Psalm 7 – Certainty and Uncertainty


TEXT

1. A Shiggaiaon.1 OfDavid, which he sang to the LORD, concerning Cush, a Benjaminite

2. O LORD, my God, in You I take refuge; deliver me from all my pursuers and save me,
3. lest he, like a lion, rend me, tear me apart, with no one to save me.
4. O LORD, my God, if I have done this: if my hands bear the guilt of wrongdoing,
5. if I have dealt evil to my ally, or plundered my foe without cause,
6. then let the enemy pursue and overtake me; let him trample my life to the ground, and lay my body in the dust. Selah.

7. Rise O LORD in Your anger; lift Yourself up against the fury of my foes, bestir on my behalf the judgment You have ordained.
8. An assembly of peoples gathers about You - above it return on high.
9. The LORD brings the peoples to trial; judge me, O LORD, for the righteousness and blamelessness that is in me.
10. Let the evil of the wicked come to an end, but establish the righteous; He who probes the heart and conscience2 is the righteous God.
11. My shield is with God, the deliverer of the upright in heart.
12. God judges the righteous; God pronounces doom each day.

13. If one does not turn back, but whets his sword, bends his bow and prepares it,
14. then against himself he prepares deadly weapons, and makes his arrows sharp.
15. See, he hatches evil, conceives mischief, and gives birth to lies.
16. He has created a pit and dug it out, and he will fall into the trap he made.
17. His mischief will turn back on his own head; his lawlessness will come down upon his skull.

18. I will praise the LORD for His righteousness, and sing a hymn to the name of the LORD Most High.

Notes
1. Meaning uncertain
2. Literally, kidneys, Biblical seat of emotion

COMMENTARY

(Initial note – some English translations do not number the title verse.)

Psalm 7 complements its content with a structure that seems to indicate progression. As each stage is linked to what proceeds and what follows, the challenge appears to be how one stage led to another. Close reading, however, reveals two concurrent levels - a deep fear and concern about the future, set against a second claim of unshakable certainty.

Form

In Psalm 7, word repetitions create a structure that allows the reader to discover meaning. The repetition pattern both defines the sections and highlights the connections among them, revealing a speaker totally confident in himself and his view.

(I first note that there is some uncertainty concerning the exact references of particular phrases in Psalm 7. Nevertheless, the sense of the whole is clear.)

The word repetitions indicate a tri-partite psalm, with an added final prayer. The sections are as follow .

First section (1–6): Repeated terms, used only here, are: ‘‘my nefesh” (self or soul—not reflected in this or most translations), ‘‘LORD my God,’’ “pursue” and “save.”

Terms connecting the first and second sections are: “evil,” “foe” and “deliver.”

Second section (7–12): Repeated terms, used only here, are : “judge” (three times) “righteousness” (four times) and “heart” (twice) and perhaps the use of “God” as opposed to ‘‘my God’’ (three times).

The term connecting the second and third sections, is “turn back”

Third section (13–17): The unique terms repeated are: “prepare,” “make” and “mischief.” No term reflects back to the first section.

Content by Section

As hinted by the terminology, each section is differentiated from and yet “slides into” the next.

The first section is basically about the speaker, who is pursued. (The word “pursue” frames the section.) He strongly affirms his good character, on which basis he lays claim to God’s assistance. If he has done wrong, he says, then he would have no right to divine help. He is desperate, as beautifully described in the sixth verse, which literally indicates a threat to run him into the ground. After this striking opening, however, the speaker’s circumstances ostensibly fade into the background. (The first person regains center stage in the last verse, but in a very different tone. See below.)

The second section retains echoes of the first theme, but proceeds to an emphasis on the speaker’s enemies as they stand before a judging God. The terminology is not of war or battle, but of justice and judgment. The LORD is asked to bring about the justice that He has set as a standard for the world.

The third section (which includes a beautiful multivalence - see below, "Postscript") has a tone of armed conflict. There is an equally clear message: those who plot evil will have their plans backfire. There is certainly no contradiction with either of the first two sections, but neither is there simple repetition or continuity. If the section were to appear in isolation, neither the speaker nor God would seem present. Hence there is an undertone of inevitable consequence: “The evil will suffer the results of their own actions.”

The final verse takes yet another turn. The LORD appears as object, in the third person, but is nevertheless the focus of the verse. The speaker, though acting here (by praising and singing), is not the center of attention as he was at the beginning. There is only a slight verbal connection to what went before: the LORD’s “righteousness” is parallel to the speaker’s. All other terms in verse 18, apart from “the LORD” (God’s name, twice), are new. Indeed, if the reader was somewhat curious until now concerning the progression from one section to another, certainly the turn to praise has the effect of throwing the challenge of progression into the foreground. What has happened in the course of Psalm 7?

I summarize the progression. Against a background of enemy pursuit, the speaker’s protestation of righteousness (that merits, the speaker claims, God’s support in conflict) leads to calls for judgment, which in turn lead to the combination of violent terms and assurance that evil plans will backfire, all ending in an intention to praise.

The first three sections are sufficiently connected by content and word usage, so that the reader does not experience any awkward shift, but the same is not true of the last verse (just as the last verses in many psalms provide surprising endings). What occasions this verse? And does it articulate intention to, or prediction of, praise?

To understand the last verse, it helps to reexamine the earlier sections with an eye toward the speaker’s certainty. Clearly the text reflects deep and ongoing concern and lack of assurance. Verse 5, ostensibly just a statement of punishment due the speaker if he had been evil, reveals on a less conscious level real fear, lest his life be trampled. Verse 7 points to the "fury" of his foes. The enemy's sword and bow of verse 13 are noted only to be dismissed, but their presence is not so easily erased from one's attention.

On the surface, however, there is a totally different conversation going on. In the first section (echoed in the second) it is clear that the speaker is absolutely certain of his own righteousness. In the third section, there is an equally certain view: evil plans and preparations will be turned against the plotters. The fraudulent and the liars will fail. By implication, the good will be saved.

A third level of certainty can be discovered by asking whether the speaker’s intention to praise (last verse) indicate a thanksgiving for these certainties (of the first and third sections) or is it an indication that the speaker is equally certain that his prayer (second section) will be answered?

As so often, form reveals content. There is but one repetition in the final verse, “righteousness,” the term most often repeated in the psalm, but only in the second section. (In fact it had risen in importance within that section, in this order: my righteousness, righteous in general, righteous God and God, vindicator of the righteous.) When, in verse 18, the speaker says he will praise God for His “righteousness,” the reference is clear. The speaker is referring to his request, and the final verse expresses certainty of the prayer's acceptance, just as he is certain of the other factors in the first and third sections.

Psalm 7, then, proceeds on two different levels. On one hand, there is fear and there are inevitable questions implied. Why has God not seen the speaker’s righteousness until now? Why has justice not taken place? Why are the weapons being prepared? Why have the evil ones reached the stage of making these preparations?

On another level, however, the speaker is asserting that he has no doubts, and he does not position himself as a penitent seeking grace. (He is sure of his just behavior.) So articulated, his worldview is one of certainty as to how God and God’s world function. Prayer is part of the grand scheme of things. If the one praying is a good person (and he is such), the prayer will be answered.

The reader, in confronting the psalm, is challenged to look closely at this speaker, and his complexity. Is he aware of the conflict? Is the certainty a defense mechanism, or a conscious decision to opt for what he "knows" to be the truth? Inevitably, the reader confronts his or her own certainties and fears, making the poem worth rereading.

Postscript: A Rereading of the Third Section

The third section is viewed above, in translation and commentary, as referring to the evildoers and the ultimate outcome of their preparations. However, there is a second level, which brings God into the picture, even though He is not cited by title or name.

Verses 13 and 14 are unclear as to the referent. The actor is ‘‘he,” and commentators differ as to whether the individual preparing arms is the enemy or God. According to the first approach, which is the one reflected above, verses 13 through 17 are a unit, and the sense is: “If (this enemy) does not turn back, but rather whets his sword, bends his bow and aims, then it is against himself that he readies deadly weapons and makes his arrows sharp (or burning, or poisonous),” a sentiment repeated through other symbols in the verses that follow. Others read: “If he (the evil one) does not repent, then He (i.e., God) bends His bow, etc. (in preparation for battle against the evildoer).” The attempt to discover which of the two is “correct” is idle. In the end, the two readings coalesce. Evildoers will inevitably fail, their plans turning against them, and that will happen with God playing an active role. The double entendre blends inevitable fate and God’s intervention.

* * * * * * * *

Additional Notes

1. Many commentators, noting a certain predominance of the metaphor of “judgment,” place this psalm within a narrow context of one falsely accused in court. This is yet another example of a literalistic reading and the pointless search for a specific, narrow context for a psalm. It also ignores the militant and violent metaphors that dominate the description of the foes. . Such reductionist interpretations shrink literature, its metaphor and its complexity, to some sort of one-dimensional record. Consistently, psalms leave their specific context undefined (as many have noted, and have concluded, as I do, that this is purposeful), allowing readers to draw upon their own experience for a range of possibilities, encouraging closer association with, and better understanding of, the poem.

2. The title verse attributes this psalm to an otherwise unknown incident or situation.


The author of these essays is Rabbi Benjamin Segal, former president of the Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem and author of The Song of Songs: A Woman in Love (Jerusalem: Gefen, 2009). This material is copyright by the author, and may not be reproduced. If you are interested in using the texts for study groups, please be in direct contact with the author, at psalmblog@gmail.com.