Psalm 7

Psalm 7 is another authored by King David.  It's a cry for help against his enemies but David leads with confidence in God as his refuge.

He takes pains to lay himself bare before God, pleading his case, saying if he has sinned, "then let the enemy pursue me until he overtakes me and tramples my life down into the earth; yes, let him lay my honor in the dust." (Psalm 7:5)  From the distance of this culture and time, his statements seem emotionally extreme.  Perhaps some of this is cultural and formula prescribed, but nonetheless, David is an emotional man, willing to put his soul out there for examination by both himself and God.

He asks God to judge him (7:8), a request I can't imagine myself making.  The flip side of this is that his enemies would be judged too, "Let the evil of the wicked come to an end, and establish the righteous; since you, righteous God, test hearts and minds" (v9).  David does not fear God's judgement, but instead views Him as a shield,  a God  who "saves the upright in heart" (v10).

The Enemy is the enemy--God is NOT the enemy or to be feared.  David lived in a culture where life and death were often one strike away.

The portrait of God as a Judge is not one our culture is comfortable with....

Psa 7:11  God is a righteous judge, a God whose anger is present every day.

But, in David's world things are clear cut.  He has confidence in God and confidence in the ultimately destructive nature of sin.

Look how the wicked is pregnant with evil; he conceives trouble, gives birth to lies.
He makes a pit, digs it deep, and falls into the hole he made.
His mischief will return onto his own head, his violence will recoil onto his own skull.
-Psalm 7:14-16

This is the third time I have seen this sequence of sin--once in the NT and another in the Old:

Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. -James 1:15

No one calls for justice; no one pleads a case with integrity. They rely on empty arguments, they utter lies; they conceive trouble and give birth to evil. -Isaiah 59:4

The idea that sin will unfold eventually creating caustic consequences is a well-established Biblical and natural principle.  Though sin may be pleasurable for a season (Hebrews 11:24-26), ultimately we reap what we sow.