February 22, 2021
Psalm 7
To the tune of “Spirit of God, Descend upon My Heart” 10.10.10.10
Sing it at seedbed.com/soundtrack.
1 O Lord, my God, in You I refuge take,
Save me from those who would pursue my life.
2 Like a strong lion they would tear and shake,
Leaving no help in all my painful strife.
3 If, Lord my God, I’m guilty in Your sight,
If there is guilt and sin upon my hand,
4 If I’ve robbed friends, or evil done in spite,
5 May my life be cast down at Your command.
6 Arise, O Lord, in anger right and mete,
Your fury rage against my enemies;
7 Awake, my God, rise to Your judgment seat,
Let the assembly know of Your decrees.
8 The righteous Lord, He judges all the earth;
Judge me, O Lord, by Your true righteousness.
Vindicate me and judge me by my worth,
According to my life of faithfulness.
9 O God, You search the minds and hearts of men,
You end the violence of the wicked ones;
Oh, bring all sin to its appointed end!
And do establish all Your righteous ones.
10 My shield is God who saves those in the right;
11 He is indignant o’er the sins of men.
12 If we won’t turn, His sword is raised to fight;
His bow is bent, and poised to strike again.
13 He has prepared His deadly weapons now;
He makes His arrows with their fiery shafts.
14 The wicked man conceives an evil vow,
Bringing to birth those sins and lies he crafts!
15 He digs a pit and makes it big and round,
But he falls in the pit that he has made.
16 His mischief turns, upon him does rebound;
Violence comes down on him and he’s betrayed.
17 I will give thanks which to the Lord is due;
His righteousness is over everything;
I will sing praises to the name most true—
The Lord Most High, His glories I will sing.
CONSIDER THIS
It never would have occurred to me to sing these lines:
The righteous Lord, He judges all the earth;
Judge me, O Lord, by Your true righteousness.
Vindicate me and judge me by my worth,
According to my life of faithfulness.
Around 123 songs later in this same songbook they have us singing these lyrics, “If you, Lord, kept a record of sins, Lord, who could stand?” (Ps. 130:3).
The only person who could legitimately sing Song 7 is Jesus Christ himself. The amazing thing is he not only sang Psalm 7, he sang it for us; and he did so in such a way that we can now sing it with him.
Because Jesus is our righteousness, we can boldly sing, “Judge me, O Lord, by Your true righteousness.” We are not confident in our own righteousness or faithfulness; only in his. What a gift!
When we sing these 150 Songs, let us remember we join our voices with both the singer and songwriter, the Son of God, Jesus Christ. Thank God. All of the Psalms are yes and amen in and through and because of him.
Ask Yourself. Share with Another.
Have you come to the place where you realize your righteousness will never measure up? Or are you still trying to measure up? Do you really understand (at the level of personal experience) that Jesus measures up for you?
For the Awakening,
J.D. Walt
Sower-in-Chief
seedbed.com
One Response
I am enjoying the Psalms presented this way. I share seedbed very often with my study groups , church, my pastor and myself share and reflect often. Wednesday morning of each week God has blessed Leesburg Methodist to share food and clothing with the needy. We begin this day and time of giving with seedbeds devotion. I thank you and praise God for the words he sends through you.
Is there a CD available for the Psalms soundtrack?