Psalm 7 is the seventh psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in English in the King James Version: "O LORD my God, in thee do I put my trust: save me from all them that persecute me, and deliver me". In Latin, it is known as "Domine Deus meus in te speravi". Its authorship is traditionally assigned to King David. The message in the psalm is that the righteous may seem weak, but ultimately will prevail against the wicked.
The psalm forms a regular part of Jewish, Catholic, Lutheran, Anglican and other Protestant liturgies. It has been set to music, and has inspired hymns.
Contents
Structure
The seventh psalm is a Psalm of David, and one of the Lamentations of an individual. A possible outline the psalm is as follows:
Verse 2f: calling upon God for help
Verse 4–6: protestation of innocence
Verse 7–10: achieving desires of the Last Judgment over his enemies
Verse 11f: comforting certainty to YHWH
Verse 13–17: Comparison of the wicked enemy the world court
Verse 18: Vows.
Superscription
A shiggaion of David, which he sang to the Lord concerning Cush, a Benjamite.
This line is verse 1 in Hebrew texts. The Hebrew word shiggayon, which appears in the superscription, is of unknown meaning, perhaps indicating an emotional song.
Text
The following table shows the Hebrew text of the Psalm with vowels, alongside the Koine Greek text in the Septuagint and the English translation from the King James Version. Note that the meaning can slightly differ between these versions, as the Septuagint and the Masoretic Text come from different textual traditions.
Uses
Judaism
Psalm 7 is recited on Purim.
In Protestant revivalism
Jonathan Edwards used some of the imagery from Psalm 7 in his 1741 sermon Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.
Psalm 7:12–13 was used in Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God as:
A takeoff on this imagery used by the book by Brian Zahnd is Sinners in the hands of a loving God.
The arrow imagery will occur 15 times in Psalms, of God, of His enemies and even of children of blessed people.
Catholicism
Around 530, St. Benedict of Nursia choose this psalm for the Tuesday office of Prime. According to the rule of St. Benedict, it was the first of three psalms. This tradition is still respected in a number of monasteries.
In the Liturgy of the Hours, Psalm 7 is recited during the Office of Midday on Mondays in the first week of the four weekly cycle of liturgical prayers.
Book of Common Prayer
In the Church of England's Book of Common Prayer, this psalm is appointed to be read on the evening of the first day of the month.
Musical settings
Heinrich Schütz wrote a setting of a paraphrase of Psalm 7 in German, "Auf dich trau ich, mein Herr und Gott", SWV 103, for the Becker Psalter, published first in 1628.