Vindicate me, O Lord
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.
David was far from perfect. His shortcomings and failures are well documented in scripture. Yet he had the confidence to say: Vindicate me, O Lord, according to my righteousness and my integrity that is in me. Acts 13:22 says: He (God) raised up David to be their king, concerning whom He also testified and said, 'I HAVE FOUND DAVID the son of Jesse, A MAN AFTER MY HEART, who will do all My will.' God knew David’s heart; that despite his failings, his desire was that he do the will of God. His desire was that he would always act righteously. Just as God knew the heart of David, He knows our hearts as well. God does not expect perfection from us as His people, but He does expect integrity of heart; that our hearts would be after His heart. God solved the problem concerning our lack of righteousness. 2 Corinthians 5:21 says: He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. Romans 5:8 says: God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 8:28-29 says: We know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Through the cross, the demonstration of God’s love we are conformed to the image of Christ. Even the difficult times of our lives, will be a cause of good if we love God. As we turn from sin and take on Christ’s righteousness we are not only conformed to His image, we are restored to the very image in which we were created. Genesis 1:26 says: Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness.” That’s the way God sees us when we are in Christ, restored to the way He created us.
David wrote this psalm, this prayer, this declaration to and of God in a time of distress. James 1:2-4 says: Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials,knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. In Matthew 24:9-14 Jesus says: “Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name. At that time many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another.Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many. Because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will grow cold.But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved.This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.” More than just enduring, our endurance results in our being perfected in Christ. That is our reason for both our joy and our confidence.
Like the psalmist, we can say: O Lord
my God, in You I have taken refuge; Save me from all those who pursue me, and deliver me, Or he will tear my soul like a lion, Dragging me away, while there is none to deliver. O
Lord my God, if I have done this, If there is injustice in my hands, If I have rewarded evil to my friend, Or have plundered him who without cause was my adversary, 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. 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. 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. I will give thanks to the Lord according to His righteousness And will sing praise to the name of the Lord Most High. Amen.
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