The Divine Lamp

Note: Unless otherwise noted, I’ll be using my own translation of this Psalm.

7:1  A shiggaion of David, which he sang unto the Lord, against the words of Cush, the son of a Benjamite.

Shiggaion (pronounced shig-gaw-yone’) is a word found only here and in Habakkuk 3:1.  It is derived from the Hebrew shagaw (shaw-gaw), which means to stray.  The word here means to wander, ramble, be an aberration.  Some suggest that the word is equivalent to our poetic term dithyramb. Some, seizing on the meaning “to wander,” suggest that the word is meant to convey the fact that David used this Psalm as he fled from King Saul.  David’s comings and goings during this time might logically be described as “wanderings.”

against the words of Cush, the son of a Benjamite. Note that David’s song is directed unto the Lord and against the words of Cush.  Cush, as an individual is unmentioned elsewhere in the Bible.  The fact that he is identified as a Benjamite (like King Saul), and the content of the Psalm, suggests that the circumstances related in this song are to be dated to the time of King Saul’s persecution of David, which we find narrated in 1 Samuel chapters 18-26.  Protestant commentator Matthew Henry suggested that Cush was a pejorative reference to King Saul “Whose barbarous usage of David bespoke him rather a Cushite, or Ethiopian, than a true-born Israelite.”  This makes little sense to me since on more than one occasion, even at the height of Saul’s persecution, David proclaimed his utmost respect for the King as the Lord’s Anointed (see 1 Sam 24:5-16; 26:1-12).  In fairness to Matthew Henry though, I should point out that he felt it more likely that Cush was “some kinsman of Saul…who was an inveterate enemy to David, misrepresented him to Saul as a traitor, and (which was very needless) exasperated Saul against him, one of those children of men, children of Belial indeed, whom David complains of (1Sa_26:19), that made mischief between him and Saul. David, thus basely abused, has recourse to the Lord.”

7:2-3 The Psalmist prays for divine deliverance from an enemy/enemies. O Lord, my God, to you do I flee, put space between me and all who run after me, snatch me away from them.  Remove me, lest he pluck off my soul like a lion, rending me to pieces with none to help or deliver me.

Tradition translations of these verse: O LORD my God, in Thee have I taken refuge; save me from all them that pursue me, and deliver me; Lest he tear my soul like a lion, rending it in pieces, while there is none to deliver. (Jewish Publication Society Translation, hereafter JPS).

O Jehovah my God, in thee do I take refuge: Save me from all them that pursue me, and deliver me, Lest they tear my soul like a lion, Rending it in pieces, while there is none to deliver (American Standard Version, ASV).

O Lord, my God, in thee have I put my trust; save me from all them that persecute me, and deliver me.  Lest at any time he seize upon my soul like a lion, while there is no one to redeem me, nor to save. (Douay-Rheims Version, DRV).

O Lord, my God, The Divine Name YHWH, commonly misspelled as Jehovah, and usually translated as Lord, appears seven times in this Psalm.  Additionally, the noun Elohim (God) appears six time, and the title “the Most High” once, giving a total of 14 specific reference to God in this Psalm.

To you do I flee.  (in thee have I put my trust) The Hebrew word chasah (khaw-saw) is from a primitive root meaning to flee somewhere for protection.  Since one seeks protection only with someone (or in something) in which one has trust and confidence, standard translations use the word trust.  My translation preserves the contrast between the Psalmist running (fleeing) to God and away from those who are running after him.

Put space between me and all who run after me, snatch me away from them.  (save me from all them that persecute me, and deliver me.). The Hebrew word yasha (yaw-shah’) means to be open, wide, or free and, by implication, to be safe.  The word as used in our text is in the Hiphil tense and the imperative mood, hence it has a causative meaning.  Salvation as separation from evil things, people, sin, ect, is a common motif in the OT.  While my translation obscures the technical vocabulary (save), it does maintain the poetic imagery inherent in the wording of the text.  A person flees from enemies who are running after him in order to put space between them and himself, thus acquiring safety.  The Psalmist cannot achieve this space (salvation) alone, hence the Hiphil (causative) tense and the imperative mood (a strong request) of the words addressed to God: Put space between me &c. Likewise, snatch me away from them is causative and imperative.

Remove me, lest he pluck off my soul like a lion. (Lest at any time he seize upon my soul like a lion).  The Hebrew word pen (pane) means removal, here it is being used adverbially as a conjugation (lest).  My translation (remove me, lest) preserves both the proper meaing of the word and it conjugal form.  Whether this was intended by the Psalmist I do not know, however, my translation remove me builds upon the request snatch me away from them, and contrasts with the image that follows: Lest he pluck off my soul. The Psalmist might mean something like this: “Remove me, Lord, from my enemies before they remove me from you.”

Rending me to pieces with none to help or deliver me. (rending it in pieces, while there is none to deliver.)  a lion typically rends its prey to picece in order to devour it.  None to deliver recalls the Psalmist’s plea in verse 2.

7:4-6  The Psalmist examines his conscience and pleads his innocence, but leaves the judgment up to God.

4 O Lord, my God, if I have done this thing, if there be iniquity in my hands (DRV): 5 If I have requited my benefactors with evils, let me rightly fall empty before my enemies. 6 Let the enemy run after my soul, and remove it, trample down my life to the earth, and lodge my glory in the dust.

These verses, especially vs 5, are notoriously difficult to translate, as an examination of older and modern translations would show.

If I have done this…if their be iniquity in my hands…if I have requited my benefactors… The psalmist has been accused of certain crimes against a benefactor or benefactors (King Saul and the Royal Family?) but insists he is innocent, nonetheless, he leaves the judgment up to God, thus exhibiting a confidence in God’s justice.

Let me rightly fall empty before my enemies. Recalls to my mind St Paul’s words to Festus at his trial in Acts 25:11-”For if I have injured them or have committed any thing worthy of death, I refuse not to die. But if there be none of these things whereof they accuse me, no man may deliver me to them. I appeal to Caesar” (DRV).  The word translated as empty can also mean lacking cause, thus the meaning might be: “Let me rightly fall before my enemies, being guilty of the charges I have no cause pleading to you or against them.”

Let the enemy run after my soul, and remove it. recalls the plea of verse two: “O Lord, my God, to you do I flee, put space between me and all who run after me. If my plea against those who run after me is unjustified due to my guilt, then let them run after me and remove it.  If the Psalmist is in fact guilty, then his plea that God snatch me away from them, remove me from them (vs 2), is in vain; he would deserve to have his adversaries remove his soul (Hebrew, nephesh= soul, life principle, life).

Trample down my life to the earth, and lodge my glory in the dust. The reference to earth and dust calls to mind the creation of Adam in Genesis 2, and his fall in Gen 3.    Having formed Adam from the earth  God breathed into his nostrils  and Adam became a nephesh, a living being (see previous paragraph).  After his sin God said to him: “You are dust, and to dust you shall return.”  Lodge my glory in the dust suggests the grave, and the whole statement with its Adam connection is suggestive of death.

7:7-9  After his plea of innocence the Psalmist appeals to God to render a judgment on his behalf, against his enemies.

7:7  Rise up, O Lord, with your nostrils flaring, lift yourself up because of the anger of my oppressors.  Awake for me, O Lord, my God, the verdict you have enjoined.  Note the contrast with the previous verse.  Because the Psalmist has done nothing to merit his life being trampled down to the ground, nor his glory being lodged in the dust, he can call upon God to Rise up, lift Himself up, and awake.

With you nostrils flaring. The Hebrew text uses the term nose or nostril to denote God’s anger, for a flaring nose is a universal image of anger.  I’ve chosen to retain the literal translation in virtue of the fact that the word nephesh, which is usually translated as soul or life or me, means literally breath.   Recall that the previous verse (6) read: Let the enemy run after my soul (nephesh), and remove it, trample down my life to the earth, and lodge my glory in the dust, and that I interpreted this as an allusion to Adam, whom God made a living soul (nephesh) by breathing (naphach, a related word) into his nostrils.  If the life-breath of man is threatened unjustifiably, then one can expect a reaction from the God who breathed life into man.  I don’t know how to express adequately the point I am trying to make.  A threat to man’s life-breath is a threat to the Living One Himself, whose life is reflected in man.

Because of the anger of my oppressors. The Hebrew word for oppressors is derived from a word meaning to be cramped, thus the meaning is something like this: “Arise…because of those who are cramping me, pressing in upon me, ect.”  The image recalls the Psalmists request that God put space between himself and his enemies (vs 2).   The grave image of verse 6 (trampled down to the earth, lodged in the dust) are also very constricting.

Awake for me, O Lord, my God, the verdict you have enjoined.  Do not delay you verdict/judgment against them.

7:8  Have the congregation of people surround you. And for their sakes return on high.  The imperatives of the previous verse (rise up, lift yourself up, awake) are derived from battle cries in which the ark of the covenant was used (e.g., Num 10:35-36).  It was in the tabernacle in the desert, and latter the Temple in Jerusalem  where God mirrored his enthronement in heaven with the enthronement of his Glory on the ark.  It was from heaven that God rendered judgment, but it was through the tabernacle/temple that it came (see Numbers 12).  The Psalmist, it appears, expects a public vindication from God while in the midst of the people assembled for worship in the temple courts.  See the Jerome Biblical Commentary for a slightly different interpretation.

7:9  The Lord shall rule the people; judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness, according to the integrity that is in me.   I suspect that the accusations made against the Psalmist were both public and widespread.  The Psalmist seems to envision both detractors and sympathizers assembled before the Lord to hear his judgment of the Psalmists situation.  In issuing a favorable judgment for the Psalmist God is excercisng rule over all His people.  In vindicating the Psalmist he will thereby vindicate the sympathizers and indict the detractors/oppressors of the Psalmist.

7:10-17 The Psalmist describes how God treats the righteous in comparison with the wicked.

7:10  I pray that the wickedness of the wicked comes to and end, and that the just stand, O righteous God who investigates the mind and the heart.  The Psalmist here prays that all wickedness and all wicked people come to an end.  In verse 5 the Psalmist had stated: If I have requited my benefactors with evils, let me rightly fall empty before my enemies. The word translated as evil in verse 5 is the same as that translated as wicked in verse 10.  Likewise, the word translated as empty in verse 5 is the same as that translated as end in verse 10.  Wicked (evil) people should be brought to an end (emptied) if they are guilty, but because the Psalmist was not such a person, he now prays for all those who find themselves in his situation: unjustly accused and confronted by the unrighteous.

That the just stand. Provides yet another contrast with the image of being trampled down to the earth and lodged in the dust.

Who investigates the mind and heart. The Hebrew word bachan (baw-khan) is usually translated here as “tries” or “test;” however, given the fact that the Psalmist has been subjected to false accusations, raising the question of his innocence or guilt, investigates seems to me to be a better translation.

7:11 God is a shield in front of me, who saves the upright in heart.  The word heart is repeated from the previous verse.  It has a wide range of meaning, including ones center or in-most being.  God searches (investigates) the mind and heart-the very depths of a person-and if he finds them not empty  (see comments on vs 10) or devoid of righteousness, He can be expected to come to the aid of such a person.  The image of God as a shield protecting the heart obviously needs no explanation.

7:12  God is a righteous judge, yea, a God that hath indignation every day: (Young’s Literal Translation, YLT).  The Hebrew word translated here as indignation is za’am (zaw-am’), which means “to foam at the mouth.”  This facial feature denoting anger reminds me of the reference to God’s flaring nostrils earlier in the Psalm.  He hath indignation every day stands as a warning in preparation for the next verse.

7:13  If you will not turn back he will sharpen his sword and string his bow so that it is ready for use. The martial imagery here stands in contrast to the earlier description of God as a shield who saves the upright of heart.  Sooner or latter, against the unrepentant God will make war, hence the need to turn back (repent).  God’s existing and constant indignation against wickedness stands in tension with the fact that he has not yet sharpened his sword or strung his bow.  Sinners are living on borrowed time:

The Lord is not slow about his promise as some count slowness, but is forbearing toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fire, and the earth and the works that are upon it will be burned up.
11 Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of persons ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, 12 waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be kindled and dissolved, and the elements will melt with fire! 13 But according to his promise we wait for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.  Therefore, beloved, since you wait for these, be zealous to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace. 15 And count the forbearance of our Lord as salvation (2 Pet 3:9-15, RSV)

7:14  He hath also prepared for him (i.e., the unrepentant sinner) the weapons of death, yea, His arrows which He made sharp (JPS).   Continues the theme of the previous verse.

He hath also prepared. The Hebrew word for prepared is kun (koon), which was used in verse 9: I pray that the wickedness of the wicked comes to and end, and that the just stand (kun). Sinners had better be willing to repent and stand with the just because God’s weapons of death are prepared (stand ready) for use against them.

7:15  The sinner suffers contractions of iniquity; having conceived mischief, he brings forth falsehood. 7:16 He plans and digs a pit, only to fall into it himself.  7:17 His evil toil shall turn back upon his own head, his own violence shall descend upon his own pate. The images in verses 15 & 16 are found several times in the Bible and show the futility of sinners plotting in the face of God’s coming judgment (see Job 15:35; Isa 59:4; Prov 26;27; Ps 9:16; Ps 28:4).  Verse 17 reiterates the message of the images.  I am reminded of St Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 3:

18 Let no one deceive himself. If any one among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. 19 For the wisdom of this world is folly with God. For it is written, “He catches the wise in their craftiness,” 20 and again, “The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile.”

His evil toil shall turn back upon his own head. The words turn back are a translation of the Hebrew shub (shoob), which is usually translated as “repent.”  The same word was used in verse 13: If you will not turn back (shub) he will sharpen his sword and string his bow so that it is ready for use. If a sinner will not turn back from his evil his evil will turn back upon him.

7:18  I will give glory to the Lord according to his justice: and will sing to the name of the Lord the most high (DRV).

Praise. The Hebrew means literally “I will hold out my hands to the Lord,” a common posture of prayer.

According to his justice. the justice or rightness God manifested in saving the Psalmist and punishing the wicked.

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