Salmene 7:1

Det Norsk Bibelselskap

En sjiggajon* av David, som han sang for Herren på grunn av benjaminitten Kus' ord. / {* betydningen uviss, kanskje en sang som uttrykker sterk sinnsbevegelse.}

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

words: or, business, 2 Samuel 16:1-23

Cush: Cush signifies black, an epithet, in all languages, when applied to the mind, expressive of moral turpitude; and therefore probably here applied to Shimei, denoting that he was a calumniator and villain.

O: Psalms 13:3, Psalms 13:5, Psalms 18:28, Psalms 30:2, Psalms 30:12, Psalms 43:4, Psalms 89:26, Joshua 14:8, Jeremiah 31:18, Daniel 9:4, Daniel 9:19, Daniel 9:20, Zechariah 14:5

in: Psalms 11:1, Psalms 18:2, Psalms 25:2, Psalms 26:1, Psalms 31:1, Psalms 32:10, Psalms 146:3-6, Isaiah 50:10, 1 Peter 1:21

save: Psalms 3:7, Psalms 17:7-9, Psalms 31:15, Psalms 35:1-3, Jeremiah 15:15, Jeremiah 20:11, 1 Peter 4:19

Reciprocal: Psalms 18:23 - upright Psalms 59:1 - Deliver Psalms 104:1 - O Lord Psalms 119:86 - they Psalms 143:3 - the enemy Daniel 6:22 - and also Habakkuk 3:1 - upon Shigionoth

Gill's Notes on the Bible

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, and his bulwark against the fears of his enemies; and he does not say that he had trusted in God, or would for the future trust in him; but that he did trust in him, and continued to do so. And God is to be trusted in at all times; in times of affliction, temptation, and desertion; and these the psalmist premises to his petition, which follows, as an encouragement to him to hope for success, since God was his God, and none that ever trusted in him were confounded;

save me from all them that persecute me, and deliver me; persecution is no new thing to the people of God; David had his persecutors, and many of them; the Church, in Jeremiah's time, had hers; the saints, in the times of the apostles, and in all ages since, have had theirs. Every one that will live godly in Christ Jesus must expect persecution in one shape or another; and there is none can save and deliver from it but God, and he can and will in his own time, 2 Corinthians 1:10. David was sensible of this, and therefore applies to him, and him only; and not to an arm of flesh, to his friends, or to neighbouring princes and powers.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

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. The word rendered trust - חסה châsâh - means “to flee;” to flee to a place; to take shelter; and is applied to taking shelter under the shadow or protection of one Judges 9:15; Isaiah 30:2; Psalms 57:1; Psalms 61:4. The idea here is, that in his troubles he fled to God as a refuge, and felt safe under his protection.

Save me from all them that persecute me - That is, protect my life; rescue me from their power. The word “persecute” here refers to those who sought his life, who endeavored to deprive him of his rights. The language would apply to many occasions in the life of David - to the persecutions which he endured by Saul, by Absalom, etc. In this case the language was suggested by the opposition of Cush the Benjamite; and it was this that David had particularly in view. It is probable, however, that, whoever Cush was, he was not alone, but that others were associated with him in his opposition to David; and it was natural also that, in circumstances like these, David should remember his other persecutors, and pray that he might be delivered from them all. The prayer, therefore, has a general form, and the desire expressed is that which we all naturally have, that we may be delivered from all that troubles us.

And deliver me - Rescue me. It would seem from this expression, and from the following verse, that there was more to be apprehended in the case than mere reproachful words, and that his life was actually in danger.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

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 Psalms 7:1. 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.