Psalms 7

Psalm 7

Plea for Help against Persecutors

1O Lord my God, in you I take refuge;[#Ps 11.1; 31.15]

save me from all my pursuers, and deliver me,

2or like a lion they will tear me apart;[#Ps 17.12; 50.22]

they will drag me away, with no one to rescue.

3O Lord my God, if I have done this,[#1 Sam 24.11; 2 Sam 16.7]

if there is wrong in my hands,

4if I have repaid my ally with harm[#1 Sam 24.7]

or plundered my foe without cause,

5then let the enemy pursue and overtake me,

trample my life to the ground,

and lay my soul in the dust. Selah

6Rise up, O Lord , in your anger;[#Ps 3.7; 44.23; 94.2]

lift yourself up against the fury of my enemies;

awake, O my God; you have appointed a judgment.

7Let the assembly of the peoples be gathered around you,[#Ps 68.18]

and over it take your seat on high.

8The Lord judges the peoples;[#Ps 18.20; 35.24; 96.13]

judge me, O Lord , according to my righteousness

and according to the integrity that is in me.

9O let the evil of the wicked come to an end,[#1 Chr 28.9; Ps 34.21; Isa 54.14; Jer 11.20; Rev 2.23]

but establish the righteous,

you who test the minds and hearts,

O righteous God.

10God is my shield,[#Ps 18.2; 125.4]

who saves the upright in heart.

11God is a righteous judge[#Ps 50.6; Isa 34.2]

and a God who has indignation every day.

12If one does not repent, God will whet his sword;[#Deut 32.41; Ps 21.12; Ezek 3.19; 33.9; #7.12 Heb he]

he has bent and strung his bow;

13he has prepared his deadly weapons,[#Ps 64.7]

making his arrows fiery shafts.

14See how they conceive evil[#Isa 59.4; Jas 1.15]

and are pregnant with mischief

and bring forth lies.

15They make a pit, digging it out,[#Job 4.8; Ps 9.15; Eccl 10.8]

and fall into the hole that they have made.

16Their mischief returns upon their own heads,[#Esth 9.25; Ps 140.9]

and on their own heads their violence descends.

17I will give to the Lord the thanks due to his righteousness[#Ps 9.2; 71.15, 16]

and sing praise to the name of the Lord , the Most High.

New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, copyright © 2021 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Published by: National Council of the Churches of Christ