The Song and Prayer of the Slandered (Psalm 7)
The psalms oftentimes hit us very close to home. And the reason is simply the very personal nature of the Book of Psalms. We see the very personal responses of people dealing with very personal problems. Sometimes those problems are in a much grander scale or there is more on the line because it is the king who is writing the psalm, but we still find that it hits us right at home when we understand them well.
Psalm 7 is about a situation that David went through. We are told at the beginning of Psalm 7 that this is about “the words of Cush, A Benjamite”. This means that it is someone from the tribe of Benjamin, the tribe of Saul. We can’t be certain about the slander, but many people throughout history have thought it was very likely that this was someone from the family of Benjamin that accused David of wrongdoing concerning his ascent to the throne. If that is the case then we have a lot of evidence to prove that David did nothing wrong, including his not killing Saul when he had the opportunity in 1 Samuel 24. But, regardless of the actual historical context we understand that the words of Cush were false and that it caused much pain and possibly threat of physical harm to David.
God is our refuge from the slanderer and we trust He will judge.
The slanderer comes and speaks lies about us that many people may believe and in the middle of that we understand that God is our refuge from the slanderer and we trust He will judge.
God, You Are My Only Refuge (Psalm 7:1-2)
The psalm opens with a definite description of where David finds his safety. It is in the LORD his God. You probably already know that when the word Lord is fully capitalized it is Yahweh, the personal name of God that was originally written. Due to the Hebrew practice of reverencing God’s name and not copying it Adonai is the word that is rendered. But here, David originally wrote, “Yaweh” or “I Am” the personal name of God. It is in Him that David finds his safety and takes refuge. And he feels that he is in need of this refuge right now. This is where we should all go when we find ourselves in trouble. When the things of this life seek to destroy us, we should go to the Lord. We should always be people of prayer, but in times of trouble we should be seeking His face and for Him to keep us safe, and for Him to care for us. It is in Him we have our refuge and in Him we find safety.
David is in a bad situation. He describes it by using a metaphor from his days as a shepherd. When a lamb was left unprotected it could be torn apart by the lions. And here, David feels unprotected and that his life could potentially be taken from him. And how very often can we be in a situation where we feel the same way. David feels as if he is in danger and the One who is guarding him seems to be absent.
This is the reason that I love the psalms so much and wanted to preach through the psalms for our Sunday Night worship services. David’s feelings are not matching up with reality, but it is a mismatch that is so common to us all that we see it as well. He is in the middle of this situation where he has been slandered. He feels like he is in real danger and he feels as if God is not watching over him. But by the end of the psalm his emotions, feelings, and thoughts about his situation come back into alignment with reality. Everything eventually clicks into the place that it belongs. And isn’t this the way life works out for us?
The Christian has God as their refuge. And we speak that truth over ourselves even when we do not necessarily believe it in the moment. We have this firm safety that we can rest in even as the troubles and hardships of this world seek to take us under. Sometimes it does not feel as if this is the case as we stare at our circumstances. Sometimes it feels as if God is absent from us and that we will soon be torn apart. But we go to Him trusting that this is not the case and that He is the only One who can deliver us.
As a church we should understand this as well. God is our refuge. When we are amid times of struggle it is not a clever marketing strategy that will save us, nor is it a good advertising presence that will cause our church to prosper. It is a dependence upon God and obedience to Him that will bring us good.
God, I Am Innocent (Psalm 7:3-5)
Sometimes it seems as if only God knows we are innocent. This can especially be the case when a slanderer is at work. The quote oftentimes attributed to Mark Twain that “a lie can get halfway around the world while the truth is putting its shoes on” is especially fitting here. And anyone who watches the news knows that false news stories and false information can really get a lot of traction in our society. In much less time than it takes to put on a pair of shoes falsehoods can be spread about us to a watching world online which only exacerbates the situation. And in this situation David is declaring his innocence before God. David is pleading with the Judge who knows all to consider his case.
David is innocent. And he knows that he is innocent. So, he tells God to punish him if he is not. Now, if this did come about due to someone spreading lies about David concerning the throne we have the account of David’s actions. David was certainly innocent there. We even get to see David avoid taking the throne by force when he had an easy opportunity to do so in 1 Samuel 24. And we benefit from this by getting to see, firsthand, David’s righteousness in the matter. But even if this is not the context David certainly understood himself as being clear of any of the wrongs he has been accused of and so, he asks for God the judge to consider the case.
When the righteous are slandered many people in the public will believe it automatically. They are looking for a reason to do so. In the last few years there have been wicked people pretending to be righteous and that does not help matters any. But you should know that many people will believe the lies of the slanderers.
There will likely be times in your life when no one believes you, but they believe the lie that has been told about you. If you are truly innocent, then there is at least another who knows the truth and that is God. He knows the whole story and will one day judge with fairness and equity. So, it is good and right to go to Him and seek His activity when it seems that He is inactive and you have been wrong. And though we are struggling in the middle of the situation, we are also trusting in God’s future judgments. We trust that Jesus will one day judge perfectly, all things, on that glorious day. And if things are not made right in this lie, they will in the life to come.
And I assume that there will come a day in the life of this church when it is accused of wrongdoing or even of things it is not. Many would walk into our church and believe that we are hate filled just because we believe the words found in the most holy book that we base our entire
lives upon. I assume that there will one day be attacks on churches, especially with regard to the new morality that our secular society pushes forward. And in those attacks I assume that many horrible and untrue things will be said about us. But we will plead for God to see our cause, for He knows all and sees all.
God, Arise And Judge The Slanderer (Psalm 7:6-16)
For the time, God has allowed things to take place. The slander has been allowed to spread and the slanderer is running around spreading his damage. The bulk of this psalm is devoted to David asking God to rise and bring judgment upon the slanderer. David understands that it is God who judges accurately, and He now calls upon God to finally arise, for it seems to David that He has been inactive. And his prayer is for God to judge the evildoer.
We know that God’s timing and ways are perfect, but from a human perspective we all understand this idea. And sometimes we feel this deeply. David’s enemies have done enough and David says, “awake for me; you have appointed a judgment” (Psalm 7:6 ESV). You can just feel the impatience in David’s plea, but this is not a wrong response. It feels as if David is saying, “enough is enough, God take care of this”. And David believes that this would result in the peoples rejoicing in and worshiping God because of the good thing He had done (Psalm 7:7).
David then pleads with the Great Judge again. And again he calls upon God to judge whether or not he has done what he was accused of doing (Psalm 7:8). It is the same now as it was before, David understands that he is completely innocent and is perfectly willing for God who knows everything to judge his case. He also pleads for God to look into what the wrongdoer has done, to hold them both to the same standard and bring down fierce judgment. This will end in the destruction of the wicked and the safety of the righteous.
God loves righteousness and hates wickedness. And the testimony of Scripture in both the Old and New Testament is that God loves and cares for His people. They are righteous and He will defend their cause. And here we read that God “feels indignation every day” (Psalm 7:11 ESV).
Don’t imagine that God doesn’t care about people being wronged. Don’t begin to think that when you are harmed by someone that God doesn’t care. He has righteous anger on behalf of His people. He loves them and cares for them and will come to their aid. And the text helps us to see that God is fully prepared to bring judgment (Psalm 7:12-13). His weapons of war are ready to do what they were created to do.
If the sinner remains in his sin, then he will feel the full weight of God’s judgment fall upon him for his unrighteous actions. If the sinner forsakes their way and trusts in the salvation that God has offered, then Christ will bear that punishment for his sin. That is what we believe and understand is it not. Here David says, “if a man does not repent”, this punishment will fall upon his head (Psalm 7:12). We are all sinners in need of a savior. And God the Son took on human flesh, lived a perfect life, died on a cross paying the punishment for sin so that we could be people whose sins are forgiven. If the person who has lied about us repents and believes the gospel then their sins are forgiven and that is cause for rejoicing. But if they do not God’s judgment will fall upon the sinner who has so deeply wronged us.
Verses 14-16 are quite interesting. Verse 14 outlines the process that the wicked person goes through when they do something like this. They think of the wicked things to do, then they are filled with wickedness, and then they give birth to it. But it doesn’t turn out as they thought it would. The plan that was to lead to the ruin of their enemy leads to their ruin. And the violence they planned on doing falls on them instead (Psalm 7:16). The wicked is in the process of digging their own grave. They thought of, were filled with, and produced evil slander that was to work ruin in the life of David, but the wicked were digging their own grave all along. And the violence they intended for David would fall on them as God brings judgment upon them.
God’s judgment will one day come and all who are guilty will face it on their own. Every act of sin is a digging of our own grave in that sense as it brings greater and greater judgment upon ourselves. It is only in the gospel that we find forgiveness for our sin and forgiveness for our rebellion. Christ has accomplished salvation for us and given us salvation from sins and God’s judgment. The person who repents receives full forgiveness and pardon for sin.
We also have to understand that the Christian does not just trust Christ for salvation. All of God is the Christian’s portion and there is great comfort in know that God will protect the believer. There is also great comfort in knowing that God is angry when people bring them harm and will one day make all things right. You are angry when people sin against you and God is as well and there is great comfort in that.
The Christian needs to understand that it is okay to call upon God to judge. Have you been wronged by someone? Has someone harmed you? You should know that God is angry about that. When someone actually sins and hurts you God is angry about it and God’s vengeance on your behalf will one day come. So, we trust that God will judge righteously.
God, I Trust Your Help And Judgment (Psalm 7:17)
The psalm ends with praise and thanksgiving to God. It is a place we should all get to when difficulties arise in our lives. It’s not where he began, but it is where he ended. David was able to get there because he trusted God as his refuge and the Judge who would make all things right.
God is not just love. God is perfect, holy, infinite, eternal, unchanging, righteous, just, and yes He is loving. I haven’t even begun to scrape the surface of the nature and character of God, but we have to understand that He will judge and when He does all the world will see just how glorious His judgment is. And we need to come to the place where we trust that God will make all things right. I do not see how a Christian who does not see God as being just and righteous will be able to face many of the hardships that come flying at him in this life.
When the slanderer slanders or other wrongs have been done to us we move forward trusting that God is on our side and will judge righteously. We trust that God will give justice to those that harm us.
As a local body of believers, we need to speak and think of God as He really is and not how modern people have conceived of Him. When we do that we can rest secure in His grace toward us and His future judgment when He will make all things right. This is how our local body of believers will be ready when hard times come. This is discipling them in the truth.
Conclusion
I began by discussing how applicable these ideas are to our lives. I definitely see that here. God is our refuge from the slanderer and He will judge. This works as an outline of how to think and pray when this happens in our lives. And, as it turns out, most of this message is also applicable to just being wronged. So, we go to God who is our refuge and trust Him to make all things right.
R. Dwain Minor