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Commentary on Psalms 7 verses 10–17
David having lodged his appeal with God by prayer and a solemn profession of his integrity, in the former part of the psalm, in this latter part does, as it were, take out judgment upon the appeal, by faith in the word of God, and the assurance it gives of the happiness and safety of the righteous and the certain destruction of wicked people that continue impenitent.
I. David is confident that he shall find God his powerful protector and Saviour, and the patron of his oppressed innocency (Psa 7:10): "My defence is of God. Not only, God is my defender, and I shall find him so; but I look for defence and safety in no other; my hope for shelter in a time of danger is placed in God alone; if I have defence, it must be of God." My shield is upon God (so some read it); there is that in God which gives an assurance of protection to all that are his. His name is a strong tower, Pro 18:10. Two things David builds this confidence upon: - 1. The particular favour God has for all that are sincere: He saves the upright in heart, saves them with an everlasting salvation, and therefore will preserve them to his heavenly kingdom; he saves them out of their present troubles, as far as is good for them; their integrity and uprightness will preserve them. The upright in heart are safe, and ought to think themselves so, under the divine protection. 2. The general respect he has for justice and equity: God judgeth the righteous; he owns every righteous cause, and will maintain it in every righteous man, and will protect him. God is a righteous Judge (so some read it), who not only doeth righteousness himself, but will take care that righteousness be done by the children of men and will avenge and punish all unrighteousness.
II. He is no less confident of the destruction of all his persecutors, even as many of them as would not repent, to give glory to God. He reads their doom here, for their good, if possible, that they might cease from their enmity, or, however, for his own comfort, that he might not be afraid of them nor aggrieved at their prosperity and success for a time. He goes into the sanctuary of God, and there understands,
1.That they are children of wrath. They are not to be envied, for God is angry with them, is angry with the wicked every day. They are every day doing that which is provoking to him, and he resents it, and treasures it up against the day of wrath. As his mercies are new every morning towards his people, so his anger is new every morning against the wicked, upon the fresh occasions given for it by their renewed transgressions. God is angry with the wicked even in the merriest and most prosperous of their days, even in the days of their devotion; for, if they be suffered to prosper, it is in wrath; if they pray, their very prayers are an abomination. The wrath of God abides upon them (Joh 3:36) and continual additions are made to it.
2.That they are children of death, as all the children of wrath are, sons of perdition, marked out for ruin. See their destruction.
(1.)God will destroy them. The destruction they are reserved for is destruction from the Almighty, which ought to be a terror to every one of us, for it comes from the wrath of God, Psa 7:13, Psa 7:14. It is here intimated, [1.] That the destruction of sinners may be prevented by their conversion, for it is threatened with that proviso: If he turn not from his evil way, if he do not let fall his enmity against the people of God, then let him expect it will be his ruin; but, if he turn, it is implied that his sin shall be pardoned and all shall be well. Thus even the threatenings of wrath are introduced with a gracious implication of mercy, enough to justify God for ever in the destruction of those that perish; they might have turned and lived, but they chose rather to go on and die and their blood is therefore upon their own heads. [2.] That, if it be not thus prevented by the conversion of the sinner, it will be prepared for him by the justice of God. In general (Psa 7:13), He has prepared for him the instruments of death, of all that death which is the wages of sin. If God will slay, he will not want instruments of death for any creature; even the least and weakest may be made so when he pleases. First, Here is variety of instruments, all which breathe threatenings and slaughter. Here is a sword, which wounds and kills at hand, a bow and arrows, which wound and kill at a distance those who think to get out of the reach of God's vindictive justice. If the sinner flees from the iron weapon, yet the bow of steel shall strike him through, Job 20:24. Secondly, These instruments of death are all said to be made ready. God has them not to seek, but always at hand. Judgments are prepared for scorners. Tophet is prepared of old. Thirdly, While God is preparing his instruments of death, he gives the sinners timely warning of their danger, and space to repent and prevent it. He is slow to punish, and long-suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish. Fourthly, The longer the destruction is delayed, to give time for repentance, the sorer will it be and the heavier will it fall and lie for ever if that time be not so improved; while God is waiting the sword is in the whetting and the bow in the drawing. Fifthly, The destruction of impenitent sinners, though it come slowly, yet comes surely; for it is ordained, they are of old ordained to it. Sixthly, Of all sinners persecutors are set up as the fairest marks of divine wrath; against them, more than any other, God has ordained his arrows. They set God at defiance, but cannot set themselves out of the reach of his judgments.
(2.)They will destroy themselves, Psa 7:14-16. The sinner is here described as taking a great deal of pains to ruin himself, more pains to damn his soul than, if directed aright, would save it. His conduct is described, [1.] By the pains of a labouring woman that brings forth a false conception, Psa 7:14. The sinner's head with its politics conceives mischief, contrives it with a great deal of art, lays the plot deep, and keeps it close; the sinner's heart with its passions travails with iniquity, and is in pain to be delivered of the malicious projects it is hatching against the people of God. But what does it come to when it comes to the birth? It is falsehood; it is a cheat upon himself; it is a lie in his right hand. He cannot compass what he intended, nor, if he gain his point, will he gain the satisfaction he promised himself. He brings forth wind (Isa 26:18), stubble (Isa 33:11), death (Jam 1:15), that is, falsehood. [2.] By the pains of a labouring man that works hard to dig a pit, and then falls into it and perishes in it. First, This is true, in a sense of all sinners. They prepare destruction for themselves by preparing themselves for destruction, loading themselves with guilt and submitting themselves to their corruptions. Secondly, It is often remarkably true of those who contrive mischief against the people of God or against their neighbours; by the righteous hand of God it is made to return upon their own heads. What they designed for the shame and destruction of others proves to be their own confusion.
- Nec lex est jusitior ulla
Quam necis artifices arte perire sua -
There is not a juster law than that the author
of a murderous contrivance shall perish by it.
Some apply it to Saul, who fell upon his sword.
In singing this psalm we must do as David here does (Psa 7:17), praise the Lord according to his righteousness, that is, give him the glory of that gracious protection under which he takes his afflicted people and of that just vengeance with which he will pursue those that afflict them. Thus we must sing to the praise of the Lord most high, who, when his enemies deal proudly, shows that he is above them.
We do not find the name of “pit” ever assigned in the divine Scriptures in the case of something good or a “well” of water in the case of something bad. As to the reason for the pits being assigned among the worse things and the wells among the better, we think it is this. The water in the pit is something acquired, having fallen from the sky; but in the wells, streams of water, buried before the places were dug out, are revealed when the heaps of earth covering them and the material of any sort whatsoever, lying on them, which is also all earth, have been removed. Now, it is as if there were a pit in souls in which the better things, changed and debased, fall down, when a person, having resolved to have nothing good and noble of his own, puts to flight the thoughts of the good and noble that have slipped into it, twisting them to evildoing and to contradictions of truth. And again, there are wells, when a light and a stream of water unimpaired in word and in doctrines break forth after the baser materials that had been covering it are removed. Therefore, it is necessary for each one to prepare a well for himself, in order that he may guard the command mentioned previously, which says, “Drink water out of your own cistern and the streams of your own well. Thus we shall be called the sons of those who have dug the wells, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. But a pit must not be dug lest we fall into the hole, as it is said in this place, and so fail to hear the words written in Jeremiah in reproach of sinners, for, God says concerning them what we have briefly mentioned before: “They have forsaken me, the fountain of living water, and have digged to themselves cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.”
That same adversary, Absalom, as if he has been born again from ourselves, prepares the war against us. Our sound judgment concerning the matter, or rather our alliance with God, turns him who is bloodthirsty against us back. For because he attributes the cause of the good things that have been accomplished for him through “the words of Cush” to God, he composes this thanksgiving.… It would be worthwhile to apply the figures of the story to the virtuous life, how the advice that saves us becomes the strangling of the adversary; and this saving advice has been recorded, on the one hand, in the history, and on the other, in the psalm.
Truly, he sins first against himself, then he injures another; since sin is harmful and ruinous, foremost it harms and roughly handles the one sinning.… “If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into the pit”. In this saying it must be realized that teachers and students become blinded by foolishness and wantonness.
"He has opened a ditch, and dug it" [Psalm 7:15]. To open a ditch is, in earthly matters, that is, as it were in the earth, to prepare deceit, that another fall therein, whom the unrighteous man wishes to deceive. Now this ditch is opened when consent is given to the evil suggestion of earthly lusts: but it is dug when after consent we press on to actual work of deceit. But how can it be, that iniquity should rather hurt the righteous man against whom it proceeds, than the unrighteous heart whence it proceeds? Accordingly, the stealer of money, for instance, while he desires to inflict painful harm upon another, is himself maimed by the wound of avarice. Now who, even out of his right mind, sees not how great is the difference between these men, when one suffers the loss of money, the other of innocence? "He will fall" then "into the pit which he has made." As it is said in another Psalm, "The Lord is known in executing judgments; the sinner is caught in the works of his own hands."
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SUMMARY
Psalms 7:15 vividly illustrates the divine principle of poetic justice, asserting that the malicious schemes and traps devised by the wicked inevitably rebound upon their creators. Through the powerful imagery of a self-dug pit, the verse proclaims God's active and unwavering righteousness, assuring believers that evil intentions culminate not in the harm of the innocent, but in the self-destruction and downfall of those who conceive them.
CONTEXT
EXPOSITION AND ANALYSIS
Key Word Analysis
Verse Breakdown
Literary Devices
Psalms 7:15 employs several potent literary devices to convey its message with striking clarity and impact. The most prominent is Imagery, specifically the vivid and concrete picture of a person digging a pit and then falling into it. This relatable visual makes the abstract concept of divine justice tangible and memorable, allowing the reader to easily grasp the consequence. Irony is central to the verse's power, as the wicked person's carefully constructed trap becomes their own downfall, a direct and unexpected reversal of their malicious intent. This ironic twist is a hallmark of Poetic Justice, where the punishment perfectly fits the crime, often using the very means of the offense against the offender. Furthermore, the Repetition of the idea of "making" and "digging" the pit, followed by falling into "the ditch which he made," emphasizes the self-inflicted nature of the wicked's demise and underscores the inevitability of the consequence. This rhetorical reinforcement amplifies the verse's message of divine retribution.
THEOLOGICAL AND THEMATIC CONNECTIONS
Psalms 7:15 serves as a foundational declaration of God's unwavering justice and the inherent moral order of His creation. It assures believers that God is not a passive observer of human wickedness but an active, righteous judge who ensures that evil deeds ultimately recoil upon their perpetrators. This principle profoundly reflects God's character as one who upholds righteousness and will not allow injustice to triumph indefinitely. It provides immense comfort and vindication for those who suffer at the hands of the wicked, reminding them that vengeance belongs to God and that He will ultimately set all things right. The verse underscores the biblical truth that actions have consequences, and that God's perfect justice ensures a just outcome for all, even when it appears that evil is prospering.
REFLECTION AND APPLICATION
Psalms 7:15 offers profound lessons for contemporary believers, serving as both a source of comfort and a stern warning. In a world where injustice often seems to prevail, and the wicked appear to prosper, this verse provides a powerful anchor for our faith, reminding us that God is actively involved in upholding His moral order. It encourages us to trust in His perfect timing and righteous judgment, rather than seeking personal retribution or growing despondent in the face of apparent evil. For those who might be tempted to engage in malicious schemes, deceit, or underhanded tactics to achieve their ends, the verse stands as a stark warning: the very traps we set for others often become our own undoing. It calls us to live with integrity, transparency, and love, knowing that our actions, whether good or evil, carry inherent consequences that God will ultimately oversee. This truth liberates us from the burden of seeking vengeance and empowers us to focus on living righteously, confident that God will deal with all injustice in His perfect way, ensuring that the wicked ultimately fall into the ditch they themselves have made.
Questions for Reflection
FAQ
Does this verse mean that every bad thing that happens to someone is a direct result of their own actions?
Answer: While Psalms 7:15 powerfully illustrates the principle of divine retribution where malicious actions boomerang on the perpetrator, it's important not to interpret this as a simplistic, one-to-one correlation for every misfortune or suffering. The Bible also teaches about suffering for righteousness' sake, as seen in 1 Peter 3:14, the fallenness of the world and its inherent brokenness (Romans 8:22), and God's sovereign purposes that may include trials for growth and character development (James 1:2-4). This verse specifically addresses the intentional malice and wicked plotting of individuals and God's just response to it, assuring that such schemes will ultimately fail and harm their originators, not their intended victims.
How does this verse relate to the concept of "karma"?
Answer: While there's a superficial similarity in the idea of actions having consequences, the biblical concept of justice, as seen in Psalms 7:15, differs fundamentally from the Eastern concept of karma. Karma is typically understood as an impersonal, automatic cosmic law of cause and effect, often tied to reincarnation and the accumulation of merit or demerit. Biblical justice, however, is deeply personal, stemming directly from the character and will of a righteous, sovereign God who actively judges and intervenes in human affairs. It's not an automatic spiritual mechanism but the deliberate action of a divine Judge who upholds His moral law and ensures that His will ultimately prevails. The "falling into the ditch" is a direct act of God's perfect justice and intervention, not an impersonal cosmic force.
CHRIST-CENTERED FULFILLMENT
Psalms 7:15 finds its ultimate and most profound fulfillment in the person and redemptive work of Jesus Christ. While the verse speaks of the wicked falling into their own traps, the cross of Christ reveals God's perfect justice in an entirely new, cosmic light. Humanity, ensnared by its own sin and destined for spiritual death, had indeed dug its own spiritual "pit" through rebellion against God (Romans 3:23). Yet, in a breathtaking divine reversal, the ultimate trap set by Satan and human wickedness—the crucifixion of God's Son—became the very means of their undoing and our salvation. The powers of darkness thought they had triumphed by putting Christ to death, but through His glorious resurrection, Christ "disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross" (Colossians 2:15). The "ditch" of the grave, intended to hold God's redemptive plan captive, became the very place from which Christ rose victoriously, conquering sin and death once and for all (1 Corinthians 15:55-57). Thus, the principle of the wicked falling into their own snare is magnified in the cosmic defeat of evil through Christ's ultimate sacrifice and triumph, assuring us that all evil, no matter how meticulously planned, will ultimately collapse before the righteous reign of the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.