Psalms 7:6-10

He Calls On God To Set Up a Court of Justice and Put All On Trial So That The World Can Begin Again (Psalms 7:6).

His plight has moved David to a consciousness of the way sin triumphs and the righteous suffer. He is filled with a huge desire that righteousness might be established and that all sin might be done away, and that the world might become one in which righteousness prevails.

Psalms 7:6

‘Arise, O YHWH, in your anger,

Lift yourself up against the rage of my adversaries,

And awake for me. You have commanded judgment.

And let the assembly of the peoples surround you,

And over them return you on high.

YHWH ministers judgment to the peoples.

Judge me, O YHWH, according to my righteousness,

And to my integrity that is in me.

O let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end, but establish the righteous,

For a righteous God tries the hearts and reins,'

My shield is with God who tries the upright in heart.'

Conscious that he is not in the wrong and moved by his unfair treatment David calls on God to set up a court of judgment, both in anger at the behaviour of his adversaries, and in order to justify him, and all who are like him, for his misery has made him aware of all who are treated like he has been in an unfair world. He wants God as the commander of judgment, to ‘command judgment' (set up the court for that purpose), gather an assembly of the peoples, while He Himself sits on high as Judge in the place of honour. Then He must pass judgment on all, giving David among others a fair trial, and weighing up his righteousness and his integrity. As a result wickedness will cease, and the righteous will be established, for it is the righteous God Who will test all out. His confidence is that God is his shield, his Protector, and that his own heart is upright, so that he has nothing to fear.

(‘You have commanded judgment' = you are the commander of judgment having established the principle from the beginning. From the eternal point of view judgment and justice are determined, are permanently God's intention and are continually under His control).

‘Arise --- return.' There may be intended as a background here the cry when the Ark went forward or settled down in the wilderness. ‘Rise up O YHWH and let your enemies (here David's enemies) be scattered,' and then ‘Return O YHWH to the ten thousands of the thousands of Israel' (Numbers 10:35). So David calls on YHWH to rise up to deal with his enemies, followed by His returning on high (to His throne) as the assembly of people surround Him.

‘Arise, O YHWH, in your anger.' Aware of God's anger continual against sin, that is, His revulsion to it and determination to deal with it and remove it either in mercy or in judgment, he asks Him to awaken on his, David's, behalf and judge the sinfulness of his enemies, a sinfulness revealed by their rage against him.

‘You have commanded judgment.' It is YHWH who has previously decreed that all must be judged, therefore let Him now set up a court of justice, so that all righteous men might be delivered from the kind of treatment he is receiving. It is a reminder that God requires true judgment, and will finally bring it about.

‘And let the assembly of the peoples surround you, and over them return you on high.'

The idea is that He should make a general call to judgment of all peoples. He clearly has in mind a previous similar judgment (‘return you'), possibly the Flood which covered all men, destroying the wicked and establishing the righteous. But see also Genesis 15:14; Exodus 12:12; Deuteronomy 32:39 where it is established that God is a God of judgment in many circumstances.,So he calls for YHWH to return for another such judgment, with Himself ‘on high' on the Judge's (or King's) throne. There is a case for suggesting that he especially has in mind Deuteronomy 32:41, which looked to another such judgment, where the whetting of the sword and the arrows of Psalms 7:12 also occurs.

‘YHWH ministers judgment (is the One Who administers judgment) to the peoples. Judge me, O YHWH, according to my righteousness, and to my integrity that is in me. O let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end, but establish the righteous, for a righteous God tries the hearts and reins.' The psalmist has a real concern that justice for all might come, and that wickedness might be done away. If his prayer were to be answered YHWH would sit in judgment on all the peoples, for He is the minister of judgment. Then David himself is ready to give account because he is satisfied that he is righteous and a man of integrity. As a forgiven sinner his conscious is clear. But his concern is not just for himself but for all righteous men. His prayer is, ‘let righteousness triumph'.

Thus he pleads that wickedness might come to an end by God judging and dealing with the wicked, and that all who are righteous might be established, by the One Who tries the hearts and the reins. The heart signifies the mind and the will which produce man's moral and religious character, the reins control man's behaviour. He desires that both will be fully tested. The idea of trying the hearts and the reins was popular with Jeremiah (Jeremiah 11:20; Jeremiah 17:10; Jeremiah 20:12. See also Revelation 2:23).

Notice David's confidence in his own state of righteousness before God. He knows that although he is a sinner, he is a forgiven sinner. And he has offered with a righteous heart the appropriate sacrifices, and his conscience is clear before God. Indeed he can say. ‘My shield is with God who tries the upright in heart.' It is the covenant God Who shields and covers him, and he has assurance that God will keep him.

So David's prayer, dragged from the bitterness of his experience, is that once again God will come in a great act of judgment, with the result that evil will be removed from the earth and the righteous will be established to build up a new world. Then man can begin again as he did at the Flood. But it is not a totally selfish prayer. He has in mind all the righteous, especially those suffering unfairly (compare Revelation 6:9). He longs for a fair world.