Psalm 7:3

3 O Lord my God, if I have done this; (if there is unrighteousness in my hands;)

Psalm 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 ) .

Psalm 7:3 In-Context

1 O Lord my God, in thee have I trusted: save me from all them that persecute me, and deliver me.

2 Lest at any time the enemy seize my soul as a lion, while there is none to ransom, nor to save.

3 O Lord my God, if I have done this; (if there is unrighteousness in my hands;)

4 if I have requited with evil those who requited me with good; may I then perish empty by means of my enemies.

5 Let the enemy persecute my soul, an take it; and let him trample my life on the ground, and lay my glory in the dust. Pause.

6 Arise, O Lord, in thy wrath; be exalted in the utmost boundaries of mine enemies: awake, O Lord my God, according to the decree which thou didst command.

7 And the congregation of the nations shall compass thee: and for this cause do thou return on high.

8 The Lord shall judge the nations: judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness, and according to my innocence that is in me.

9 Oh let the wickedness of sinners come to an end; and then thou shalt direct the righteous, O God that searchest the hearts and reins.

10 My help is righteous, coming from God who saves the upright in heart.

11 God is a righteous judge, and strong, and patient, not inflicting vengeance every day.

12 If ye will not repent, he will furbish his sword; he has bent his bow, and made it ready.

13 And on it he has fitted the instruments of death; he has completed his arrows for the raging ones.

14 Behold, he has travailed with unrighteousness, he has conceived trouble, and brought forth iniquity.

15 He has opened a pit, and dug it up, and he shall fall into the ditch which he has made.

16 His trouble shall return on his own head, and his unrighteousness shall come down on his own crown.

17 I will give thanks to the Lord according to his righteousness; I will sing to the name of the Lord most high.