Sunday Scripture

 

Well, we're back to our ongoing series on my simple study of Psalms.  You can see a copy of the journal here: The Book of Psalms 1-50 or you can find all the resources right here on Women Living Well, Psalms 1-50.  I'm attempting to SOAP each Psalm too, though some of them are longer so I will likely only do a selected passage from many of them. [Quick reminder that S stands for Scripture; O stands for for observation; A stands for application, and P stands for prayer.]  Each psalm's study also includes a reflection question, which I will attempt to journal an answer to.  Today's study is from Psalm 7.  It zeroes in on verse 10, but I chose to SOAP verses 1-10.

S= "O LORD my God, in Thee do I put my trust;save me from all those who persecute me, and deliver me,
"Lest he tear my soul like a lion, rending it in pieces, while there is none to deliver.
"O LORD my God, if I have done this, if there be iniquity in my hands,
"If I have rewarded evil unto him who was at peace with me (yea, I have delivered him who without cause is mine enemy)
"Let the enemy persecute my soul, and take it; yea, let him tread down my life upon the earth, and lay mine honor in the dust.  Selah.
"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.
"So shall the congregation of the peoples compass thee about; for their sakes, return Thee on high.
"The LORD shall judge the peoples; judge me, O LORD, according to Thy righteousness, and according to mine integrity that is in me.
"Oh, let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end, but establish the just; for the righteous God testeth the minds and hearts.
"My defense is with God, who saveth the upright in heart."  (Psalm 7:1-10)

O=  C. I. Scofield has titled this psalm "A prayer for deliverance."  The biblical heading for it is "Shiggaion of David, which he sang unto the LORD, concerning the words of Cush, the Benjamite."  A hand-scribbled note under this explains that this person -- Cush, the Benjamite -- is "one of Saul's henchmen who accused David of treason."  The NKJV heads the psalm this way: "A meditation of David, which he sang to the Lord, [etc.]".  The ESV defines "Shiggaion" as "probably a musical or liturgical term".  Interestingly, Habakkuk chapter 3 is also introduced as a prayer "upon Shigionoth" which one Bible defines as "probably musical instruments" and another "according to variable songs."

 For "put my trust" (v.1), ESV has "take refuge." 

Cross-reference: "In the LORD put I my trust; how say ye say to my soul, Flee as a bird to your mountain?  For lo, the wicked bend their bow; they make ready their arrow upon the string, that they may secretly shoot at the upright in heart."  (Psalm 11:1-2)

Cross-reference for "save me" (v.1) -- "My times are in Thy hand; deliver me from the hand of mine enemies, and from those who persecute me."  (Psalm 31:15)

Cross-reference for "a lion" (v.2) -- "For [mine affliction] increaseth.  Thou huntest me as a fierce lion, and again Thou showest Thyself marvelous upon me."  (Job 10:16)

Job is speaking to God here, or rehearsing what he will say to God.  The ESV reads: "And were my head lifted up, you would hunt me like a lion and again work wonders against me."

Cross-reference for "none to deliver" (v. 2) -- "Now consider this, ye who forget God, lest I tear you in pieces, and there is none to deliver."

Cross-reference for "if I have done this" (v. 3) -- "And thus said Shimei when he cursed, Come out, come out, thou bloody man, and thou worthless fellow; the LORD hath returned upon thee all the blood of the house of Saul, in whose stead thou hast reigned, and the LORD hath delivered the kingdom into the hand of Absalom, thy son, and behold, thou art taken in thy mischief, because thou art a bloody man."  (2 Samuel 16:7-8)

Cross-references for "iniquity in my hands" (v.3) -- "Moreover, my father, see, yea, see the skirt of thy robe in my hand; for in that I cut off the skirt of thy robe, and killed thee not, know then and see that there is neither evil nor transgression in mine hand, and I have not sinned against thee; yet thou huntest my soul to take it."  (1 Samuel 24:11)

"And he said, Why doth my lord thus pursue after his servant?  For what have I done?  Or what evil is in mine hand?"  (1 Samuel 26:18)

Cross-reference for "him who was at peace with me" (v.4) -- "He hath put forth his hands against such are at peace with him; he hath broken his covenant."  (Psalm 55:20)

Cross-references for "delivered him who without cause is my enemy" (v.4) -- "So David restrained his servants with these words, and permitted them not to rise against Saul.  But Saul rose up out of the cave, and went on his way." (1 Samuel 24:7)

"And David said to Abishai, Destroy him not; for who can stretch forth his hand against the LORD's anointed, and be guiltless?" (1 Samuel 26:9)

Cross-reference for "tread down my life upon the earth" (v.5) -- "Thou hast made void the covenant of thy servant; thou hast profaned his crown by casting it to the ground."  (Psalm 89:39)

Cross-reference for "arise, O LORD, in Thine anger (v.6) -- "Arise, O LORD; save me, O my God; for Thou hast smitten all mine enemies upon the cheekbone; Thou hast broken the teeth of the ungodly."  (Psalm 3:7)

Cross-references for "lift up Thyself" (v.6) -- "Lift up Thyself,  Thou Judge of the earth; render a reward to the proud."  (Psalm 92:6)

"Now will I rise, saith the LORD; now will I be exalted, now will I lift Myself."  (Isaiah 33:10)

Cross-references for "awake for me" (v.6) -- "Awake, why sleepest Thou, O LORD?  Arise, cast us not off forever." (Psalm 44:23)

"Stir up Thyself, and awake to my right, even to my cause, my God and my Lord."  (Psalm 35:28)

"They run and prepare themselves apart from any fault of mine; awake to help me, and behold."  (Psalm 59:4)

Bildad told Job, "If thou wert pure and upright, surely He would awake for thee, and make the habitation of thy righteousness prosperous."  (Job 8:6)

Cross-reference for "judge the peoples" (v.8) -- "So that a man shall say, Verily, there is a reward for the righteous; verily, He is a God that judgeth in the earth." (Psalm 58:11) 

Cross-references for "judge me, O LORD" (v.8) -- "Judge me, O LORD; for I have walked in mine integrity; I have trusted also in the LORD; therefore I shall not slide."  (Psalm 26:1)

"Judge me, O God, and plead my cause against an ungodly nation; oh, deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man."  (Psalm 43:1)

Cross-references for "according to my righteousness" (.8) -- "The LORD rewarded me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands hath He recompensed me."  (Psalm 18:20)

"Judge me, O LORD, according to Thy righteousness, and let them not rejoice over me."  (Psalm 35:24)

Cross-references for "test"(v.9) -- "The LORD testeth the righteous, but the wicked and him who loveth violence His soul hateth." (Psalm 11:5)

"But He knoweth the way that I take; when He hath tested me, I shall come forth as gold."  (Job 23:10)

Cross-references for "minds and hearts" (v. 9) -- "Examine me, O LORD, and prove me; test my heart and my mind."  (Psalm 26:2)

"I the LORD search the heart; I test the conscience, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings."  (Jeremiah 17:10)

The phrase "my defense is with God" (v.10) literally means "my shield is with God."

Cross-reference for "with God" (v.10) -- "Trust in Him at all times, ye people; pour out your heart before Him.  God is a refuge for us.  Selah." (Psalm 62:8)

Cross-reference for "upright in heart" (v.10) -- "But the priests were too few, so that they could not flay all the burnt offerings; wherefore, their brethren the Levites did help them, till the work was ended, and until the other priests had sanctified themselves, for the Levites were more upright in heart to sanctify themselves than the priests."  (2 Chronicles 29:34)

Daily Walk Bible points out, "The enemies of God's people are also the enemies of God.  Responding to those enemies is David's burden here.  In the face of dangerous opposition, David seeks God's justice."

A= My enemies are also God's enemies, and I can trust Him to act justly in any situation I face.  I can do as David did and cry out to God for justice, deliverance, and vindication, while also asking Him to search my own heart for any wrongdoing.  He is the One who tests minds and hearts.

I'm so thankful that my defense is with God and that He is the One who saves the upright in heart.  He does vindicate His people in His timing.  Justice eventually is done, and deliverance comes in His time as well.

Warren Wiersbe shares some helpful thoughts in With the Word: "We do not know what Cush said about David, but apparently he was one of the 'court liars' who flattered Saul and made life difficult for David."  Wiersbe counsels: "When you have a 'Cush' in your life, do what David did:

* Be honest with God.  David did not say that the enemy was telling the truth, but he was willing for God to examine his heart and punish him.  He had nothing to hide.

* Let God be the judge.  It is wise to let God be the judge because His judgment is always right.  We do not see ourselves and others as He sees, so it is best to turn the matter over to Him.  David was careful to maintain his integrity and let God be his defense.

* Wait on the Lord.

* Give God thanks.

P= "Lord, how thankful I am that I can trust You to deal with my enemies even though they may speak against me and falsely accuse me.  You know my heart and You know the truth of every matter.  You will bring about justice, deliverance, and vindication in Your perfect time and in Your perfect way.  You will be a shield for me even in the midst of verbal attacks, and You will help me to stand strong.  You will judge my enemies and will deal with the wicked in Your timing as well.  I trust You to act justly and righteously.  In Jesus' name, Amen."

Reflection question: David was crying out to the Lord for justice, deliverance and vindication, while asking God to search his heart.

Have you ever been blamed falsely for something?  How did you handle it and how was God your shield?

My response: Yes, I have been blamed falsely for things a couple of times.  In both cases I committed the situation to the Lord.  In the first case the accuser ended up apologizing to me -- but it was not really an apology; more along the lines of "I'm sorry you were hurt by what I said".  Not an apology at all really, but I accepted it as maybe the best he was capable of.

During the second situation, which was lengthier and much more public, I remember feeling emotionally battered and bruised a lot of the time -- and reading through Psalms and recognizing God as a refuge and shield for me helped tremendously.  I did feel shielded and  somewhat "hidden from the strife of tongues" even though a great deal of talking and accusing was going on.

And there is our simple study of Psalm 7.  I hope it was a blessing to someone!