Psalms 7:1

O Lord my God, in thee do I put my trust,.... The psalmist expresses his interest in God as his covenant God, and his trust and confidence in him; and with these he sets out as the stay of his soul,

O LORD my God, in thee do I put my trust: save me from all them that persecute me, and deliver me: Title.

Psalms 7 Shiggaion: this seems to be the name of a certain kind either of song, or tune, or instrument, which then was very well known, but now is only matter of conjecture; wherewith I think it not fit to trouble the unlearned reader; and the learned may consult my Latin Synopsis. Concerning the words; the false and slanderous reports raised or fomented by him. This was the occasion of this Psalm. Of Cush; by which he designs either, 1. Saul; whom he thought it indecent to express by his proper name, for which he might at this time have divers reasons, and therefore he deciphers him enigmatically, which is not unusual in Holy Scripture; where Babylon is called Sheshach, 51:41, and Rome is called Egypt, and Sodom, and Babylon in the Revelation; and John the Baptist is called Elias. And he might call him Cush. partly by a tacit allusion to his father’ s name Kish, and partly with respect to his black and wicked disposition planted and firmly rooted in him. Compare . Or, 2. Some eminent and potent commander or courtier under Saul called Cush, though he be not elsewhere named; it being the lot of many other persons to be named but once in Scripture. And he is called the Benjamite, because he was one of that tribe, in which Saul put most confidence. See . The psalmist prayeth for deliverance from his persecuting enemies, ,2, and maketh a solemn profession of his innocency, . By faith he seeth his defence, , and the destruction of his enemies, . In thee do I put my trust; all my hope and confidence is in thy favour and faithfulness to make good thy promise made to me.

Psalms 7:1 « Shiggaion of David, which he sang unto the LORD, concerning the words of Cush the Benjamite. » O LORD my God, in thee do I put my trust: save me from all them that persecute me, and deliver me:Shiggaion of David] i.e. David’ s delight or solace, say some; his mixed song, or synodee, say others. Which he sang unto the Lord] He could sing away care, and punish his reproachers with a merry contempt, as knowing his own innocence; the property whereof is to throw off slanders, as Paul did the viper; yea, in a holy scorning, it laughs at them, as the wild ass doth at the horse and his rider. Concerning the words of Cush the Benjamite] Which some take to be some cousin and courtier of Saul’ s, who had falsely accused good David (far from any such thought, Psalms 131:1) of affecting the kingdom, and seeking Saul’ s life. See 1 Samuel 24:10. But I rather understand, with the Chaldee paraphrast, Saul’ s self, who was of Kish, and of Jemini, 1 Samuel 9:1, and that, by a disguise of name, he is called Cush the Benjamite, that is, an Ethiopian, because of his obstinate impenitence, according to Jeremiah 13:23. So Amos 9:7, rebellious Israel is to God as Ethiopia. Professors shall be as deep in hell, and deeper than Turks and infidels, because of their dissembled sanctity, which is double iniquity. Wrath shall be upon the Jew first, Romans 2:9; and when the foul sinner goes to hell what shall become of the fair professor? may such be asked, as are both in one. In the Ethiopian is nothing white but his teeth; so in a hypocrite, &c. Ver. 1. O Lord my God, in thee do I put my trust] Or, I betake me to thee for safety. David found it always best to run to the old rock, Isaiah 26:4, and to cry, "O Lord my God," pleading the covenant. This no wicked man can do; but, being beaten out of earthly comforts, he is as a naked man in a storm, and an unarmed man in the field, or as a ship tossed in the sea without an anchor, which presently dasheth on the rocks, or falleth upon the quicksands. Saul, for instance, who, being in distress, and forsaken by God, ran first to the witch, and then to the sword’ s point. Save me from all them that persecute me] Where the prince is a persecutor (as in the primitive times, and here in the Marian days) many will be very active against God’ s people. O sancta simplicitas, said John Huss, martyr, when at the stake he observed a plain country fellow busier than the rest in fetching faggots.

(1) In thee do I put my trust.—Or, in thee have I taken refuge.

PSALM VII The psalmist prays against the malice of his enemies, 1, 2; protests his own innocence, 3-5; prays to God that he would vindicate him, for the edification of his people, 6-8; prays against the wickedness of his enemies, 9; expresses strong confidence in God, 10; threatens transgressors with God's judgments, 11-13; shows the conduct and end of the ungodly, 14-16; and exults in the mercy and lovingkindness of his Maker, 17. This Psalm is entitled, Shiggaion of David, which he sang unto the Lord, concerning the words of Cush the Benjamite. The word שגיון shiggayon comes from שגה shagah, 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. Bishop 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. NOTES ON PSALM VII Verse 1. O Lord my God] יהוה אלהי Yehovah Elohai, words expressive of the strongest confidence the soul can have in the Supreme Being. Thou self-existent, incomprehensible, almighty, and eternal Being, who neither needest nor hatest any thing that thou hast made; thou art my God: God in covenant with thy creature man; and my God and portion particularly. Therefore, in thee do I put my trust-I repose all my confidence in thee, and expect all my good from thee. Save me] Shield me from my persecutors; abate their pride, assuage their malice, and confound their devices! Deliver me] From the counsels which they have devised, and from the snares and gins they have laid in my path.

1, 2. The Psalmist’s cry for help, based on Jehovah’s relation to him.

O Lord my God, in thee do I put my trust - The psalm opens with an expression of strong confidence in God. The psalmist addresses Yahweh as his God, and says that in him he trusts or confides.

1. In thee do I put my trust—David begins, as in Psalms 31:1, by boldly defining his trust. His refuge is in God alone.