Psalm 7:7

So shall the congregation of the people compass thee about: for their sakes therefore return thou on high.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(7) So shall.—This clause is also in the optative: “let the communities of peoples be gathered round thee.”

For their sakes.—Rather, over or above it, as in LXX. The poet has a vision of judgment. Jehovah summons the nations, arranges them at His tribunal, and then returns to His high throne to preside. This explanation is more consonant with the context (see next verse) than to suppose the judgment to have taken place between the two causes of the verse, and the departure of God into the height “as a victor after battle” (Delitzsch), or “in proof of His supremacy as judge” (Ewald). This picture of arraigned nations is certainly in favour of the view which makes the psalm the expression of the feelings of the community rather than of an individual.

Benson Commentary

Psalm 7:7. So shall the congregation of the people compass thee about — Such a visible display of thy righteous judgment in thus pleading my cause against my cruel and implacable oppressor will induce multitudes of people, who shall behold or hear of it, to adore and glorify thee. For, observing thy justice, and holiness, and goodness, which will be hereby manifested, they will come from all parts to worship thee and to offer thee praises and sacrifices. For their sakes therefore — For the sake of thy congregation, which is now wofully scattered and oppressed, and has, in a great measure, lost all administration of justice and exercise of religion; return thou on high — Or, return to thy high place, that is, to thy tribunal, to sit there and judge my cause: an allusion to earthly tribunals, which generally are set upon high above the people, 1 Kings 10:19. The ark, and tabernacle, and worship of God, had been greatly neglected in Saul’s days, 1 Chronicles 13:3; his neglect of duty, impiety, and persecution, having driven his subjects from God’s ordinances, and seduced them into many crimes. “The words compass about,” says Dr. Dodd, after Spencer, “allude to the Jewish rite of going round the altar in time of divine worship. So that, to compass about, in a triumphant and joyful procession, means to adore, worship, and praise God. So Psalm 26:6, I will wash my hands in innocence, and so will I compass, or go round, thine altar.”

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

So shall the congregation of the people compass thee about - That is, as the result of thy gracious interposition in defending the righteous, and in bringing just judgment on the wicked. The meaning is, that such an act would inspire confidence in him as a just and holy God, and that, as the result, his people would gather round him to express their gratitude, and to render him praise. In other words, every act of justice on the part of God - all hls interpositions to defend his people, and to maintain the principles of righteousness and truth - tend to inspire confidence in him, and to increase the number of his friends. The phrase "the congregation of the people," here, does not necessarily refer to any "congregation," or assembly as such, then existing; but it means that a great congregation - a great multitude - would thus encompass him, or that great numbers would worship him the result of his interposition. This the psalmist urges as a motive, or as a reason why God should interpose, that in this way the number of his worshippers would be greatly increased.

For their sakes - On their account; or to secure this result in regard to them.

Return thou on high - The most probable meaning of this is "ascend thy throne of justice, or thy judgment-seat;" spoken here either as a king ascending his elevated throne (compare Isaiah 6:1), or as ascending to heaven, the place where he dispensed justice. The "language" is as if he had come down from his throne - as if he had not been engaged in dispensing justice; and David now calls on him to reascend the throne, and to execute righteous judgment among men. The effect of this, he says, would be to secure the confidence of his people, and to increase the number of those who would worship him. Of course, this is not to be understood literally, but in a manner appropriate to the divine majesty. It is language, in this respect, similar to that which is elsewhere used, when the psalmist calls on God "to awake, to arise, to lift up himself." See Psalm 7:6. Such language is easily understood; and language drawn from the common modes of speaking among men must be used when we speak of God. The whole idea in this passage is that God seemed to delay in the execution of his judgment, and the psalmist entreats him to hasten it.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

7. compass thee—as those seeking justice.

return thou on high—assume the judgment seat, to be honored as a just Ruler by them.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

The congregation of the people; either,

1. A great number of all sorts of people, who shall observe thy justice, and holiness, and goodness, in pleading my righteous cause against my cruel and implacable oppressor. Or rather,

2. The whole body of thy people Israel, to whom both these Hebrew words are commonly ascribed in Holy Scripture.

Compass thee about; they will, and I as their king and ruler in thy stead will, take care that they shall come from all parts and meet together to worship thee, which in Saul’s time they have grossly neglected, and been permitted to neglect, and to offer to thee praises and sacrifices for thy favour to me, and for the manifold benefits which they shall enjoy by my means, and under any government.

For their sakes; or, for its sake, i.e. for the sake of thy congregation, which now is woefully dissipated and oppressed, and have in a great measure lost all administration of justice, and exercise of religion.

Return thou on high; or, return to thy high place, i.e. to thy tribunal, to sit there and judge my cause. An allusion to earthly tribunals, which generally are set up on high above the people, 1 Kings 10:19.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

So shall the congregation of the people compass thee about,.... By "the congregation of the people" are meant the nation of the Jews, the twelve tribes of Israel, called an assembly of people, and a company of nations, Genesis 28:3; and this is to be understood not of their gathering together in an hostile manner about David to take him, which might be interpreted compassing God himself about, David being as dear to him as the apple of his eye, which is the sense of several Jewish commentators (b); but rather of their encompassing and surrounding the altar of God with songs of deliverance, upon David's being rid of his enemies and advanced to the throne of the kingdom; see Psalm 26:6; unless it should have regard to the pure worship of God by David, which was greatly neglected in Saul's time; and then the sense is, that the psalmist prays that he might be established in his kingdom, as God had appointed and commanded, when he would fetch up the ark of God, and encourage the worship of God, and rectify all disorders in it; that so the several tribes might come up to Jerusalem and encompass the ark, the symbol of the divine Presence, and worship in his holy mountain;

for their sakes therefore return thou on high; take, the throne of justice, high and lifted up, vindicate the cause of the oppressed, deliver me from all my troubles, put me into the peaceable possession of my kingdom; if not for my, sake, yet for the sake of thy church and people, and for the sake of thy worship and thy glory; the Targum paraphrases it, "return thou to the house of thy Shechinah".

(b) Kimchi & Aben Ezra in loc.

Geneva Study Bible

So shall the congregation of the people compass thee about: for their sakes therefore {f} return thou on high.

(f) Not only for mine, but for your Church's sake declare your power.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

7. Render:

And let the assembly of peoples come round about thee:

And over it return thou on high.

The judgement scene. The Psalmist prays that ‘the peoples’ may be summoned to stand round the tribunal. It is a general summons. No distinction is made between Israel and other nations. Jehovah is exercising His judicial functions in their fullest extent as the Judge of all the earth.

The second line is difficult. There is much authority in favour of the interpretation, ‘Return to heaven, when the judgement is finished, soaring away above the vast throng and vanishing to Thy abode on high, thus proving that Thou art the supreme Judge of all.’

This explanation no doubt presents a grand poetic picture; but it is clearly untenable, for no mention has yet been made of the judgement, and Psalm 7:8 goes on to speak of it as in progress. It is best (if the Massoretic text is retained) to explain: ‘once more occupy the throne of judgement above the assembly, resume the judicial functions which seem for a time to have been abandoned.’ But it is doubtful if the word ‘return’ fairly yields this sense, and it is probable that we should change the vowel points, and read sit instead of return. ‘Over it take Thy seat on high’ upon the throne of judgement, gives precisely the sense needed by the context. Comp. the parallels in the closely related Psalms 9, vv4, 7.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 7. - So shall the congregation of the people compass thee about. Titan, if thou wilt show thyself in judgment, the congregation of the peoples - not, apparently, Israel only - will crowd around thee, in acknowledgment of thy majesty, and recognize in thee the righteous Judge of all the earth. For their sakes therefore return thou on high; rather, and above it (or, above them; i.e. above the congregation of the peoples) return thou on high. After coming down to earth, and executing judgment, then go back to thy throne in heaven. Psalm 7:7

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

(Heb.: 7:7-9) In the consciousness of his own innocence he calls upon Jahve to sit in judgment and to do justice to His own. His vision widens and extends from the enemies immediately around to the whole world in its hostility towards Jahve and His anointed one. In the very same way special judgments and the judgment of the world are portrayed side by side, as it were on one canvas, in the prophets. The truth of this combination lies in the fact of the final judgment being only the finale of that judgment which is in constant execution in the world itself. The language here takes the highest and most majestic flight conceivable. By קוּמה (Milra, ass in Psalm 3:8), which is one of David's words of prayer that he has taken from the lips of Moses (Psalm 9:20; Psalm 10:12), he calls upon Jahve to interpose. The parallel is הנּשׂא lift Thyself up, show thyself in Thy majesty, Psalm 94:2, Isaiah 33:10. The anger, in which He is to arise, is the principle of His judicial righteousness. With this His anger He is to gird Himself (Psalm 76:11) against the ragings of the oppressors of God's anointed one, i.e., taking vengeance on their many and manifold manifestations of hostility. עברות is a shorter form of the construct (instead of עברות Job 40:11, cf. Psalm 21:1-13 :31) of עברה which describes the anger as running over, breaking forth from within and passing over into words and deeds (cf. Arab. fšš, used of water: it overflows the dam, of wrath: it breaks forth). It is contrary to the usage of the language to make משׁפּט the object to עוּרה in opposition to the accents, and it is unnatural to regard it as the accus. of direction equals למּשׂפט (Psalm 35:23), as Hitzig does. The accents rightly unite עוּרה אלי: awake (stir thyself) for me i.e., to help me (אלי like לקלאתי, Psalm 59:5). The view, that צוּית is then precative and equivalent to צוּה: command judgment, is one that cannot be established according to syntax either here, or in Psalm 71:3. It ought at least to have been וצוּית with Waw consec. On the other hand the relative rendering: Thou who hast ordered judgment (Maurer, Hengst.), is admissible, but unnecessary. We take it by itself in a confirmatory sense, not as a circumstantial clause: having commanded judgment (Ewald), but as a co-ordinate clause: Thou hast indeed enjoined the maintaining of right (Hupfeld).

The psalmist now, so to speak, arranges the judgment scene: the assembly of the nations is to form a circle round about Jahve, in the midst of which He will sit in judgment, and after the judgment He is to soar away (Genesis 17:22) aloft over it and return to the heights of heaven like a victor after the battle (see Psalm 68:19). Although it strikes one as strange that the termination of the judgment itself is not definitely expressed, yet the rendering of Hupfeld and others: sit Thou again upon Thy heavenly judgment-seat to judge, is to be rejected on account of the שׁוּבה (cf. on the other hand 21:14) which is not suited to it; שׁוב למּרום can only mean Jahve's return to His rest after the execution of judgment. That which Psalm 7:7 and Psalm 7:8 in the boldness of faith desire, the beginning of Psalm 7:9 expresses as a prophetic hope, from which proceeds the prayer, that the Judge of the earth may also do justice to him (שׁפתני vindica me, as in Psalm 26:1; Psalm 35:24) according to his righteousness and the purity of which he is conscious, as dwelling in him. עלי is to be closely connected with תּמּי, just as one says נפשׁי עלי (Psychol. S. 152 [tr. p. 180]). That which the individual as ego, distinguishes from itself as being in it, as subject, it denotes by עלי. In explaining it elliptically: "come upon me" (Ew., Olsh., Hupf.) this psychologically intelligible usage of the language is not recognised. On תּם vid., on Psalm 25:21; Psalm 26:1.