Psalms 7:2

2 Lest any time he as a lion ravish my soul; while none there is that again-buyeth, neither that maketh safe. (Lest any time they tear me apart like a lion; when there is no one who can save me.)

Psalms 7:2 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 7:2

Lest he tear my soul like a lion
That is, one of his persecutors, the chief of them; it may be Saul, whom the psalmist compares to a lion for his majesty and greatness, the lion being the king among beasts; and for his authority, power, and might, and for his wrath and cruelty, which he feared; and which, should it be exerted on him, would tear his soul, or himself, in pieces; would rend his soul from his body, and dispatch his life; see ( Proverbs 19:12 ) . So the Apostle Paul calls the Roman governor, before whom he was, and from whose hands he was delivered, a lion, for his power and fierceness, ( 2 Timothy 4:17 ) . And so our adversary the devil, the chief of all persecutors, and who instigates others against the saints, is by Peter said to go about like a roaring lion, ( 1 Peter 5:8 ) ;

rending [it] in pieces,
as the lion does his prey when hungry. So Homer

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FOOTNOTES:

F19 compares Polyphemus to a mountain lion, which devours and leaves nothing, neither the intestines, nor flesh, nor bones; and represents
F20 it first taking hold of the creature with its strong teeth, and breaking its neck, and drawing out its blood and all its inwards; see ( Isaiah 38:13 ) ;

while [there is] none to deliver;
no saviour, no deliverer: for if God does not save and deliver his people out of the hands of their persecutors, none can; especially out of the hands of such an one as is here described tearing and rending in pieces. As there is no God besides the Lord, there is no saviour besides him: there is no temporal nor spiritual saviour but he: salvation is not to be expected from any other; and were it not for him, saints must fall a prey to their enemies.

F19 Odyss. 9. v. 292, 293.
F20 Iliad. 11. v. 175, 176. & Iliad. 17. v. 63.

Psalms 7:2 In-Context

1 For the ignorance of David, which he sang to the Lord, on the words of (the) Ethiopian, the son of Benjamin. My Lord God, I have hoped in thee; make thou me safe from all that pursue me, and deliver thou me. (For the sin of ignorance by David, which he sang to the Lord, concerning the words of Cush, the Benjamite. My Lord God, I put my trust in thee; save thou me from all who persecute me, and rescue thou me.)

2 Lest any time he as a lion ravish my soul; while none there is that again-buyeth, neither that maketh safe. (Lest any time they tear me apart like a lion; when there is no one who can save me.)

3 My Lord God, if I did this thing, if wickedness is in mine hands, or works (if there is wickedness, or a stain, upon my hands, or deeds);

4 if I yielded to men yielding to me evils, fall I by deserving void from mine enemies; (if I gave back evil to those who first did good to me, let me deservedly fall before my enemies;)

5 mine enemy pursue he my soul, and take he, and defoul my life in earth; and bring my glory into dust. (let my enemy persecute me, and take hold of me, and tread me down into the ground; and bring my honour down into the dust, or down into the dirt.)