Psalms 7:3

3 O Lord, my God, if I have wronged anyone, if I have betrayed a friend or without cause done violence to my enemy - if I have done any of these things -

Psalms 7:3 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 7:3

O Lord my God, if I have done this.
] The crime which Saul and his courtiers charged him with, and which was made so public that every body knew it; and therefore it was needless particularly to mention it; namely, that he lay in wait for Saul, and sought his life to take it away, ( 1 Samuel 24:9 ) . The Targum interprets it of this psalm, paraphrasing it, "if I have made this song with an evil intention"; to give an ill character of any, and lead them with false charges;

if there be iniquity in my hands;
not that he was without sin, he had it in his heart; nor that he lived without the actual commission of sin: but his sense is, that there was no iniquity, as not in his heart, purpose, and design, so not in his hand, nor attempted by him, of the kind he was accused of, ( 1 Samuel 24:11 ) . Otherwise, we often hear him complaining of the depravity of his nature, and acknowledging his sins and transgressions, ( Psalms 32:5 ) ( Psalms 38:3 Psalms 38:4 ) ( 51:1-5 ) .

Psalms 7:3 In-Context

1 O Lord, my God, I come to you for protection; rescue me and save me from all who pursue me,
2 or else like a lion they will carry me off where no one can save me, and there they will tear me to pieces.
3 O Lord, my God, if I have wronged anyone, if I have betrayed a friend or without cause done violence to my enemy - if I have done any of these things -
5 then let my enemies pursue me and catch me, let them cut me down and kill me and leave me lifeless on the ground!

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. without cause done violence to my enemy; [or] shown mercy to someone who wronged me unjustly.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.