Psalm 07

From Adam Clarke's Commentary we copy: "This Psalm is entitled, Shiggaion of David which he sang unto the Lord, concerning the words of Cush the Benjamite. The word shigaayown comes from shaagah, to wander, a wandering song; i. e., a Psalm composed by David in his wanderings, when he was obliged to hide himself from the fury of Saul.

Dr. Horsley thinks it may have its name, a wandering ode, from its being in different parts, taking up different subjects, in different styles of composition. But he has sometimes thought that shiggaion might be an unpremeditated song; an improviso.

As to Cush the Benjamite, he is a person unknown in the Jewish history; the name is probably a name of disguise; and by it he may covertly mean Saul himself, the son of Kish, who was of the tribe of Benjamin. The subject of the Psalm will better answer to Saul's unjust persecution and David's innocence, than to any other subject in the history of David."

F. B. Meyer, in his book David, does not share this opinion. He does see a connection between this psalm and David's flight for Saul, but takes Cush to be the name of one of Saul's courtiers, who would have antagonized Saul against David. All of this is, of course, only speculation. We are not told who Cush the Benjamite really was and what he had said. The name Cush is only found in the Bible for the son of Ham¹, and as a name for Ethiopia.² Yet the connection between this psalm and David's flight from Saul seems to be a logical one. Even if it could be proven that this is historically incorrect, we can take David's condition to be one similar as when he fled from Saul. This psalm can be taken as the counterpart of psalm three, where David is guilty as he flees from his son Absalom. Here he flees as an innocent victim.

This complaint of Shiggaion, with its irregular rhythm, reminds us of a stream that runs over a bed of rocks; it is syncopated, which means that the beat is on the wrong note in every measure. This translates very well the kind of emotions David wants to express in this poem. Beethoven used this method with great effect in his music to give expression to his anger. David's purpose, however, is not merely to express his emotions in order to experience a psychological sense of relief but also he sings his song before the Lord. He vents his frustrations in the only way that leads to real healing: that is, before God. Prayer is not always a peaceful occupation. In David's case it was the sigh of a restless heart.

The image of the lion places this psalm for us in the right spiritual perspective. Peter calls Satan "a roaring lion." He says: "Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour."³ There had been a time in David's life when, in his youthful daring, he killed a lion that wanted to steal a sheep. To Saul he said: "Your servant has been keeping his father's sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it."⁴ Now, as he is older and less daring, the situation in which he find himself makes him fearful. It is advisable to fear lions. Physical or spiritual recklessness has not merit in itself. David is right to want to flee from the lion and to flee to God. It is good for us to hide in God and to put ourselves under His protection. C. S. Lewis develops the theme of being under God's protection in his beautiful book That Hideous Strength.

If we flee to God, we put a distance between ourselves and the enemy. It is obvious that we will only be subject to enemy attacks if we resist him. As long as we have a common cause with the devil, he will treat us as calves to be fattened for the kill. But once we confess our sins before God and ask for forgiveness, he turns against us. This is, undoubtedly, the most positive side of this kind of experience. It is much more dangerous if we are exposed to a sweet, subtle temptation than when Satan turns against us openly with physical threats. In that way he easily crosses the limits God has set for him. There is in open demonic attacks a hidden compliment to our spiritual status.

David shows a very human reaction to fear and, he deals with this in a healthy way. The solution to the problem of fear lies in the spiritual realm, which is only accessible in fellowship with God. When Jesus' disciples were afraid to return with Him to Jerusalem, He told them: "Are there not twelve hours of daylight? A man who walks by day will not stumble, for he sees by this world's light. It is when he walks by night that he stumbles, for he has no light."⁵

There is in the persecution of David a semblance of justice which is hard to accept. David is being accused of certain things which would give an air of legality to the case. This air of justice is more repulsive than unlimited absolutism. We are not told what David is charged with. If we do place this psalm against the background of David's flight from Saul, we know that Saul suspected David of revolutionary efforts to take over the throne. The basis for this supposition was not imaginary if Saul was aware of the fact that Samuel had anointed David. Saul would have considered David's irreproachable conduct towards him as a sly political ploy. Why would he have trusted David more than he trusted himself? Saul's reasoning was not illogical. The situation was rather complicated, mainly because God had started to intervene in David's life, in a supernatural way, and at an early stage.

Ironically, David found himself in a tight situation into which he got himself because of the grace of God. From a spiritual viewpoint this kind of conflict is the logical result of God's grace; the devil reacts when the work of the Holy Spirit becomes evident in the life of man. But in the world in which we live, with its inter-personal relations, matters are seldom so easily definable as black or white. We have a hard time accepting that God's interventions can increase the pressure and make life more difficult for us. One example is the one of Israel in Egypt after Moses' first visit to Pharaoh's court. Others include first the life of Joseph, second, the man who was paralyzed for thirty-eight years,⁶ and third, the man who was born blind,⁷ to mention only a few. Jesus advises us to rejoice and be glad when we find ourselves in similar circumstances. He said: "Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you."⁸ We can only rejoice under those circumstances, of course, if our conscience is clear.

There is always the very subtle danger that we will try to manipulate the work of the Holy Spirit to boost our own ego. That was the difference between David and Saul; both were seized by the power of the Holy Spirit. David, immediately, handed over the reigns of his life to God; Saul did not. At first glance, Saul was the more modest one of the two, but his modesty was a cover-up for his efforts to remain in the saddle. Only "those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God."⁹

In vs. 4 David makes reference to an incident in which he saved the life of a person who wanted to kill him. The NIV says: "If I have done evil to him who is at peace with me ..." The NKJ renders it: "If I have repaid evil to him who was at peace with me ..." This reference could describe the incidents at Engedi¹⁰ and later Hakilah¹¹, where Saul was cornered and David could have killed him, but refrained from doing so.

In the two parallel couplets of vs. 6 and 7 and vs. 8 and 9, David asks God to intervene on his behalf. The words: "Arise O LORD ..." are the same as in Ps. 3:6, where we commented that God acted on behalf of man against the evil powers in the heavenlies. We should never lose sight of the difference between our struggle against "flesh and blood" and "against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." ¹² David, obviously, believed that God intervenes in the world and in the lives of individuals. If we think that God's omnipotence only means that God sits on the throne in heaven as a figurehead, we do not understand Who He is. God arises, and sometimes even jumps up in answer to our prayers. The word "awake" speaks of the mistaken notion we often have of God, as if He were asleep. "He who watches over you will not slumber; indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep."¹³

God is also the source of all justice and righteousness, and David is in need of justice. Only God can justify a man. TLB renders vs. 7 and 8 as follows: "Gather all peoples before you; sit high above them, judging their sins. But justify me publicly." With this prayer David sets the stage for a public rehabilitation. The scene reminds us of the judgment John describes in Revelation, where it is made public whose name is in the Book of Life and whose is not. We read there: "Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire."¹⁴

We find the same thought repeated in the following verses. We conclude again that the Holy Spirit said more in David's words than David intended to say himself. It may have been true that David was not guilty of the things his accusers charged him with, but nobody is without guilt before God, not even David. If a man is pronounced not guilty and is found to be righteous, this is a miracle that is brought about by the death of Jesus Christ. "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."¹⁵ Righteousness is only our through faith in Christ. Our guiltlessness is imputed to us in Him. David's words demonstrate how complete this imputation is; so that even the Argus eye of God Himself cannot find anything objectionable in us.

Vs. 9 states all the problems of this world in a nutshell: there is a battle raging between light and darkness, between God and Satan, and man has chosen to be in one of the two camps. David's choice is with God and His righteousness. This does not mean, however, that the problems of sin within him have been completely resolved. As every descendant of Adam, he too was born in the wrong camp. That is why his heart and mind must be searched. Or, as the KJV puts it: "God trieth the hearts and reins," an expression which stands for the purifying work of the Holy Spirit. So, this psalm speaks of our justification and our sanctification, and of God's final victory over Satan, both objectively as subjectively: outside us, in us and by us.

As in the third psalm, here too David calls God his shield. "My shield is God Most High." In Ps. 3 the shield protected a miserable sinner who had confessed his guilt; here it protects a man who may not be guilty of gross sins but who, yet, has found a righteousness that is not his own. This situation is the same as that which the apostle Peter calls "grace." He says: "For it is commendable if a man bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because he is conscious of God. But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God."¹⁶ The Greek word that is translated "commendable" in the NIV, ("acceptable" in the KJV) is charis, which means "grace." The shield of God's grace does not, in the first instance, change our circumstance, but it changes us. The salvation of the upright in heart is, in the first place, a being saved from ourselves.

Adam Clarke's commentary gives an extensive comment on vs. 11. He argues that "God is angry with the wicked every day" (KJV), is a wrong translation, that came from the Chaldean version of the text. He is of the opinion that the phrase should read: "Is God angry every day?" Actually, from a logical viewpoint, both versions are valid. God's wrath over sin is a constant. He does not change His attitude towards men who do not want to repent. The revelation of God's wrath against all human unrighteousness is part of His character. As Paul says: "The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness."¹⁷ If we put a question mark behind the sentence, and thus reverse the meaning, the phrase becomes a demonstration of God's grace toward people who turn from their sinful way of life. Both facets are part of God's justice. God is just as consistent when He forgives sin as when He does not forgive. In both cases sin is punished: in the case of forgiveness it is punished in Him, who took upon Himself the punishment for our sins, and in the case of punishment of the sinner, it is when man rejects reconciliation.

Verses 12 and 13 give a vivid description of the judgment that falls upon a man who does not want to repent of his sins while he is still alive. I cannot see in this description a picture of the final moment at which man stands before the judgment seat to give account of his life. What we read here speaks about the pitfalls in which man is caught, traps which he has set up himself in the sins he committed. This also seems to be the case in the vs. 14-16. James' explanation as to how man is caught in the web of his sins, is probably based upon the 14th verse of this psalm. He says: "When tempted, no one should say, 'God is tempting me.' For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death."¹⁸ The image of a conception that leads to giving birth seems to indicate that the origin of evil comes from outside man, but it becomes part of his being. It also shows that the sinful act is the result of a growing process. Man does not fall into sin, without any previous preparation for it. In the same way, a woman does not give birth without having been pregnant.

We see this principle clearly at work in the life of Saul, who may have been the object, or the cause for the writing of this psalm. The power he obtained when he became king, corrupted him until, at the end the devil could dominate him to the point where he surrendered the reigns of his life completely. David's analysis of the background of Saul's acts, we read about here, probably shows his deep psychological insight. David had a better understanding of what Saul did, and why he did it, than Saul himself had. He recognized the growing process of evil in the life of his adversary, that preceded the first attempt to pin him to the wall with a spear. It is possible that Samuel had told David in confidence how Saul's disobedience had begun with the unlawful bringing of the sacrifice at his own initiative¹⁹ and, after that, with his neglect to eradicate Amalek.²⁰

The basis for Saul's sin was not impatience but fear of men. He was afraid of his own troupes, because he never really believed that God had anointed him king of His people. The book of Proverbs says: "Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD is kept safe."²¹ One cannot serve God and please man at the same time. Paul says: "If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ."²² David must have understood that the reason Saul wanted to kill him was because he was afraid of him. Ironically, Saul, who had tried to pin David to the wall with his spear, died by being pierced with his own sword. He had hoped David would be killed in his effort to obtain the foreskins of one hundred Philistines as a bride price, but Saul died himself on the battlefield during the war with the Philistines. David's prophecy in vs. 15 and 16 was literally fulfilled: Saul fell into the pit he had made, and the trouble he caused recoiled on himself; his violence came down on his own head.

But what a way to end a song of complaint with a doxology! Vs. 17 says: "I will give thanks to the LORD because of his righteousness and will sing praise to the name of the LORD Most High." Once again, nothing had changed in outward circumstances. David is still a refugee who flees for his life, but the fact that he has poured out his heart before the Lord made him see his position in the right light. What can man do unto us when we take refuge in the Lord? God's righteousness is imputed to us; His Name is written on our foreheads, as it was on Aaron's: HOLY TO THE LORD. If we realize this, we can hardly do anything else but praise God. He gives "a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair."²³

² Ps. 68:31

³ I Pet. 5:8

⁴ I Sam. 17:34,35

⁵ John 11:8-10

⁶ John 5:1-15

⁷ John 9

⁸ Matt.5:10-12

⁹ Rom. 8:14

¹⁰ I Sam. 24

¹¹ I Sam. 26

¹² Eph. 6:12

¹³ Ps. 121:3,4

¹⁴ Rev. 20:11-15

¹⁵ II Cor. 5:21

¹⁶ I Pet 2:19,20

¹⁷ Rom. 1:18

¹⁸ James 1:13-15

¹⁹ I Sam. 13:8-14

²⁰ I Sam. 15:8-23

²¹ Prov. 29:25

²² Gal. 1:10

²³ Isaiah 61:3

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