Psalm 7

A few weeks ago I brought up the title of Psalm 16 it was a unique psalm in that it was called a michtham a secret Psalm. Psalm 7 has the same unique kind of name it is called the meditation or Shiggaion of David. That word

Shiggaion - passionate or emotional song

Habakkuk 3:1 A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet, on Shigionoth.

This psalm was emotional for David it is all about his enemy and justice. The Psalm is about Cush the Benjamite. David never has an encounter with Cush in the Biblical narrative. That’s ok the Bible doesn’t claim to be complete or comprehensive meaning we don’t have every detail no are we supposed to. Did you want to know how many bowel movements David had in his life?

Cush could have been one of Saul’s men. Saul was a Benjamite, David was a Benjamite. He could have been one of the men after David in En Gedi or he could have been a supporter of Saul after his death.

Cush could have been one of those who turned against David in the days of Absolom

Cush could have been symbolic, but I don’t think so

CUSH was David’s enemy

Psalm 7:1–2 O Lord my God, in You I put my trust; Save me from all those who persecute me; And deliver me, Lest they tear me like a lion, Rending me in pieces, while there is none to deliver.

David feels like he is in a lions den. Cush and company have him surrounded and want to devour him like a pack of wild lions I think we need to look at some nuances of this passage.

Yahweh my Elohim!

Psalm 18:2 The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; My God, my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

David acknowledges that Yahweh is his God

I place my trust in you.

Psalm 56:3 Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You.

He doesn’t put his trust in his own strength, he puts it in the LORD. He doesn’t trust the military his power his money he solely places all his trust in his God. That’s the way to go.

David was facing persecution.

Matthew 5:10–12 Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you

David faced ridicule persecution. People didn’t like him and thats ok. You want people to like you. I want people to like me. But they don’t. And a lot of times you have to make a choice to be like or to trust God and live right. David chose to live right and love God.

Save Me! - The personal act of protection

Acts 4:12 Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.

I read this passage of scripture and wondered what is the difference between safe and deliver they seemed like synonyms so I wondered if they were the same words and the translators were getting just creative with their vocabulary. They are different words. I don’t know if this applies to the greek but it does to the hebrew. SAVE is personal. You are in danger. AAAAHHHH! and the hero comes in to save you from the enemy or terrible situation. They step in front and fight the battle. Deliver means to remove from the situation. Interesting road that I am going down, Does God save or deliver Daniel from the lions den?

Deliver Me! - The act of removing someone from a dangerous situation

2 Samuel 22:1 Then David spoke to the Lord the words of this song, on the day when the Lord had delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul.

Deliverence is to get you out of a bad situation. It is what the army reserve does during a natural disaster they step in a rescue you from the flood or fire. Not as personal as the hero coming in to defeat your enemy but just as amazing

Deliver me from lions.

Daniel 6:16 So the king gave the command, and they brought Daniel and cast him into the den of lions. But the king spoke, saying to Daniel, “Your God, whom you serve continually, He will deliver you.”

I believe that their is a Psalm for each prophet in their worst predicament. Jesus included. I give Jeremiah as an example. He lifted me out of the miry clay and he set my feet on the rock.

Did your God deliver you?

Daniel 6:17–20 “Then a stone was brought and laid on the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet ring and with the signets of his lords, that the purpose concerning Daniel might not be changed. Now the king went to his palace and spent the night fasting; and no musicians were brought before him. Also his sleep went from him. Then the king arose very early in the morning and went in haste to the den of lions. And when he came to the den, he cried out with a lamenting voice to Daniel. The king spoke, saying to Daniel, “Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to deliver you from the lions?””

We know the story but that night Darius was nervous No food no entertainment no sleep all night long he was the one who was suffering we will find out that Daniel appears to have had a better night than Darius did but he was in the lions den. never forget that life trusting God is better than not. I believe that Psalm 7 was perfectly tailored to help Daniel through the even t in the lions den.

God saved Daniel from the lions.

Daniel 6:21–22 Then Daniel said to the king, “O king, live forever! My God sent His angel and shut the lions’ mouths, so that they have not hurt me, because I was found innocent before Him; and also, O king, I have done no wrong before you.”

If I am thinking about the slight difference between save and deliver. God got in front of the lions and shut their mouths. That isn’t deliverance, That is salvation. He saved him from the problem, God did not deliver Daniel from the lions den.

Deliverance came later. Darius delivered Daniel from the lions .

Daniel 6:23 Now the king was exceedingly glad for him, and commanded that they should take Daniel up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no injury whatever was found on him, because he believed in his God.

Ultimately God should get the credit for Daniel being delivered. But what God really did was save him from the lions den, deliverance came later.

Jesus saved us from sin.

2 Timothy 1:9 who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began,

Jesus saved us. He paid for the most immediate danger

Jesus has not yet delivered us from the world.

John 17:15–17 I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.

God saved us from sin, but has not yet delivered us from the world and has not delivered us from the threat of this world. But He will protect you from the world.

We are delivered from Satan’s kingdom.

Colossians 1:13 He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love,

The conveyor belt that got us out of Satan’s kingdom and into God’s Kingdom. We are no longer citizens of hell but citizens of heaven

Deliverance is a process.

2 Corinthians 1:10 who delivered us from so great a death, and does deliver us; in whom we trust that He will still deliver us,

What has he removed us from? Penalty of sin

What is He currently delivering us from? Sin

What will he deliver us from? A LOT At the rapture or in death

The rapture is a perfect picture of deliverance.

1 Thessalonians 4:16–17 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.

think about the context of 1 Thessalonians 4 I do not want you to sorrow as others who have no hope he wanted us to know that life with christ isn’t death at all. He wanted to talk to us about those who sleep in the LORD we meet them in them all in the LORD but how is that deliverance.

The sinner will not be delivered.

1 Thessalonians 5:2–3 For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. For when they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape.

The Bible doesn’t have chapters and verses this is all in the same context Paul says you are going to be saved in a moment like a thief in the night but the sinner will not escape.

God delivers us from the wrath.

1 Thessalonians 5:9 For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,

This is a big reason that we believe in a pre tribulation rapture. I know pastors who use this same verse for mid tribulation rapture. Bot could be argued. I also use the book of Revelation and John as the representative of the church who leaves earth just before the tribulation for heaven in a rapture like event and no mention of the church again. But if you wanted to insist that this is a mid trib event. I am not going to stop talking to you about it.

If I am guilty, I deserve it.

Psalm 7:3–5 O Lord my God, if I have done this: If there is iniquity in my hands, If I have repaid evil to him who was at peace with me, Or have plundered my enemy without cause, Let the enemy pursue me and overtake me; Yes, let him trample my life to the earth, And lay my honor in the dust. Selah

Again back to Daniel 6

Daniel 6:5 Then these men said, “We shall not find any charge against this Daniel unless we find it against him concerning the law of his God.”

They tried to find something wrong with him and couldn’t. I am more and more confindenced that this psalm was meant for Daniel and was sung by Daniel when he was in the Lions den. Would you have this chapter memorized if you were in his situation.

You are required to live right to God’s standards.

Micah 6:8 He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God?

You don’t need to be right before man, you need to be right before God. That means that it shouldn’t matter who is watching you should do right before God.

Walk with integrity!

Proverbs 10:9 He who walks with integrity walks securely, But he who perverts his ways will become known.

You need to live right at all times. That is difficult to do but I would encourage you to do it.

Judge between us, God!

Psalm 7:6–8 Arise, O Lord, in Your anger; Lift Yourself up because of the rage of my enemies; Rise up for me to the judgment You have commanded! So the congregation of the peoples shall surround You; For their sakes, therefore, return on high. The Lord shall judge the peoples; Judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness, And according to my integrity within me.

God judges equally.

Psalm 9:8 He shall judge the world in righteousness, And He shall administer judgment for the peoples in uprightness.

You can picture God as having the scales of justice.

Revelation 19:2 For true and righteous are His judgments, because He has judged the great harlot who corrupted the earth with her fornication; and He has avenged on her the blood of His servants shed by her.”

He judges with partiality.

1 Peter 1:17 “And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear;”

God is the righteous judge. You will always get a fair shake before him. We don’t think that the world judges right. I get so upset when it seems like celebrities get off. I picture OJ murder, Kobe rape, and hunter biden who knows what he did or didn’t do. But you want to know what that is me judging and I don’t know the truth. One of those people may be innocent all guilty who knows.

Everyone will be judged according to his works.

Romans 2:6 who “will render to each one according to his deeds”:

This is a scary truth, unless you have advocate.

1 John 2:1 My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.

Jesus paid for our sins on the tree.

Romans 5:8–9 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.

Jesus tips the scales in our favor.

1 Peter 2:24 who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed.

Jesus took our sins on the cross. I believe that this is the thing that is very true. When people stand at the Great white throne judgment seat everyone will stand before God and their lives will be put on the scales and many will find out they don’t make the cut. No one will, but Jesus paid it all but I believe that this verse is talking about Daniel 6 type of situations.

Psalm 6:9–10 “The Lord has heard my supplication; The Lord will receive my prayer. Let all my enemies be ashamed and greatly troubled; Let them turn back and be ashamed suddenly.”