Sermon text
Psalm 7
¹ O LORD my God, in you do I take refuge;
save me from all my pursuers and deliver me,
² lest like a lion they tear my soul apart,
rending it in pieces, with none to deliver.
³ O LORD my God, if I have done this,
if there is wrong in my hands,
⁴ if I have repaid my friend with evil
or plundered my enemy without cause,
⁵ let the enemy pursue my soul and overtake it,
and let him trample my life to the ground
and lay my glory in the dust. Selah
⁶ Arise, O LORD, in your anger;
lift yourself up against the fury of my enemies;
awake for me; you have appointed a judgment.
⁷ Let the assembly of the peoples be gathered about you;
over it return on high.
⁸ The LORD judges the peoples;
judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness
and according to the integrity that is in me.
⁹ Oh, let the evil of the wicked come to an end,
and may you establish the righteous—
you who test the minds and hearts,
O righteous God!
¹⁰ My shield is with God,
who saves the upright in heart.
¹¹ God is a righteous judge,
and a God who feels indignation every day.
¹² If a man does not repent, God will whet his sword;
he has bent and readied his bow;
¹³ he has prepared for him his deadly weapons,
making his arrows fiery shafts.
¹⁴ Behold, the wicked man conceives evil
and is pregnant with mischief
and gives birth to lies.
¹⁵ He makes a pit, digging it out,
and falls into the hole that he has made.
¹⁶ His mischief returns upon his own head,
and on his own skull his violence descends.
¹⁷ I will give to the LORD the thanks due to his righteousness,
and I will sing praise to the name of the LORD, the Most High.
Applying the text
- Have you ever been hurt by false accusations or rumors? How did it affect you? Were you able to resolve the issue?
- Throughout the Psalms, David brings his heart, his tears, his doubt, and his questions before God. Why do you think he is able to do this? Is this a regular part of your relationship with God? Why or why not?
- Deliverance from evil and injustice goes hand in hand with judgment. Can you think of stories in the Bible where God’s judgment and deliverance occur in the same event?
- As we consider the pain we have received through the words of others, its imperative to also consider the hurt we have caused others. Take a few moments to ask God to show you any sins that you need to address with those whom you have hurt.
