Psalms 7

O LORD my God, in thee do I put my trust: save me from all them that persecute me, and deliver me:

1LORD my God, I trust you to keep me safe. Save me from everyone who is chasing me. Please rescue me.

2Lest he tear my soul like a lion, rending it in pieces, while there is none to deliver.

2If you do not, they will tear me apart like a lion. No one else can save me from them.

3O LORD my God, if I have done this; if there be iniquity in my hands;

3LORD my God, look and see. Did I really do this bad thing? Have my hands done something wrong?

4If I have rewarded evil unto him that was at peace with me; (yea, I have delivered him that without cause is mine enemy:)

4Did I hurt a friend who was kind to me? Did I steal from an enemy for no reason?

5Let the enemy persecute my soul, and take it; yea, let him tread down my life upon the earth, and lay mine honour in the dust. Selah.

5If I did, then let my enemy chase me and catch me. Let him knock me down into the dirt. Let all my honor lie in the dust. Selah.

Note"Selah" is a word from the old songbook. Nobody today is sure what it meant. It may have told the singers to pause.

6Arise, O LORD, in thine anger, lift up thyself because of the rage of mine enemies: and awake for me to the judgment that thou hast commanded.

6Get up, LORD. Be angry. Stand up against my enemies, who are full of rage. Wake up and make things right, the way you said you would.

7So shall the congregation of the people compass thee about: for their sakes therefore return thou on high.

7Let all the people gather around you. Take your seat high above them all.

8The LORD shall judge the people: judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness, and according to mine integrity that is in me.

8The LORD is the judge of all people. Judge me too, LORD. I have done what is right, and my heart is honest.

9Oh let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end; but establish the just: for the righteous God trieth the hearts and reins.

9Please stop the evil that bad people do. Keep good people safe and strong. You are a fair God. You look inside every person and see what is really there.

NoteThe KJV says God tries "the hearts and reins." "Reins" meant kidneys, the deep inside of a person. It means God sees a person's real thoughts and feelings.

10My defence is of God, which saveth the upright in heart.

10God is like a shield in front of me. He saves people whose hearts are honest.

11God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day.

11God is a judge who always does what is right. Every day he is angry at what is wrong.

12If he turn not, he will whet his sword; he hath bent his bow, and made it ready.

12If a person will not stop doing wrong, God gets ready. He sharpens his sword. He bends his bow and pulls the string tight.

13He hath also prepared for him the instruments of death; he ordaineth his arrows against the persecutors.

13He has his deadly weapons ready. He points his flaming arrows at those who chase me.

14Behold, he travaileth with iniquity, and hath conceived mischief, and brought forth falsehood.

14Look at the person who does wrong. Evil grows inside him like a baby. What he gives birth to is trouble and lies.

15He made a pit, and digged it, and is fallen into the ditch which he made.

15He dug a hole to trap someone else. Then he fell into that very hole himself.

16His mischief shall return upon his own head, and his violent dealing shall come down upon his own pate.

16The trouble he made comes back to him. The hurt he planned lands on his own head.

17I will praise the LORD according to his righteousness: and will sing praise to the name of the LORD most high.

17I will thank the LORD, because he always does what is right. I will sing to the name of the LORD, the God who is highest of all.