Psalm 7, "Song for the Slandered"  Rev. Blake Altman, Lead Pastor

God intends to change you by His Word. How is He at work in you to do that?  

Read Psalm 7 and consider these questions. 

WE ARE CHANGED BY GOD’S WORD — Psalm 7 (ESV)

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.

Question: How do we deal with gossip, slander, and loss of reputation?

I.   Run for cover (vv. 1-2).

II.  Honestly evaluate your part in the situation (vv. 3-5).

III.  Pray God’s promises (vv. 6-11).

    - A word to the attacked (vv. 12-13).

    - A word to the attackers: (vv. 14-16).

IV.  Thank God that He will overrule all His and our enemies (v. 17).

Group Instruction and Questions

1. Describe David's emotion as he begins this psalm (vv. 1-3).  How do you relate to David?  
2. Assuming that this psalm (or prayer) involves Cush's having accused David of treason, what two things does David pray for (vv. 1-2)?   
3. Summarize your response to question 2.  When might Jesus have prayed for these throughout in His life?
4. How does David depict the working out of righteous judgment (vv. 5, 6-8, 12-13)?
5. What emotions are attributed to God (vv. 6, 11)? Why would he have indignation every day?
6. Given God's attitude toward evil and evildoers, what does David see as necessary for everyone to achieve righteousness (v. 12)?
7.  Why do you think David returns again to a description of the wicked (vv. 14-16)? What new dimension do these verses add to how the wicked are judged?
8. Why is verse 17 a fitting, though sudden, end to the psalm?

Prayer for those undergoing criticism:  Lord, some criticisms are terribly unfair.  My deepest comfort is knowing that you see all things and will in the end set all things right.  So I will not desperately defend myself or strike out at my accusers and insinuators.  You know the truth, and that suffices for me.  I leave this all in your hands.  Amen.

Prayer for those suffering from accusations: Righteous Lord, I have many who falsely accuse me.  Defend me from them!  But I also know my sin, and my heart rightly accuses me.  I rest in Jesus’s atoning death for me. “Be thou my shield and hiding place!  That, sheltered near thy side, I may my fierce accuser face, And tell him,“thou hast died.”  Amen. 

Prayer for those struggling with resentment:  Lord, I admit that some of my resentment of those who wrong me is tinged with envy.  They live as they chose, and they seem happier that I am.  But that is an illusion.  Evil is like cancer cells—they grow, but only toward collapse and destruction.  Help me see clearly, so I can forgive them and not be tempted by them.  Amen.