BOOK 19 OF 66 · WISDOM & POETRY · KING JAMES BIBLE

Psalms 7

Psalms book home•Chapter 7 of 150•17 verses

Chapter overviewAt a glance + deeper study

REVIEWED OVERVIEW

Psalms 7 Overview

David seeks refuge, invites just examination, asks God to judge wicked violence, and praises the righteous Judge.

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7Chapter

17Verses

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Before you read Psalms 7

Coming from

Psalm 6 centered on a suffering sinner pleads for mercy. Psalms is an anthology rather than a continuous chronological story, so the connection here is canonical and thematic.

In this chapter

David seeks refuge, invites just examination, asks God to judge wicked violence, and praises the righteous Judge.

Leads into

Psalm 8 turns to god's majesty and humanity's honored place in creation, continuing the Psalter’s arranged movement without requiring that the two psalms describe consecutive historical events.

Key understandingExplore deeper

Psalm 7 belongs to Book I of the Psalter (Psalms 1–41). The superscription mentions Cush the Benjamite, but Scripture gives no further certain identification of the incident.

Major truths in this chapterExplore deeper

Central truth

Appeal to the righteous Judge against false accusation.

Lament truth

In Psalm 7, biblical faith brings grief, fear, confusion, and need directly to God rather than hiding them.

Judgment truth

In Psalm 7, moral judgment finally belongs to God, who sees what human courts and observers may miss.

Connections to the rest of ScriptureExplore deeper

Lament connection

Hebrews 4:15-16 invites believers to come boldly for mercy and grace in need. This connection helps frame Psalm 7.

Judgment connection

Deuteronomy 32:35 reserves vengeance to God. This connection helps frame Psalm 7.

What is clear, and where care is neededExplore deeper

Keep lament in context

Do not mistake every anguished sentence in Psalm 7 for the psalmist’s settled theological conclusion; lament often voices how the crisis feels before faith answers it.

Keep judgment in context

Distinguish the temporal, national, and judicial settings in Psalm 7 from final eternal judgment where the text itself does not equate them.

Read Psalms 7 watching for…

refuge from pursuers.

self-examination language.

righteous Judge.

pit dug for another.

praise at the end.

Chapter outline2 sections

1-9David takes refuge in God and asks for righteous judgment 10-17God is a righteous judge, and wickedness returns upon the wicked

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:

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 that was at peace with me; (yea, I have delivered him that 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 honour 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 people compass thee about: for their sakes therefore return thou on high.

The LORD shall judge the people: judge me, O LORD, according to my 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 trieth the hearts and reins.

My defence is of God, which saveth the upright in heart.

God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day.

If he turn not, he will whet his sword; he hath bent his bow, and made it ready.

He hath also prepared for him the instruments of death; he ordaineth his arrows against the persecutors.

Behold, he travaileth with iniquity, and hath conceived mischief, and brought forth falsehood.

He made a pit, and digged it, and is fallen into the ditch which he made.

His mischief shall return upon his own head, and his violent dealing shall come down upon his own pate.

I will praise the LORD according to his righteousness: and will sing praise to the name of the LORD most high.

STUDY THIS VERSE

Psalms 7:1

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