In The Word
Read: Psalm 7-8
The Lord Implored to Defend the Psalmist against the Wicked.
A Shiggaion of David, which he sang to the Lord concerning Cush, a Benjamite.
7 O Lord my God, in You I have taken refuge;
Save me from all those who pursue me, and deliver me,
2 Or he will tear my soul like a lion,
Dragging me away, while there is none to deliver.
3 O Lord my God, if I have done this,
If there is injustice in my hands,
4 If I have rewarded evil to my friend,
Or have plundered him who without cause was my adversary,
5 Let the enemy pursue my soul and overtake it;
And let him trample my life down to the ground
And lay my glory in the dust. Selah.
6 Arise, O Lord, in Your anger;
Lift up Yourself against the rage of my adversaries,
And arouse Yourself for me; You have appointed judgment.
7 Let the assembly of the peoples encompass You,
And over them return on high.
8 The Lord judges the peoples;
Vindicate me, O Lord, according to my righteousness and my integrity that is in me.
9 O let the evil of the wicked come to an end, but establish the righteous;
For the righteous God tries the hearts and minds.
10 My shield is with God,
Who saves the upright in heart.
11 God is a righteous judge,
And a God who has indignation every day.
12 If a man does not repent, He will sharpen His sword;
He has bent His bow and made it ready.
13 He has also prepared for Himself deadly weapons;
He makes His arrows fiery shafts.
14 Behold, he travails with wickedness,
And he conceives mischief and brings forth falsehood.
15 He has dug a pit and hollowed it out,
And has fallen into the hole which he made.
16 His mischief will return upon his own head,
And his violence will descend upon his own pate.
17 I will give thanks to the Lord according to His righteousness
And will sing praise to the name of the Lord Most High.
The Lord’s Glory and Man’s Dignity.
For the choir director; on the Gittith. A Psalm of David.
8 O Lord, our Lord,
How majestic is Your name in all the earth,
Who have displayed Your splendor above the heavens!
2 From the mouth of infants and nursing babes You have established strength
Because of Your adversaries,
To make the enemy and the revengeful cease.
3 When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,
The moon and the stars, which You have ordained;
4 What is man that You take thought of him,
And the son of man that You care for him?
5 Yet You have made him a little lower than God,
And You crown him with glory and majesty!
6 You make him to rule over the works of Your hands;
You have put all things under his feet,
7 All sheep and oxen,
And also the beasts of the field,
8 The birds of the heavens and the fish of the sea,
Whatever passes through the paths of the seas.
9 O Lord, our Lord,
How majestic is Your name in all the earth!
New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation
Walking In The Word
In Psalms 7 and 8, we see God as our refuge, God as our vindicator, God as our judge, and God as the creator of the universe. In all this, God’s thoughts are on us always (Psalm 8:4). When we search Scripture, we see that God’s very heart wants fellowship with us (Genesis 1:26). God even knew us when we were formed in our mother’s womb.
All too often, we drift away from God because our focus turns to our failures or sometimes even our accomplishments. Our perspective becomes self-centered and not God-centered. God believes in us so much that He crowned us with “glory and majesty” and has given us the rule over the land (Psalm 8:5-6). God trusts us!
Maybe you have felt forgotten, or have even asked yourself, “How could the God of the universe even know that I exist?” King David, a man after God’s own heart, asked a very similar question: “What is man that You take thought of him, and the son of man that You care for him?” (Psalm 8:4). Right after King David asked the question, he started the next line with the small word, “Yet.” Such a small word to change David’s whole perspective. I challenge you today to be like King David and have a heart after God to change your perspective. When you purpose to stay close to Him and believe in His Word, you will understand your value; your value was bought with a price through Jesus Christ. That is God’s perspective of you.