Chapter 7

A meditation by David, which he sang to Yahweh, concerning the words of Cush, the Benjamite.

¹Yahweh, my God, I take refuge in you.

Save me from all those who pursue me, and deliver me,

²Lest they tear apart my soul like a lion,

Ripping it in pieces, while there is none to deliver.

³Yahweh, my God, if I have done this,

If there is iniquity in my hands,

⁴If I have rewarded evil to him who was at peace with me

(Yes, I have delivered him who without cause was my adversary),

⁵Let the enemy pursue my soul, and overtake it;

Yes, let him tread my life down to the earth,

And lay my glory in the dust.

Selah.

⁶Arise, Yahweh, in your anger.

Lift up yourself against the rage of my adversaries.

Awake for me. You have commanded judgment.

⁷Let the congregation of the peoples surround you.

Rule over them on high.

⁸Yahweh administers judgment to the peoples.

Judge me, Yahweh, according to my righteousness,

And to my integrity that is in me.

⁹Oh let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end,

But establish the righteous;

Their minds and hearts are searched by the righteous God.

¹⁰My shield is with God,

Who saves the upright in heart.

¹¹God is a righteous judge,

Yes, a God who has indignation every day.

¹²If a man doesn’t relent, he will sharpen his sword;

He has bent and strung his bow.

¹³He has also prepared for himself the instruments of death.

He makes ready his flaming arrows.

¹⁴Behold, he travails with iniquity;

Yes, he has conceived mischief,

And brought forth falsehood.

¹⁵He has dug a hole,

And has fallen into the pit which he made.

¹⁶The trouble he causes shall return to his own head.

His violence shall come down on the crown of his own head.

¹⁷I will give thanks to Yahweh according to his righteousness,

And will sing praise to the name of Yahweh Most High.