Psalm 7:6 Kommentar

It appears by the title that this psalm was penned with a particular reference to the malicious imputations that David was unjustly laid under by some of his enemies. Being thus wronged, I. He applies to God for favour (Psa 7:1, Psa 7:2). II. He appeals to God concerning his innocency as to those things whereof he was accused (Psa 7:3-5). III. He prays to God to plead his cause and judge for him against his persecutors (Psa 7:6-9). IV. He expresses his confidence in God that he would do so, and would return the mischief upon the head of those that designed it against him (Psa 7:10-16). V. He promises to give God the glory of his deliverance (Psa 7:17). In this David was a type of Christ, who was himself, and still is in his members, thus injured, but will certainly be righted at last. Shiggaion of David, which he sang unto the Lord, concerning the words of Cush the Benjamite.

INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 7 Shiggaion of David, which he sang unto the Lord, concerning the words of Cush the Benjamite. The name of this psalm, "Shiggaion", either respects the music or the matter of the psalm. Some take it to be the name of the musical instrument to which the psalm was set (n): so Habakkuk's prayer is said to be "upon shigionoth"; which is the same word with this, only of the plural number, Hab 3:1. Others say it was the first word of a song, to the tune of which this was sung (o) And others understand it of a certain kind of a song (p): and the Targum renders it, "the interpretation of the ode of David"; which Ainsworth renders, "David's interpretation of the law"; leading instead of as does also the king of Spain's Bible. And certain it is that it is the name of a song; since it follows, "which he sang unto the Lord"; in his presence, before him, and to the glory of his name. But the question is, of what sort it is? and why it should be so called? since its root signifies "to err" or "wander": it is more generally rendered, "an erratic" or "wandering ode"; a song or psalm, which consisted of various kind of metre: it was sung with various notes, and all kind of music, which made it very pleasant. Hence some render it, "David's delight", as R. Obadiah Gaon; and the verb from whence it is derived is translated "ravished" in Pro 5:19; and Ben Melech says, the word signifies , "joy and pleasure"; and Aben Ezra observes that some interpret it "delight". But others are of opinion that this word regards the subject matter of the psalm, and may be rendered, "David's ignorance" or "error"; his sin of ignorance; and respects his mistaken conduct with regard to his enemies, particularly Saul, in making imprecations upon them, Psa 6:10; in cursing them, and especially King Saul; when a king is not to be cursed, Ecc 10:20; and in cutting off the skirt of his garment, for which his heart smote him, Sa1 24:4. Some render it, "the care of David", as Cocceius; which he wrote in deep meditation, when he had forgot himself, and was as it were in an ecstasy; setting forth "the sum of his cares", as Ainsworth expresses it, when he was harassed and greatly afflicted by his enemies. The occasion of it is, "the words of Cush the Benjamite"; which some understand of Shimei the Benjamite, who came out and cursed David as he went along, when he fled from Absalom, Sa1 16:5. Theodoret thinks Hushai is meant, who persuaded Absalom not to follow the counsel of Ahithophel; on which account David penned this psalm. Others interpret it of one of Saul's courtiers, who was of the tribe of Benjamin, and whose name was Cush (q); and which is very likely, since it is evident that some of Saul's courtiers accused David to him, and charged him with seeking his harm, not only to take away his crown and kingdom, but his life, Sa1 24:9. Though the generality of the Jewish writers (r) interpret it of Saul himself, who is called Cush, in allusion to his father's name Kish, who was a man of Benjamin, Sa1 9:1; or else because Cush signifies "an Ethiopian", to which he may be compared, as the children of Israel in Amo 9:7. For as the Ethiopian is various in his skin, so was Saul in his actions, as Jarchi observes; or rather because, as Kimchi and Ben Melech express it, as the Ethiopian does not change his skin, Jer 13:23; so Saul did not change his hatred to David. Though the same writers observe, that he may be called so by the rule of contraries, because he was a very goodly and beautiful man; the words referred to are supposed to be those in Sa1 22:7. (n) Menachem in Jarchi in loc. So David de Pomis, Lexic. fol. 204. 1. (o) Aben Ezra in loc. (p) Kimchi in loc. (q) Aben Ezra & Obadiah Gaon in loc. (r) Targum, Jarchi, Kimchi, Arama, & Ben Melech in loc.

Arise, O Lord, in thine anger,.... This and the following phrase do not suppose local motion in God, to whom it cannot belong, being infinite and immense, but are spoken of him after the manner of men, who seems sometimes as though he had laid himself down, and was unconcerned about and took no notice of human affairs, of the insults of the wicked and the oppressions of the righteous; wherefore the psalmist beseeches him to "arise", which he may be said to do when he comes forth in his power in the defence of his people, and against their enemies; see Psa 12:5; and he also prays him to arise in anger, to show himself displeased, and give some tokens of his resentment, by letting his enemies feel the lighting down of his arm with the indignation of his anger; lift up thyself, because of the rage of mine enemies; ascend the throne of judgment, and there sit judging right; show thyself to be the Judge of the earth, high and lifted up; let it appear that thou art above all mine enemies, higher and more powerful than they; stop their rage, break the force of their fury, lift up a standard against them, who, likes mighty flood, threaten to bear all before them: or "lift up thyself in rage", or "fierce wrath, because of", or "against mine enemies" (y): and so the sense is the same as before; and this way go many of the Jewish interpreters (z); and awake for me to the judgment that thou hast commanded; not that sleep falls upon God, for the keeper of Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps; nor does it fall on any but corporeal beings, not upon angels, nor the souls of men, much less on God; but he sometimes in his providence seems to lie dormant and inactive, as if he disregarded what is done in this world; and therefore his people address him as if he was asleep, and call upon him to arise to their help and assistance; see Psa 44:23; and so David here, "awake for me", that is, hasten to come to me and help me; suggesting that he was in great distress and danger, by reason of his enemies, should he delay coming to him. By "judgment" is either meant the vengeance which God had ordered him to execute upon his enemies, as Jarchi interprets it, and therefore he entreats him to arise and put him in a capacity of doing it; or else his innocence, and the vindication of it, which God had promised him, and then the petition is much the same with Psa 7:8. But the generality of Jewish (a) writers understand it of the kingdom which God had appointed for him, and for which he was anointed by Samuel; and who had told Saul that God had found a man after his own heart, whom he had "commanded" to be captain over his people, Sa1 13:14; wherefore the psalmist prays that God would hasten the fulfilment of his purpose and promise, and set him on the throne, that so he might administer justice and judgment to the people. (y) "in furore contra hostes meos", Mariana; "gravissimo furore percitus in eos qui me opprimunt", Junius & Tremellius. (z) Targum, Jarchi, & Kimchi, in loc. (a) R. Moses in Aben Ezra in loc. R. Obadiah Gaon, Kimchi, & Ben Melech in loc.

The mass of adversaries cannot otherwise be destroyed, if the Lord has not risen on our behalf, and death must by all means precede the resurrection. He, then, who has revealed the resurrection of the Lord has, at the same time, shown that which is bound up together with the resurrection, I mean, of course, the mystery related to the passion. For this reason, having been inspired by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, he says, “Rise up, O Lord, in your anger; be exalted in the ends of my enemies.” By “anger” he indicates the retributive power of the just judge, and by the rest he indicates the destruction of evil. For that which is perceived as contrary to the good, being only hostile by nature, is the evil whose end is destruction and a passing over into nonexistence. He, then, who said, “Be exalted in the ends of my enemies,” predicts, through the evil of his enemies “being brought to an end,” that the course to evil no longer remains in [his] life.

That same adversary, Absalom, as if he has been born again from ourselves, prepares the war against us. Our sound judgment concerning the matter, or rather our alliance with God, turns him who is bloodthirsty against us back. For because he attributes the cause of the good things that have been accomplished for him through “the words of Cush” to God, he composes this thanksgiving.… It would be worthwhile to apply the figures of the story to the virtuous life, how the advice that saves us becomes the strangling of the adversary; and this saving advice has been recorded, on the one hand, in the history, and on the other, in the psalm.

Arise, in order that a vast multitude may believe in you, for after you have risen, what else would we pray for? Return to the Father. “Above them on high be enthroned.” For whose sake? For the assembly of the peoples. In that you suffered, you suffered for us; in that you rose again, you rose for us; in that you ascended to the Father, ascend for us. “Above them on high be enthroned.” “And no one has ascended into heaven except him who has descended from heaven: the Son of man who is in heaven.”

"Arise, O Lord, in Your anger" [Psalm 7:6]. Why yet does he, who we say is perfect, incite God to anger? Must we not see, whether he rather be not perfect, who, when he was being stoned, said, "O Lord, lay not this sin to their charge"? [Acts 7:60] Or does the Psalmist pray thus not against men, but against the devil and his angels, whose possession sinners and the ungodly are? He then does not pray against him in wrath, but in mercy, whosoever prays that that possession may be taken from him by that Lord "who justifies the ungodly." [Romans 4:5] For when the ungodly is justified, from ungodly he is made just, and from being the possession of the devil he passes into the temple of God. And since it is a punishment that a possession, in which one longs to have rule, should be taken away from him: this punishment, that he should cease to possess those whom he now possesses, the Psalmist calls the anger of God against the devil. "Arise, O Lord; in Your anger." "Arise" (he has used it as "appear"), in words, that is, human and obscure; as though God sleeps, when He is unrecognised and hidden in His secret workings. "Be exalted in the borders of mine enemies." He means by borders the possession itself, in which he wishes that God should be exalted, that is, be honoured and glorified, rather than the devil, while the ungodly are justified and praise God. "And arise, O Lord my God, in the commandment that You have given:" that is, since You have enjoined humility, appear in humility; and first fulfil what You have enjoined; that men by Your example overcoming pride may not be possessed of the devil, who against Your commandments advised to pride, saying, "Eat, and your eyes shall be opened, and you shall be as gods." [Genesis 3:5]

So, it is spoken: He asks that God on high appear at the borders of his enemies. Then, he says, their iniquities that make them my enemies will end. Perhaps the boundaries of the enemies refer to the “pride” in which they have rejoiced. They think they are going to dwell with stability in the furthermost boundaries.

Above he set forth a prayer for himself, asking to be delivered and saved; here he petitions against the enemies. Here he does two things. First, he asks for their punishment. Second, the fruit of their punishment, at "and be exalted." Let us first read the text according to history, as it could have applied to David. "Arise" is said to two kinds of people: to one who sleeps and to one who lies down. Now God, when he does not punish sins, seems to sleep, as though he did not have the vigilance of prudence: Ps. 43: "Arise! Why do you sleep, O Lord?" Likewise, when he does not punish, he seems to lie powerless; but then he seems to rise when he manifests his power by punishing adversaries: Is. 26: "Let your hand be exalted, that they may not see; let them see and be confounded with zeal for the people, and let fire devour your inheritance." He says "in anger," that is, in punishment, which is the effect of anger. The fruit of punishment he sets forth as threefold. One is on God's part: that God be exalted -- not in himself, but in the estimation of men, because through this he is regarded as lofty and powerful. And therefore he says, "be exalted"; as if to say: bring down my enemies, and in this you will appear lofty. Sir. 36: "As in their sight you were magnified in us, so in our sight," etc. And he says, "in the borders," so as to utterly bring them down, and nothing remain, by invading their borders. Jerome has, "Rise up, raging against the enemies"; as if to say: be angry, and in this be exalted. Another fruit is on David's part: for in 1 Sam. 13, we read, "The Lord found a man after his own heart, whom he commanded to be a leader over his people." And David himself says of himself in 2 Sam. 6: "The Lord commanded me to be a leader," etc. This command seemed to be made void with David being brought low; and therefore he says, "Arise in the command which you commanded," namely, that I be a leader in the kingdom. And therefore Jerome has, "Rise up to the judgment you commanded for me." Another fruit is on the people's part. In the old law, arrangements were made through men for other leaders of the people; but regarding the supreme leader, this was dispensed only by God: Num. 27: "Let the Lord, the God of the spirits of all flesh, provide a man," etc. Deut. 17: "When you enter the land which the Lord your God will give you, and you possess it and dwell in it, and you say, 'I will set a king over me, as all the surrounding nations have,' you shall set over yourself the one whom the Lord your God will choose." Therefore the people in the matter of the supreme ruler were to follow the divine ordinance; and therefore he adds, "and the congregation of peoples will surround you," that is, will follow your ordinance, to return to me. "And for this, return on high," that is, your magnificence will appear; as if to say: not only for the sake of vengeance, but so that people may return to me. But insofar as it refers to Christ, it is a petition for the mystery of the incarnation, in which there is a twofold fruit. The first is the depression of the demons and the conversion of men: "Arise, O Lord." Regarding the first, he says, "Arise," that is, appear in the world through the incarnation, "and this in your anger," that is, to punish the demons: Jn. 12: "Now is the judgment of this world," etc. Mk. 1: "What have we to do with you, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come before the time to destroy us?" "And be exalted in the borders of the enemies," taking away their possession: Lk. 11: "When a strong man, fully armed, guards his palace, his possessions are in peace. But when one stronger than he attacks and overcomes him, he takes from him all his armor in which he trusted and distributes his spoils." And Mt. 12: "How can anyone enter the strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house." Or against the Jews, so that it is the petition of the Church of the Gentiles against them. And he says, "be exalted in the borders of the enemies"; the rest remains unchanged. What is exalted appears to man from this, but thereby becomes hidden -- as, for example, when something is exalted too high. Therefore, just as what lies hidden in the depths, if it is raised up, appears -- Job 28: "He has searched out the depths of the rivers and brought hidden things into the light" -- so he says, "be exalted," that is, be manifested. And just as what is exalted too much becomes hidden -- hence Acts 1: "He was lifted up, and a cloud received him out of their sight" -- so "be exalted," that you may become hidden from the Jews, so that they may not recognize you, and thus crucify you, and thereby be redeemed. Regarding the second, he says, "Arise, O Lord God, in the command" -- for the conversion of men. Here first the motive for conversion is set forth. Second, its perfection. Third, its punishment. He says, therefore, "in the command," namely of meekness and humility, "which you commanded": Mt. 11: "Learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart." Arise, therefore, in this command, that is, appear humble while being lofty; as if to say: so accept humility that you do not abandon your loftiness. Or arise from the dead, "and so the congregation of peoples will surround you," the assembly, namely, of the blessed who will be rewarded and the wicked who will be punished. Song 1: "Your name is oil poured out," etc. Is. 2: "The mountain of the house of the Lord will be prepared on the top of the mountains, and will be elevated above the hills, and all nations will flow to it." And Is. 60: "Lift up your eyes round about: all these who are gathered together have come to you." "And for this, return on high," namely, to perfect this congregation, that is, the assembly of believers: Eph. 4: "Ascending on high, he led captivity captive," etc. Mic. 2: "He ascends, opening the way before them." Or "on high" -- you will be hidden from the eyes of the Jews, etc. "The congregation of peoples will surround you" -- by despising and persecuting, in which they will be most punished.

Shiggaion--a plaintive song or elegy. Though obscure in details, this title seems to intimate that the occasion of this Psalm was some event in David's persecution by Saul. He prays for relief because he is innocent, and God will be glorified in his vindication. He thus passes to the celebration of God's righteous government, in defending the upright and punishing the wicked, whose malignant devices will result in their own ruin; and, confident of God's aid, he closes with rejoicing. (Psa. 7:1-17) Though many enemies set upon him, one is singled out as prominent, and compared to a wild beast tearing his prey to pieces (compare Sa1 20:1; Sa1 23:23; Sa1 26:19).

God is involved as if hitherto careless of him (Psa 3:7; Psa 9:18). rage--the most violent, like a flood rising over a river's banks. the judgment . . . commanded--or, "ordained"; a just decision.

(Heb.: 7:7-9) In the consciousness of his own innocence he calls upon Jahve to sit in judgment and to do justice to His own. His vision widens and extends from the enemies immediately around to the whole world in its hostility towards Jahve and His anointed one. In the very same way special judgments and the judgment of the world are portrayed side by side, as it were on one canvas, in the prophets. The truth of this combination lies in the fact of the final judgment being only the finale of that judgment which is in constant execution in the world itself. The language here takes the highest and most majestic flight conceivable. By קוּמה (Milra, ass in Psa 3:8), which is one of David's words of prayer that he has taken from the lips of Moses (Psa 9:20; Psa 10:12), he calls upon Jahve to interpose. The parallel is הנּשׂא lift Thyself up, show thyself in Thy majesty, Psa 94:2, Isa 33:10. The anger, in which He is to arise, is the principle of His judicial righteousness. With this His anger He is to gird Himself (Psa 76:11) against the ragings of the oppressors of God's anointed one, i.e., taking vengeance on their many and manifold manifestations of hostility. עברות is a shorter form of the construct (instead of עברות Job 40:11, cf. Psa 21:1-13 :31) of עברה which describes the anger as running over, breaking forth from within and passing over into words and deeds (cf. Arab. fšš, used of water: it overflows the dam, of wrath: it breaks forth). It is contrary to the usage of the language to make משׁפּט the object to עוּרה in opposition to the accents, and it is unnatural to regard it as the accus. of direction = למּשׂפט (Psa 35:23), as Hitzig does. The accents rightly unite עוּרה אלי: awake (stir thyself) for me i.e., to help me (אלי like לקלאתי, Psa 59:5). The view, that צוּית is then precative and equivalent to צוּה: command judgment, is one that cannot be established according to syntax either here, or in Psa 71:3. It ought at least to have been וצוּית with Waw consec. On the other hand the relative rendering: Thou who hast ordered judgment (Maurer, Hengst.), is admissible, but unnecessary. We take it by itself in a confirmatory sense, not as a circumstantial clause: having commanded judgment (Ewald), but as a co-ordinate clause: Thou hast indeed enjoined the maintaining of right (Hupfeld). The psalmist now, so to speak, arranges the judgment scene: the assembly of the nations is to form a circle round about Jahve, in the midst of which He will sit in judgment, and after the judgment He is to soar away (Gen 17:22) aloft over it and return to the heights of heaven like a victor after the battle (see Psa 68:19). Although it strikes one as strange that the termination of the judgment itself is not definitely expressed, yet the rendering of Hupfeld and others: sit Thou again upon Thy heavenly judgment-seat to judge, is to be rejected on account of the שׁוּבה (cf. on the other hand 21:14) which is not suited to it; שׁוב למּרום can only mean Jahve's return to His rest after the execution of judgment. That which Psa 7:7 and Psa 7:8 in the boldness of faith desire, the beginning of Psa 7:9 expresses as a prophetic hope, from which proceeds the prayer, that the Judge of the earth may also do justice to him (שׁפתני vindica me, as in Psa 26:1; Psa 35:24) according to his righteousness and the purity of which he is conscious, as dwelling in him. עלי is to be closely connected with תּמּי, just as one says נפשׁי עלי (Psychol. S. 152 [tr. p. 180]). That which the individual as ego, distinguishes from itself as being in it, as subject, it denotes by עלי. In explaining it elliptically: "come upon me" (Ew., Olsh., Hupf.) this psychologically intelligible usage of the language is not recognised. On תּם vid., on Psa 25:21; Psa 26:1.