The Climb (A Journey Through Psalms for Men)

Psalm 7

A shiggaion of David, which he sang to the Lord concerning Cush, a Benjamite.

Lord my God, I take refuge in you;save and deliver me from all who pursue me,or they will tear me apart like a lionand rip me to pieces with no one to rescue me.

Lord my God, if I have done thisand there is guilt on my hands—if I have repaid my ally with evilor without cause have robbed my foe—then let my enemy pursue and overtake me;let him trample my life to the groundand make me sleep in the dust.

Arise, Lord, in your anger;rise up against the rage of my enemies.Awake, my God; decree justice.Let the assembled peoples gather around you,while you sit enthroned over them on high.Let the Lord judge the peoples.Vindicate me, Lord, according to my righteousness,according to my integrity, O Most High.Bring to an end the violence of the wickedand make the righteous secure—you, the righteous Godwho probes minds and hearts.

My shield is God Most High,who saves the upright in heart.God is a righteous judge,a God who displays his wrath every day.If he does not relent,he will sharpen his sword;he will bend and string his bow.He has prepared his deadly weapons;he makes ready his flaming arrows.

Whoever is pregnant with evilconceives trouble and gives birth to disillusionment.Whoever digs a hole and scoops it outfalls into the pit they have made.The trouble they cause recoils on them;their violence comes down on their own heads.

I will give thanks to the Lord because of his righteousness;I will sing the praises of the name of the Lord Most High.

I studied engineering in college.

My freshman year was tough. It was the weed-out year, the year where every Professor in every class I took said some version of, “Look to your left, look to your right; at the end of this semester, one of you won’t be studying engineering.” While a bit dramatic, they weren’t that far off on their claims. Towards the end of that school year, in one of our hardest classes, we were notified of a potential scandal undergoing investigation. A group of students had cheated and copied significant portions of each other’s code. Panic set in, and accusations were quickly cast. Everyone felt under attack and unsure of how this would play out. The only proof we had was our work—the individual code we had written for the assignments. If accused, students would turn in their work as their witness, their vindication for their conduct. I hadn’t cheated or copied anyone. My work was my own. So I turned in my code with confidence, knowing it would prove my innocence. That’s what the Psalmist says here. He’s been accused and is pending investigation. Instead of turning in his code, he turns to God and says, “O LORD my God, in you do I take refuge.” God was his Witness, his shield (v.10), and his righteous judge (v.11). If our hands are clean, no matter what rises up against us, God will be our best source of comfort and exoneration. His Word and His approval are all that we need. If we have that, we can feel at ease leaving the rest in His capable hands.