O Lord my God, in You I have taken refuge

Psalm 7 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

The Lord Implored to Defend the Psalmist against the Wicked.

O Lord my God, in You I have taken refuge;
Save me from all those who pursue me, and deliver me,
² Or he will tear my soul like a lion, Dragging me away, while there is none to deliver.

³ O Lord my God, if I have done this,
If there is injustice in my hands,
⁴ If I have rewarded evil to my friend,
Or have plundered him who without cause was my adversary,
⁵ Let the enemy pursue my soul and overtake it;
And let him trample my life down to the ground
And lay my glory in the dust. Selah.

⁶ Arise, O Lord, in Your anger;
Lift up Yourself against the rage of my adversaries,
And arouse Yourself for me; You have appointed judgment.
⁷ Let the assembly of the peoples encompass You,
And over them return on high. ⁸ The Lord judges the peoples;                                                       Vindicate me, O Lord, according to my righteousness and my integrity that is in me.
⁹ O let the evil of the wicked come to an end, but establish the righteous;
For the righteous God tries the hearts and minds.
¹⁰ My shield is with God,
Who saves the upright in heart.
¹¹ God is a righteous judge,
And a God who has indignation every day.

¹² If a man does not repent, He will sharpen His sword;
He has bent His bow and made it ready.
¹³ He has also prepared for Himself deadly weapons;
He makes His arrows fiery shafts.
¹⁴ Behold, he travails with wickedness,
And he conceives mischief and brings forth falsehood.
¹⁵ He has dug a pit and hollowed it out,
And has fallen into the hole which he made.
¹⁶ His mischief will return upon his own head,
And his violence will descend upon his own pate.

¹⁷ I will give thanks to the Lord according to His righteousness
And will sing praise to the name of the Lord Most High.

Proverbs 18:10 says: The name of the Lord is a strong tower; The righteous run to it and are safe.  The psalmist says: O Lord my God, in You I have taken refuge; Save me from all those who pursue me, and deliver me.   A refuge is more than a safe hiding place. It is a safe place to live and to dwell. A refuge is a safe place to remain. That’s what God should be to us and for us, more than who we go to when there is difficulty or danger; He is the one we should dwell and remain with. In Psalm 91:1-9 the psalmist says:  He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High Will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress, My God, in whom I trust!” For it is He who delivers you from the snare of the trapper And from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with His pinions, And under His wings you may seek refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark. You will not be afraid of the terror by night, Or of the arrow that flies by day; Of the pestilence that stalks in darkness, Or of the destruction that lays waste at noon. A thousand may fall at your side And ten thousand at your right hand, But it shall not approach you. You will only look on with your eyes And see the recompense of the wicked. For you have made the Lord, my refuge, Even the Most High, your dwelling place. The safety and security of the refuge of the Lord is for the one who dwells and abides there. If we venture out, away from the Lord, form His covering, we should not be surprised if we find danger or if danger and trouble finds us. In John 16:33 Jesus says:  “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”   Even though we must live in and among the world, should we not dwell and abide with the one who has overcome the tribulation and the trouble of the world? We should remain in Him, even as we also live in the world.

Deuteronomy 32:35 says:  Vengeance is Mine, and recompense; Their foot shall slip in due time; For the day of their calamity is at hand, And the things to come hasten upon them.     Romans 12:17-19 says:  Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men.  If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord.    The psalmist says:  Arise, O Lord, in Your anger; Lift up Yourself against the rage of my adversaries, And arouse Yourself for me; You have appointed judgment. Let the assembly of the peoples encompass You, And over them return on high. The Lord judges the peoples;   Vindicate me, O Lord, according to my righteousness and my integrity that is in me. O let the evil of the wicked come to an end, but establish the righteous; For the righteous God tries the hearts and minds. My shield is with God, Who saves the upright in heart.  God is a righteous judge, And a God who has indignation every day.   It is okay that we would ask God to fight on our behalf; to rise up against those who oppose us.  Better still though is to do as Jesus says in Matthew 5:44:  “I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven.”  If we are to abide in the one who has overcome the world, we need to overcome as He overcame. On the cross Jesus prayed for and blessed even those who persecuted and mocked Him, saying, in Luke 23:34:  “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”

The psalmist says:  If a man does not repent, He will sharpen His sword; He has bent His bow and made it ready. He has also prepared for Himself deadly weapons; He makes His arrows fiery shafts. Behold, he travails with wickedness, And he conceives mischief and brings forth falsehood. He has dug a pit and hollowed it out, And has fallen into the hole which he made. His mischief will return upon his own head, And his violence will descend upon his own pate.  Jesus Himself also calls people to repent. He condemns no one. In John 3:16-21 Jesus says:   “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.  This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.”  In Matthew 7:23 He says:  “I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!”  We can choose today whether we will abide and dwell with the Lord and practice the truth, or if we will practice lawlessness. Our choice though is choosing our own judgment. Our choice today will determine whether we will dwell and abide with Him forever.

With the psalmist, I will say:  I will give thanks to the Lord according to His righteousness And will sing praise to the name of the Lord Most High. Thank You heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ and precious Holy Spirit, I choose to dwell and abide in You.   Amen.