Psalm 7 "The Fury of My Enemies"

Psalm 8:1-2, 6

O Lord my God, in you do I take refuge;
    save me from all my pursuers and deliver me,
lest like a lion they tear my soul apart,
    rending it in pieces, with none to deliver…

Arise, O Lord, in your anger;
    lift yourself up against the fury of my enemies;
    awake for me; you have appointed a judgment.

Comments:

This psalm is considered either an Individual Lament or a Song of Trust while containing both imprecation and lament. Trust psalms (there are 10) center their attention on the fact that God may be trusted even in despair. They help us express our trust in God whether we are doing well or not. They help us express a trust that transcends our circumstances. Here David is suffering at the hands of a certain Benjaminite named Cush. We don’t know anything else about him but assume that he was a follower of Saul in his persecution of David. He certainly was accusing David of something that he had not done…something that would have been not only a threat to David’s reputation and livelihood, but also to his very life.

There are three simple observations I would like to from these verses—refuge, judgment, and the fury of my enemies.

Refuge

Refuge (Heb. chacah; pronounced “khaw-saw”) is a common idea in the Psalms where it is used at least 24 times for the act of seeking shelter, placing one's trust for protection, and deliverance. The question for us, as well as for the psalmist, is not do we seek refuge, but where do we seek it. Where do we seek refuge from those who pursue us with malice and seek to prey upon us like a lion? Where can we hide? Who can we trust to have our back—really? Part of knowing where to take refuge depends on who it is that is seeking to harm us. Maybe we don’t recognize the roaring lion that is behind the low-grade harassment we face at school, work, or even at home. We need a refuge that is up to the challenge—“O Lord my God, in you do I take refuge.” He is not our last resort. He should be our first response for he is our only hope! 

Judgment

Occasionally the psalmist will ask for God to judge the wicked, the violent, and the ones who unjustly and deceitfully seek his demise. This psalm is no exception. However what stands out to me is that before he asks God’s judgment on others, he invites that same judgment upon himself in verses 3-5. David is not saying he is sinless, only that he has not done that which he is accused of. It is a good practice to examine our own hearts honestly before pointing at others. I need to judge my own heart first before judging others…and while I am at it, I need to trust it all to the Lord.

Fury

In verse 6 David asks the Lord to act, specifically to “Arise, O Lord, in your anger; lift yourself up against the fury of my enemies…” David has faced the fury of Cush. Fury (‘ebrah) is not just anger, but an outpouring, overflow, outburst of wrath and arrogance. I confess that in my twisted mind I pictured David asking the Lord to come against the Plymouth Fury of his enemies! After researching this idea, I found it more appropriate than I first thought, as perhaps one of the scariest cars ever was a haunted, driver-less, evil, 1958 Plymouth Fury in the horror movie, Christine.

No matter what failures of our past seem to relentlessly stalk us, we take refuge in the blood of Christ at the cross. The scent trail of our guilt ends there with our crucifixion with Christ (Galatians 2:20). Christ lives in us now, by faith, and his life is indestructible!

No matter how strong the attack against us, no matter how heinous the accusation, it is not a stretch for the Lord to be our refuge and our deliverer! He is faithful and true and for that, we lift up our heads and hands and give him thanks!