(Author’s own translation)

Verse 1 of this psalm connects the text to a particular event in the life of David. According to this superscription, the psalm is David’s prayer to the Lord against a certain Cush, a Benjaminite, an event which is not narrated explicitly in the OT, even though David experienced conflicts from the Benjaminites (cf. 1 Sm 24–26; 2 Sm 16:5; 20:1). Some ancient versions of the Bible such as the Septuagint, Vulgate, Aquila, Theodotion and Symmachus read Cushite, thus linking the text to the narrative in 2 Samuel 18:19–31. In that narrative, a certain Cushite brought to David the sad news of the death of Absalom. The content of this psalm, however, suggests a reaction to an attack of enemies instead of a dirge at the news of the death of a son. This perception better explains traces of life-threatening danger that pervade the psalm.

Reading through Psalm 7, clusters of ideas as the text progresses segment the psalm into clear sections that constitute correlated parts of this direct address to God by a desperate petitioner. Beginning in verse (v.) 2 with an initial personalised divine name, YHWH ’ĕHWH ’ ‘O Lord my God’, construed as vocative, the psalmist makes a passionate plea to God to be delivered from his foes. The Tetragrammaton, YHWH, occurs seven times, indicating perfection and completeness, in this Psalm 7 (cf. vv. 2a, 4a, 7a, 9a, 9b, 18a, 18b). The psalmist protracts his earnest entreaty to v. 3 with a conjunctive particle, pen ‘otherwise’, having its antecedent in v. 2. Thus, vv. 2–3 are linked by this prayer of deliverance with which the psalmist begins his poem. (Reading through Ps 7 clusters of ideas segment the psalm into clear subsections. These sections correlate with what one finds in other individual laments where a desperate petitioner addresses Yahweh. The psalm commences with an invocation of Yahweh: YHWH’ĕlōhay ‘O Lord my God’. The psalmist makes a passionate plea to God that he should deliver him from his foes. The Tetragrammaton, YHWH, occurs seven times, indicating perfection and completeness (cf. vv. 2a, 4a, 7a, 9a, 9b, 18a, 18b).

Verse 4 begins with the same divine name YHWH ’ĕlōhay ‘O Lord my God’ as in v. 1. However, the particle, ’im [‘if’] in the first part of v. 4, which follows these names and is repeated in v. 4b and v. 5a, signals a new development in the text. There are consequently three ‘if’ clauses in vv. 4–5 and their conjoined apodosis, the main sentence, is in v. 6. A compound sentence runs through the three verses of 4–6 in which the psalmist avers his innocence in the face of obvious anxiety. He is utterly convinced of his virtuousness such that the expressed consequence in the main clause (v. 6) entails the loss of his life. The progressive unfolding of the contents of vv. 4–5 is worth noting, which moves from general idea to concreteness. The first part of v. 4 is very general and seems an introduction to the remaining two conditional clauses. The second part of v. 4 gives inkling to the meaning of v. 4a. In v. 5a the speaker becomes more explicit and most clear in v. 5b, thus making a persuasive claim of rectitude amidst uncertainty.

Three imperatives qûmāh [‘rise up’], hinnāśēh [‘lift yourself’] and w^e‘ûrāh [‘and awake’] in v. 7 and similar imperative, ṣopṭēnî [‘judge me’] in v. 9, all hint at an introduction of something different from the preceding verses but not disconnected from them. Another imperative, šûbāh [‘return’], in v. 8, addressed to God, confirms a new development in the Psalm; thus, vv. 7–9 are linked by these imperatives, which are directed to YHWH. Moreover, recurrent in this segment of the poem is the concept of ‘judging’, expressed twice with the root špṭ ‘to judge’; first as a noun, mišpāṭ ‘judgement’ in v. 7, and as an imperative ṣopṭēnî in v. 9. In v. 8, the gathered assembly is destined for judgement. Finally, in v. 9, the idea of judging is further expressed with the verb yādîn. In addition to this distinct feature of vv. 7–9 is the use of the divine name YHWH at the beginning (v.7) and two more occurrences at the end (v. 9). ‘God’s judicial activity appears in the psalms as an alternate form of his aggressive engagement on behalf of right and righteous’ (Keel 1997:207–208). The plea for divine acquittal of the blameless petitioner appears to be the focus of this stanza.

The psalmist’s entreaty for vindication against his foes is continued in vv. 10–12, albeit in a new dimension. The concept of ‘judging’ appears in the divine appellation ’ĕlōhîm šôpēṭ ṣaddîq ‘God is a righteous judge’ (v. 12), and also in the phrases: ûbōḥēn libbôt ûk^elāyôt ‘you who test hearts and minds’ and w^e’ēl zō‘ēm b^ekol-yôm ‘a God who passes sentence every day’. On the other hand, the newness in vv. 10–12 is in the contrast between the r^ešā‘îm ‘wicked’ and the ṣaddîq ‘the righteous’. This latter is predicated of both God (vv. 10,12) and those who take him as their shield (v. 11) and who are also yišrê-lēb [‘upright of heart’], the group to which the psalmist avows he belongs. Outstanding in this stanza is the invocation ’ĕlōhîm ṣaddîq [‘O righteous God’], which encapsulates the prayers of the psalmist. The righteous prays to a righteous God; he shares in God’s righteousness for he belongs to him. This contrast between the wicked and the righteous features also in the desire of the psalmist for each group: he prays that the evil of the wicked will come to an end and that God will establish the righteous (v. 10).

Verses 13–14 are a natural continuation of the preceding stanza (vv. 10–12), because in both of them the image of the just God who judges righteously and who is exasperated by moral evil is presented (Girard 1996). The righteous God is ever ready to execute his just judgement, especially on a person who fails to repent (’im-lō’ yāšûb) of his evil deeds. With a progression of metaphors of God’s judgement, the psalmist describes God’s action against the godless in a language that depicts warfare (Alonso-Schökel & Carniti 1992), all in anthropomorphic image of God that pervades the entire Psalter. Like a human armour bearer, God sharpens his sword, gets his arrow and deadly weapons ready for battle. This belligerent God fights for the righteous who takes refuge in him. Their foes are also his enemies; the psalmist accentuates this in his prayer.

In vv. 15–17, the petitioner focuses on the skirmishes of his enemy. He depicts his foe’s heinous plots and their origin (Craigie 1983) with the figure of conceiving, becoming pregnant and giving birth like a woman. Unlike a woman who conceives, carries the pregnancy and eventually gives birth to a human being, the ungodly conceives trouble, carries evil in his pregnancy and gives birth to lies (v. 15). This image of plotting evil against an innocent person is elucidated with another image of digging a pit and making it deep with the purpose of entrapping someone. The perpetrator, however, is met with a boomerang for the action backfires on him, the initiator (v. 16). ‘The evil which originates with the wicked creates a fateful chain of events which ultimately turns against the offender himself’ (Keel 1997:1998). This reversal of planned misfortune is articulated in a prayer and ardent desire of the psalmist in v. 17, in which the psalmist uses a word-pair, rō’š [head] and qodqōd [crown of head] in their correct order of the more frequent one, rō’š, preceding the uncommon word, qodqōd (Watson 1995).

The concluding prayer of praise stated in a synonymous parallelism in v. 18 highlights the key points of the psalm. It heightens the petitioner’s protestation of confidence in Yahweh, which begins the psalm. The phrase, k^eṣidqô (‘according to his [God’s] righteousness’), evokes the psalmist’s image of Yahweh as a just judge, who vindicates the righteous. The first word ’ôdeh [‘I will praise’] (from ydh) is in the cohortative, expressing the will or strong desire and resolution (Waltke & O’Connor 1990) of the speaker to praise God whom he believes has heard his prayers; it is not necessarily an indication that he is a chorister (Terrien 2003:122). Moreover, with the divine appellation YHWH ‘elyôn [‘the Lord Most High’], which expresses the transcendence of God (Ravasi 1997:176), the psalmist attains the climax of all the divine names he has employed in his prayer.

Although each of the component parts (2–3; 4–6; 7–9; 10–12; 13–14; 15–17; 18) of Psalm 7 forms a unique unit in the text, this is not in isolation for there is interconnection and some level of concatenation that runs through the psalm. Its composition is logically arranged and the psalmist’s experience of insecurity is persuasively highlighted.

Interjections of pain and distress directed to God by the psalmist in Psalm 7 give the reader a clue as to the life situation of the petitioner. These include YHWH ’ĕlōhay [‘O Lord my God’] (vv. 2,4), YHWH [‘O Lord’] (vv. 7, 9), ’ēlay [‘O my God’] and ’ĕlōhîm ṣaddîq [‘O righteous God’] (v. 10). In v. 10, the divine name ’ĕlōhîm with an adjective in the singular is one of the 25 examples of honorific use of this divine name, which is in plural, referring to the God of Israel (Waltke & O’Connor 1990:122). Worth noting is a unique divine title, môšî^a‘ [he who saves] in v. 11 (cf. Dt 22:27; 28:29,31; Jdg 3:9,15; 6:36; 12:3; 1 Sm 10:19; 11:3; 2 Ki 13:5; Ps 17:7; 18:42; Is 19:20; 43:11; 45:15; Zch 8:7). These are cries of anguish because they are invariably followed in the text by statements that show the psalmist is in dire need of divine assistance and deliverance.

In his first cry of deliverance (v. 2), the psalmist describes his condition as one who is being pursued with hostility. Employing an active participle, perhaps to portray a dramatic effect of his suffering, he calls his adversaries rōdpay [‘my pursuers’], a word from the root rdp, which often has a negative connotation: ‘to persecute, chase or hunt’. The details of this persecution are not communicated, but they are antagonistic enough to be compared in v. 3 with the action of a ravenous lion before his prey. Like a lion, the persecutors are poised to tear him apart. This simile illustrates ‘the merciless, irresistible grasp of tyrants’ (Keel 1997:86); it is an image of utter aggression.

The second segment of the psalm (vv. 4–6) suggests an aspect of this persecution. With three initial conditional statements articulated in three ‘if’ clauses, the petitioner seems to give an idea of his ordeal. Is he being falsely accused or persecuted? This is very credible in the three clauses, which convey the anguish of one who suffers innocently for what he did not do. He asserts his righteousness in the main clause (v. 6) of this conditional sentence with words of self-imprecation, which only a guiltless person could pronounce against himself. In v. 6 the first word transliterated as yiraddōp has a strange vocalisation; it has two possible vocalisations: qal yirdōp or piel y^eraddēp. It is an example of lectiones mixtae (Joüon & Muraoka 2006:16g).

In v. 7, the psalmist calls the action of his enemies ‘ebrāh [‘arrogance, anger, rage, fury’] used in the plural form, ‘ăbārôt, to convey the intensity of this action against him. In about 22 times, ‘ebrāh is employed in the Hebrew Bible for divine wrath (cf. Is 9:18; 10:6; 13:9,13; Jr 7:29; Ezk 7:19 etc.) and 12 times for human fury (cf. Gn 49,7; Is 14:6; Am 1:11 etc.). The plural form of this word occurs only three times (Ps 7:7; Job 21:30; 40:11) and all describe human wrath. In Psalm 7:7, the plural form describes ‘additional human actions carried out in wrath, against which Yahweh is asked to intervene’ (Sauer 1997:836). The psalmist experiences devastating anger, which he also calls ra‘ [‘evil’] (v.10), from his enemies and this constitutes a situation of insecurity in his life.

It is impressive to note the description of his enemy’s unfriendliness in vv. 15–17 with two stirring metaphors. The first is that of conceiving and giving birth, not to a living creature but to trouble, evil and lies, which are forms of enmity. It calls to mind a possible false accusation mentioned in vv. 4–5. The second metaphor is the act of digging a pit to ensnare someone. Šaḥat (pit v. 16b) used in the text means very often in the OT a deliberately dug pitfall (cf. Ps 9:15; 35:7; 94:13) (Keel 1997:72); it is parallel to bôr (cistern, pit; v.16a) only here in the OT and it also means a pitfall. Both metaphors of conceiving evil and digging a cistern allude to hateful attitude of the psalmist’s foes that endanger the life of the petitioner and create anxiety.

Further expressions of insecurity in Psalm 7 are seen in the terms that the psalmist uses for his enemies. He has various names for his opponents and these names convey how he perceives his life situation. In v.2 he calls them rōdpîm from rdp, which connotes an active pursuit of a person with hostile intent (Frevel 2004:343). In the Book of Psalms, this word is used exclusively for adversaries of an individual and it stands also for a static image of mortal danger afflicting the psalmist (Frevel 2004:349). A more general term (’ôyēb) for enemy occurs in v. 6. In vv. 5 and 7, the psalmist calls them persons who show hostility towards him, ṣôr^erîm, which is qal active participle from ṣrr; this generally means to show hostility towards a person (Jenni 1997:1098). In v. 10, the psalmist uses a plural adjective, r^ešā‘îm [‘wicked’] for his enemies. It is a very frequent word, occurring about 82 times in the psalter, for a person who is characterised by wickedness, who is diametrically opposed to the righteous and who lives as a practical atheist (Carpenter & Grisanti 1997:1202). The psalmist is fully aware of this spitefulness surrounding him and he responds in various ways.

The initial response of the psalmist is to establish a firm rationale for his prayer for help amidst hostile situations. This he does with affirmations of confidence in Yahweh whom he invokes with various titles (cf. vv.2,4,7,8,10,18). Firstly, in his protestation of confidence in Yahweh is to use a common phrase in the Psalms: b^ekā ḥāsîtî [‘in you I take refuge’] (v. 2), which occurs frequently at the beginning of some Psalms of Lament (cf. Ps 31:1; 71:1; 57:1; 144:2) or in the body (cf. Ps 17:7; 61:3; 142:5; 143:9) and rarely at the end (cf. Ps 25:20; 141:8). He has recourse to God whom he believes will be his hiding place, a place of refuge. Similar to this is an expression in v. 11, māḡinnî ‘al-’ĕlōhîm [‘my shield is my God’]. This defensive weapon, māḡēn [‘the symbol for the protective legal aid’] (Kraus 1993:173), occurs 15 times as a divine epithet in the OT and 12 of these are in the Psalms (cf. Ps 3:4; 7:11; 18:31; 28:7; 33:20; 59:12; 84:12; 89:19; 115:9,10,11; 119:114; 144:2); the rest are Genesis 15:1; Proverbs 2:7; 30:5. God is a defensive weapon against enemies. In Psalm 7, the psalmist perceives his life situation as warfare and he believes that God will protect him. He is being pursued by his foes and he runs to God for protection.

The petitioner’s entreaty for help tends to reflect the perceived nature of his enemies and their antagonism. Hence, he uses words that reveal his precarious situation. In v. 2, for instance, he employs two verbs, in the imperative mood addressed to Yahweh, which show the danger facing him. He asks Yahweh to rescue him (hôšî‘ēnî, from yš‘) and to extricate him (haṣṣîlēnî, from nṣl). Later in v. 11 he calls Yahweh môšî^a‘ [‘he who saves’], from the same root as hôšî‘ēnî. As if Yahweh were in deep slumber and needed to be awaken from it, the psalmist addresses him in v. 7 with three verbs appropriate for arousing a person from sleep: qûmāh [‘rise up’], hinnāśēh [‘lift yourself’] and ‘ûrāh [‘awake’], all imploring ‘God to act in the most urgent tones’ (Craigie 1983:101). When God’s response to prayers appears to delay, he seems to be sleeping. Finally, in v. 10 the psalmist prays that the evil of the foes come to an end (Matthews & Benjamin 1997:65).

The supplicant substantiates these serious and passionate requests for divine intervention in his peril by evoking his personal innocence (vv. 5–6), righteousness and integrity (v. 9). His life as a righteous person (ṣaddîq), a participation in God’s righteousness (Rosendal 2013:50), is at variance with the life of his enemies (Mays 1994:64) whom he depicts as wicked people (r^ešā‘îm). He also evokes Yahweh’s righteousness and justice, for he is a righteous God (vv. 10.18) and he is just in his deeds (vv. 13–14); this ‘guarantees the worshipper’s protection and help’ (Weiser 1962:138).

In v. 8, the Hebrew imperative of second person masculine singular (šûbāh) has different translations in some versions of the Bible. The Septuagint epistrepson and the Vulgate regredere reflect this Hebrew imperative, which means ‘return’. Similar translation is reckoned in The New American Standard Bible, The New Jerusalem Bible, The New King James, La Sacra Bibbia della Conferenza Episcopale Italiana (CEI) and many others. The critical note of Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia suggests the reading of šēbāh (imperative second person masculine singular, from the root yšb [‘to dwell, sit’]) instead of šûbāh. This suggestion most probably is behind the translation ‘take your seat’ or similar phrases in many modern translation and commentaries. The Hebrew txt, which is clarified in the explanation, is retained in the translation here. The petition prays that God may return on high and execute justice on his behalf as in a court of law. One can elicit the argument of the psalmist in this way: as God is a just judge and righteous in his deeds and the psalmist is innocent, God will surely answer his prayers for help in this apprehensive situation. This confidence in God expressed in various forms in his prayer prompts the ardent desire to praise God (v.18) (Kraus 1993:176).

Genre critics of the Book of Psalms identify Psalm 7 as an Individual Lament (Seybold 1990:116; Gunkel & Begrich 1998:121) and that it exhibits all the characteristics of this group. The features include a well-calculated invocation of divine name that shows that these psalms are entreaties addressed to God, description of the petitioner’s life situation that generated the lament, prayer for help, affirmation of trust in God, arguments to motivate God’s intervention, declarations and desire or vow to praise God (Seybold 1990:116). In his experience of insecurity, which is almost palpable in the text, the psalmist articulates all these traits of an Individual Lament. The nexus that links all these constituent parts is his sense of insecurity expressed therein.