Psalm 7:1

Shiggaion of David, which he sang unto the LORD, concerning the words of Cush the Benjamite. O LORD my God, in thee do I put my trust: save me from all them that persecute me, and deliver me:

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(1) In thee do I put my trust.—Or, in thee have I taken refuge.

Benson Commentary

Psalm 7:1. In thee do I put my trust — All my hope and confidence are in thy favour, and faithfulness to fulfil thy promise made to me. Save me from all them that persecute me — “To a tender and ingenuous spirit,” says Dr. Horne, “the persecution of the tongue is worse than that of the sword, and with more difficulty submitted to; as, indeed, a good name is more precious than bodily life. Believers in every age have been persecuted in this way; and the King of saints often mentions it as one of the most bitter ingredients in his cup of sorrows. Faith and prayer are the arms with which this formidable temptation must be encountered, and may be overcome. The former assures us, that God can ‘save and deliver’ us from it; the latter induces him so to do.”

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

7:1-9 David flees to God for succour. But Christ alone could call on Heaven to attest his uprightness in all things. All His works were wrought in righteousness; and the prince of this world found nothing whereof justly to accuse him. Yet for our sakes, submitting to be charged as guilty, he suffered all evils, but, being innocent, he triumphed over them all. The plea is, For the righteous God trieth the hearts and the reins. He knows the secret wickedness of the wicked, and how to bring it to an end; he is witness to the secret sincerity of the just, and has ways of establishing it. When a man has made peace with God about all his sins, upon the terms of grace and mercy, through the sacrifice of the Mediator, he may, in comparison with his enemies, appeal to God's justice to decide.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

O Lord my God, in thee do I put my trust - The psalm opens with an expression of strong confidence in God. The psalmist addresses Yahweh as his God, and says that in him he trusts or confides. The word rendered trust - חסה châsâh - means "to flee;" to flee to a place; to take shelter; and is applied to taking shelter under the shadow or protection of one Judges 9:15; Isaiah 30:2; Psalm 57:1; Psalm 61:4. The idea here is, that in his troubles he fled to God as a refuge, and felt safe under his protection.

Save me from all them that persecute me - That is, protect my life; rescue me from their power. The word "persecute" here refers to those who sought his life, who endeavored to deprive him of his rights. The language would apply to many occasions in the life of David - to the persecutions which he endured by Saul, by Absalom, etc. In this case the language was suggested by the opposition of Cush the Benjamite; and it was this that David had particularly in view. It is probable, however, that, whoever Cush was, he was not alone, but that others were associated with him in his opposition to David; and it was natural also that, in circumstances like these, David should remember his other persecutors, and pray that he might be delivered from them all. The prayer, therefore, has a general form, and the desire expressed is that which we all naturally have, that we may be delivered from all that troubles us.

And deliver me - Rescue me. It would seem from this expression, and from the following verse, that there was more to be apprehended in the case than mere reproachful words, and that his life was actually in danger.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

PSALM 7

Ps 7:1-17. Shiggaion—a plaintive song or elegy. Though obscure in details, this title seems to intimate that the occasion of this Psalm was some event in David's persecution by Saul. He prays for relief because he is innocent, and God will be glorified in his vindication. He thus passes to the celebration of God's righteous government, in defending the upright and punishing the wicked, whose malignant devices will result in their own ruin; and, confident of God's aid, he closes with rejoicing.

1, 2. Though many enemies set upon him, one is singled out as prominent, and compared to a wild beast tearing his prey to pieces (compare 1Sa 20:1; 23:23; 26:19).

The Treasury of David

1 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.

David appears before God to plead with him against the Accuser, who had charged him with treason and treachery. The case is here opened with an avowal of confidence in God. Whatever may be the emergency of our condition we shall never find it amiss to retain our reliance upon our God. "O Lord my God," mine by a special covenant, sealed by Jesus' blood, and ratified in my own soul by a sense of union to thee; "in thee," and in thee only, "do I put my trust," even now in my sore distress. I shake, but my rock moves not. It is never right to distrust God, and never vain to trust him. And now, with both divine relationship and holy trust to strengthen him, David utters the burden of his desire - "save me from all them that persecute me." His pursuers were very many, and any one of them cruel enough to devour him; he cries, therefore, for salvation from them all. We should never think our prayers complete until we ask for preservation from all sin, and all enemies. "And deliver me," extricate me from their snares, acquit me of their accusations, give a true and just deliverance in this trial of my injured character. See how clearly his case is stated; let us see to it, that we know what we would have when we are come to the throne of mercy. Pause a little while before you pray, that you may not offer the sacrifice of fools. Get a distinct idea of your need, and then you can pray with the more fluency of fervency.

"Lest he tear my soul." Here is the plea of fear co-working with the plea of faith. There was one among David's foes mightier than the rest, who had both dignity, strength, and ferocity, and was, therefore, "like a lion." From this foe he urgently seeks deliverance. Perhaps this was Saul, his royal enemy; but in our own case there is one who goes about like a lion, seeking whom he may devour, concerning whom we should ever cry, "Deliver us from the Evil One." Notice the rigour of the description - "rending it in pieces, while there is none to deliver." It is a picture from the shepherd-life of David. When the fierce lion had pounced upon the defenceless lamb, and had made it his prey, he would rend the victim in pieces, break all the bones, and devour all, because no shepherd was near to protect the lamb or rescue it from the ravenous beast. This is a soul-moving portrait of a saint delivered over to the will of Satan. This will make the bowels of Jehovah yearn. A father cannot be silent when a child is in such peril. No, he will not endure the thought of his darling in the jaws of a lion, he will arise and deliver his persecuted one. Our God is very pitiful, and he will surely rescue his people from so desperate a destruction. It will be well for us here to remember that this is a description of the danger to which the Psalmist was exposed from slanderous tongues. Verily this is not an overdrawn picture, for the wounds of a sword will heal, but the wounds of the tongue cut deeper than the flesh, and are not soon cured. Slander leaves a slur, even if it be wholly disproved. Common fame, although notoriously a common liar, has very many believers. Once let an ill word get into men's mouths, and it is not easy to get it fully out again. The Italians say that good repute is like the cypress, once cut, it never puts forth leaf again; this is not true if our character be cut by a stranger's hand, but even then it will not soon regain its former verdure. Oh, 'tis a meanness most detestable to stab a good man in his reputation, but diabolical hatred observes no nobility in its mode of warfare. We must be ready for this trial, for it will surely come upon us. If God was slandered in Eden, we shall surely be maligned in this land of sinners. Gird up your loins, ye children of the resurrection, for this fiery trial awaits you all. Shiggaion: this seems to be the name of a certain kind either of song, or tune, or instrument, which then was very well known, but now is only matter of conjecture; wherewith I think it not fit to trouble the unlearned reader; and the learned may consult my Latin Synopsis.

Concerning the words; the false and slanderous reports raised or fomented by him. This was the occasion of this Psalm.

Of Cush; by which he designs either,

1. Saul; whom he thought it indecent to express by his proper name, for which he might at this time have divers reasons, and therefore he deciphers him enigmatically, which is not unusual in Holy Scripture; where Babylon is called Sheshach, Jeremiah 25:26 51:41, and Rome is called Egypt, and Sodom, and Babylon in the Revelation; and John the Baptist is called Elias. And he might call him Cush. partly by a tacit allusion to his father’s name Kish, and partly with respect to his black and wicked disposition planted and firmly rooted in him. Compare Jeremiah 13:23 Amos 9:7. Or,

2. Some eminent and potent commander or courtier under Saul called Cush, though he be not elsewhere named; it being the lot of many other persons to be named but once in Scripture. And he is called the Benjamite, because he was one of that tribe, in which Saul put most confidence. See 1 Samuel 22:7.

The psalmist prayeth for deliverance from his persecuting enemies, Psalm 7:1,2, and maketh a solemn profession of his innocency, Psalm 7:3-7. By faith he seeth his defence, Psalm 7:8-11, and the destruction of his enemies, Psalm 7:12-17.

In thee do I put my trust; all my hope and confidence is in thy favour and faithfulness to make good thy promise made to me.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

O Lord my God, in thee do I put my trust,.... The psalmist expresses his interest in God as his covenant God, and his trust and confidence in him; and with these he sets out as the stay of his soul, and his bulwark against the fears of his enemies; and he does not say that he had trusted in God, or would for the future trust in him; but that he did trust in him, and continued to do so. And God is to be trusted in at all times; in times of affliction, temptation, and desertion; and these the psalmist premises to his petition, which follows, as an encouragement to him to hope for success, since God was his God, and none that ever trusted in him were confounded;

save me from all them that persecute me, and deliver me; persecution is no new thing to the people of God; David had his persecutors, and many of them; the Church, in Jeremiah's time, had hers; the saints, in the times of the apostles, and in all ages since, have had theirs. Every one that will live godly in Christ Jesus must expect persecution in one shape or another; and there is none can save and deliver from it but God, and he can and will in his own time, 2 Corinthians 1:10. David was sensible of this, and therefore applies to him, and him only; and not to an arm of flesh, to his friends, or to neighbouring princes and powers.

Geneva Study Bible

O LORD my God, in thee do I put my trust: save me from all them that persecute me, and deliver me:

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

1. in thee do I put my trust] In thee have I taken refuge. See note on Psalm 2:12, and comp. the opening words of Psalms 11, 16, 31, 57, 71; and Psalm 141:8. David has put himself under Jehovah’s protection, and appeals to Him on the ground of this covenant relationship between them. In thee is emphatic.

all them that persecute me] R.V., all them that pursue me. Saul and his followers. Cp. 1 Samuel 23:28; 1 Samuel 24:14; 1 Samuel 25:29; 1 Samuel 26:18.

1, 2. The Psalmist’s cry for help, based on Jehovah’s relation to him.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 1. - O Lord my God, in thee do I put my trust (compare the openings of Psalm 11, 31, and 71.). When David is most sorely pressed by persecution and danger, then is his faith and trust in God mast plainly apparent. Save me from all them that persecute me, and deliver me. The Revised Version has, "from all them that pursue me;" but "persecute" is better. Hengstenberg and Kay have, "from all my persecutors." So also French and Skinner. The persecutors are such men as the Ziphites and others, who encouraged Saul in his attempts to take David's life (1 Samuel 26:1, 19). Psalm 7:1

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

(Heb.: 7:2-3) With this word of faith, love, and hope בּך חסיתּי (as in Psalm 141:8), this holy captatio benevolentiae, David also begins in Psalm 11:1; Psalm 16:1; Psalm 31:2, cf. Psalm 71:1. The perf. is inchoative: in Thee have I taken my refuge, equivalent to: in Thee do I trust. The transition from the multitude of his persecutors to the sing. in Psalm 7:3 is explained most naturally, as one looks at the inscription, thus: that of the many the one who is just at the time the worst of all comes prominently before his mind. The verb טרף from the primary signification carpere (which corresponds still more exactly to חרף) means both to tear off and to tear in pieces (whence טרפה that which is torn in pieces); and פּרק from its primary signification frangere means both to break loose and to break in pieces, therefore to liberate, e.g., in Psalm 136:24, and to break in small pieces, 1 Kings 19:11. The persecutors are conceived of as wild animals, as lions which rend their prey and craunch its bones. Thus blood-thirsty are they for his soul, i.e., his life. After the painful unrest of this first strophe, the second begins the tone of defiant self-consciousness.