“O LORD my God, in you do I take refuge; save me from all my pursuers and deliver me, 2 lest like a lion they tear my soul apart rending it in pieces, with none to deliver. 3 O LORD my God, if I have done this, if there is wrong in my hands, if I have repaid my friend with evil or plundered my enemy without cause, 5 let the enemy pursue my soul and overtake it, and let him trample my life to the ground and lay my glory in the dust. 6 Arise, O LORD, in your anger; lift yourself up against the fury of my enemies; awake for me; you have appointed a judgment. 7Let the assembly of the peoples be gathered about you; over it return on high. 8 The LORD judges the peoples; judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness and according to the integrity that is in me. 9 Oh, let the evil of the wicked come to an end, and may you establish the righteous—you who test the minds and hearts,O righteous God! 10 My shield is with God, who saves the upright in heart. 11 God is a righteous judge, and a God who feels indignation ev’ry day.” Psalm 7:1-11

“Psalm 7 is also a psalm of prayer. It laments over slanderers who accuse the saints and their teachings as being riotous, opposed to the authorities, and disturbing the peace. In this way Shimei the Benjaminite (2 Samuel 16:5–14) slandered the pious David as if David had stolen King Saul’s kingdom. In the same way, Christ was also accused before Pilate, and even now slanderers defame the Gospel. David fights against this affliction with prayer and cries to God of his innocence. By David’s own example, he shows us that such a prayer was granted, so that we might have comfort. The psalm also threatens the slanderers and oppressors and holds before them the example of those who perish before they accomplished the evil they intended. It belongs, like the preceding psalm, in the Second Commandment and the First Petition.” (Martin Luther, Reading the Psalms with Luther)

The Psalmist writes: “…if I have repaid my friend with evil or plundered my enemy without cause, let the enemy pursue my soul and overtake it, and let him trample my life to the ground and lay my glory in the dust.” So often we ask G-d to be hard on another person, someone we think has done wrong, but somehow we hope that G-d gives us a “get out of sin card”. We want others to face G-d’s wrath while hoping G-d will be merciful with our judgment. Here, the Psalmist is clearly saying, “What is good for the goose, is good for the gander.”

Expecting G-d’s firm judgment for our iniquities will help keep us on a straighter and narrower path — or at least it should. Realizing that we deserve G-d’s discipline in our lives should also give us pause, and help us to be more compassionate with others when they harm us. We all are sinners and fall short of the glory of G-d. But, G-d is also merciful and full of compassion — therefore we do get what we deserve. If we seek to follow G-d in all ways, even if obeying and living the way of the Lord seems completely out of our grasp, the Grace of G-d will mean there will be no need for G-d’s just discipline. Then we can live into that Grace by giving it to others — for, “What is good for the goose, is good for the gander.”

Prayer

Lord, our God, lover of the truth, help those who, for Your name’s sake, are lied against and slandered innocently. Strengthen, comfort, and uphold those who suffer wrongfully, and break and hinder the craftiness of evil men who would suppress Your truth and destroy Your kingdom. Amen.