 15–16), as some modern translators propose.
Each reading is attributed to the tradition that holds it. VersePath does not take sides.
Reflect
Being falsely accused hurts in a particular way. The psalmist does not hide his distress or pretend nothing happened, but he does not take justice into his own hands either: he hands the case to God and ends up singing. Is there a situation today that you need to leave with the just judge?
Did you know?
- The word shiggaion from the title appears in the plural (shigionoth) at the start of Habakkuk’s prayer (Habakkuk 3:1).
- The last verse calls God YHWH Elyon, “the Lord most high”, a title already found in Genesis 14, when Abraham meets Melchizedek.
- The image of falling into one’s own pit (v. 15) returns in Proverbs 26:27 and Ecclesiastes 10:8, and became a proverb in many languages.
Frequently asked questions
What does Psalm 7 mean?
It is the prayer of someone falsely accused, who hands his cause to God, the just judge, and trusts that evil will turn back on those who planned it.
Who wrote Psalm 7 and in what context?
The title attributes it to David and links it to the words of Cush, an unknown Benjamite. Jewish tradition identifies this Cush with King Saul.
What is a Shiggaion?
It is the Hebrew word in the psalm’s title. Its meaning is uncertain; it probably refers to an emotional song or one with an irregular rhythm.
When should I pray Psalm 7?
In times of slander, false accusation or persecution, to entrust your cause to God instead of seeking revenge.