Psalm 7 (KJV) - Oh let the wickedness come to an end

From Psalms

Psalm 7
(A shiggaion of David, which he sang to the LORD concerning Cush a Benjamite.)

¹O LORD my God, in thee do I put my trust:
      save me from all them that persecute me, and deliver me:
²Lest he tear my soul like a lion,
      rending it in pieces, while there is none to deliver.


³O LORD my God, If I have done this;
      if there be iniquity in my hands;
⁴If I have rewarded evil unto him that was at peace with me;
      (yea, I have delivered him that without cause is mine enemy:)
⁵Let the enemy persecute my soul, and take it;
      yea, let him tread down my life upon the earth,
      and lay mine honour in the dust.                                                      Selah


⁶Arise, O LORD, in thine anger,
      lift up thyself because of the rage of mine enemies:
      and awake for me to the judgment that thou hast commanded.
⁷So shall the congregation of the people compass thee about:
      for their sakes therefore return thou on high.
⁸The LORD shall judge the people:
      judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness, and
      according to mine integrity that is in me.
⁹Oh let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end;
      but establish the just: for the righteous
      God trieth the hearts and reins.


¹⁰My defence is of God,
      which saveth the upright in heart.
¹¹God judgeth the righteous,
      and God is angry with the wicked every day.
¹²If he turn not,
      he will whet his sword;
      he hath bent his bow, and made it ready.
¹³He hath also prepared for him the instruments of death;
      he ordaineth his arrows against the persecutors.

¹⁴Behold, he travaileth with iniquity,
      and hath conceived mischief, and brought forth falsehood.
¹⁵He made a pit, and digged it,
      and is fallen into the ditch which he made.
¹⁶His mischief shall return upon his own head,
      and his violent dealing shall come down upon his own pate.
¹⁷I will praise the LORD according to his righteousness:
      and will sing praise to the name of the LORD most high.

I really like Psalm 7.  It's all about the addict.  As addicts we conceive mischief and "bring forth falsehood".  Why falsehood, lying, dishonesty, covering up, hiding is what our addiction is all about.  And our lies and dishonesty build up on each other, and after a while we can't keep track of all our lies - until we've buried ourselves as I described when I typed out the NIV version of Psalm 7.

However, today I would like to focus on a different part of this Psalm the part (verses 8-13) where the psalmist talks about God as a judge.  He is able to search our hearts (verse 9) and is angry with the wicked everyday (verse 11).  Although I'm not sure about the analogies of instruments of death in this psalm, I would definitely agree God has tools to thwart evil and the evil in our hearts.

You see, I once read a quote that said something like, "If God thinks you need disaster in your life in order for you to realize you need to change your life - he will make that happen."  In that way, I believe every disaster, problem, or temptation is an opportunity.  In the case of our addiction, we can do address it one of two ways.  We can either reach out for help, go to a meeting, pray, and essentially search for change in our lives.  Or we can simply going on with mischief and falsehood - and let our addiction continue to destroy our lives, destroy our relationships, and destroy our careers.

I pray that when God puts a problem or a temptation in your life that you are able to use it to make you stronger - rather than to let it destroy you.

Thank you for letting me share.