One Verse at a Time

This episode looks at Psalm 7:11, “God is a righteous judge, and a God who feels indignation every day.” The heart behind this verse is that God alone judges the righteous and that he will not let the wicked go unpunished. From this, we pray for God to make all things right even now on earth but especially in the age to come. We also confess our own sins and need for God’s continuing transformation along with asking God to save our lost friends and neighbors.

This episode looks at Psalm 7:10, “My shield is with God, who saves the upright in heart.” The posture of our hearts should help us move from crisis to trust as we acknowledge God as our shield from trials, hardships, and suffering. We continue to confess our sins as well, knowing that God saves the upright in heart.

This episode looks at Psalm 7:9, “Oh, let the evil of the wicked come to an end, and may you establish the righteous—you who get the minds and hearts, O righteous God!” We all have a universal longing for righteousness to be established and wickedness ended. We pray that God will do that, beginning with our own hearts and minds.

This episode looks at Psalm 7:8, “The LORD judges the peoples; judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness.” There will be a judgment, and it will be based on God’s righteous standards. We need the righteousness of Christ to see us through that day. For those who believe in Christ, judgment day can be a source of hope and a motivator to proclaim the good news to others.

This episode looks at Psalm 7:7, “Let the assembly of the peoples be gathered about you; over it return on high.” We can pray for justice in our individual lives. We can pray for justice in interpersonal situations. We can also pray for justice to be enacted on a global scale. We ask for God to reign actively over all nations. Amen.

This episode looks at Psalm 7:6, “Arise, O LORD, in your anger; lift yourself up against the fury of my enemies; awake for me; you have appointed a judgment.” We know that God doesn’t sleep or slumber (Psalm 121:3–4), but sometimes it seems like that. When it does, we call on the justice of God for him to act and make wrong things right! We also ask for trust that we would know he knows best in waiting for justice.

This episode looks at Psalm 7:5, “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. Selah.” We should pray for God’s justice to be done here on earth, including in our own lives. What that means is that we want all sin to be atoned for, either on the cross of Christ through faith or in the punishment of sinners.

This episode looks at Psalm 7:4, “if I have repaid my friend with evil or plundered my enemy without cause.” Again, when we face unjust suffering, we can call on the God of justice to make things right. In particular, we should avoid the heinous evils of betraying the trust of friends or plundering enemies unjustly ourselves.

This episode looks at Psalm 7:3, “O LORD my God, if I have done this, if there is wrong in my hands,” We can acknowledge a distinction between being righteous and being right in a particular instance. When we are in the right and have been wronged we can and should pray to God for deliverance.

This episode looks at Psalm 7:2, “lest like a lion they tear my soul apart, rending it in pieces, with none to deliver.” The devil, like Saul in this Psalm, prowls around trying to devour us. We pray for our Good Shepherd to deliver us from his attempts to destroy and to bring us into the abundant life he offers.