Does God care for you? Believe it or not, yes, He does! David went through a lot, yet He knew that God cared for Him. It’s important that we understand this as we go through our daily lives. God watches over us and cares for us. Here are 2 more psalms that you can pray back to God. Let’s dig in…
Psalm 7
A psalm of David, which he sang to the Lord concerning Cush of the tribe of Benjamin.
1 I come to you for protection, O Lord my God.
Save me from my persecutors—rescue me!
2 If you don’t, they will maul me like a lion,
tearing me to pieces with no one to rescue me.
3 O Lord my God, if I have done wrong
or am guilty of injustice,
4 if I have betrayed a friend
or plundered my enemy without cause,
5 then let my enemies capture me.
Let them trample me into the ground
and drag my honor in the dust. Interlude6 Arise, O Lord, in anger!
Stand up against the fury of my enemies!
Wake up, my God, and bring justice!
7 Gather the nations before you.
Rule over them from on high.
8 The Lord judges the nations.
Declare me righteous, O Lord,
for I am innocent, O Most High!
9 End the evil of those who are wicked,
and defend the righteous.
For you look deep within the mind and heart,
O righteous God.10 God is my shield,
saving those whose hearts are true and right.
11 God is an honest judge.
He is angry with the wicked every day.12 If a person does not repent,
God will sharpen his sword;
he will bend and string his bow.
13 He will prepare his deadly weapons
and shoot his flaming arrows.14 The wicked conceive evil;
they are pregnant with trouble
and give birth to lies.
15 They dig a deep pit to trap others,
then fall into it themselves.
16 The trouble they make for others backfires on them.
The violence they plan falls on their own heads.17 I will thank the Lord because he is just;
Psalm 7 NLT
I will sing praise to the name of the Lord Most High.
Points to Ponder
- Who is this guy “Cush”? Apparently, he’s someone from the tribe of Benjamin, which was King Saul’s tribe. So, he must have been an enemy. At least someone who slandered David.
- What David is suffering from here is either slander or a false accusation. Have you ever been accused of something you didn’t do? I was. Many years ago in Miami, I was a store manager and the owners accused me of stealing merchandise. I had no alibi since I was home alone at the time of the robbery. I had to go through a lie detector test at the police department and which found me truthful. I knew that in God’s eyes I was innocent. Yet, the whole experience was unnerving.
- It’s said that “You take care of your character and God will take care of your reputation.”
- God will judge the sinful and wicked. Sin usually backfires. Take the story of Esther and Mordecai. Evil Haman ended impaled on the pole he had put up for Mordecai.
How to Pray this Psalm
If you ever find yourself unjustly accused or persecuted, pray something like this…
O Lord, Jesus, I come to you for protection.
Save me from my persecutors—rescue me!Stand up against the fury of my enemies (or evil people)!
Wake up, my God, and bring justice!Lord, you will gather the nations before you and rule over them from on high. You will judge the nations.
Declare me righteous, O Lord, for through the blood of Jesus, I am innocent, O Most High!
You are my shield, saving those whose hearts are true and right. You are an honest judge and I repent so I will not feel the wrath of your sharpened sword.
Give the wicked their due by having them fall into their own traps. And I pray that all their evil plans fall back on them. I thank, you, Lord because You are just; I will sing praise to the name of the Lord Most High.
Paraphrase Prayer on Psalm 7
Psalm 8
For the choir director: A psalm of David, to be accompanied by a stringed instrument.
1 O Lord, our Lord, your majestic name fills the earth!
Your glory is higher than the heavens.
2 You have taught children and infants
to tell of your strength,
silencing your enemies
and all who oppose you.3 When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers—
the moon and the stars you set in place—
4 what are mere mortals that you should think about them,
human beings that you should care for them?
5 Yet you made them only a little lower than God
and crowned them with glory and honor.
6 You gave them charge of everything you made,
putting all things under their authority—
7 the flocks and the herds
and all the wild animals,
8 the birds in the sky, the fish in the sea,
and everything that swims the ocean currents.9 O Lord, our Lord, your majestic name fills the earth!
Psalm 8 NLT
Points to Ponder
- This is one of those psalms that you can pray verbatim back to God.
- God is known throughout the whole world.
- Jesus quotes verse 2 in Matthew 21:16.
- When you look up at the sky, think of this…. When you’re thinking about God, He’s thinking about you! That’s what David’s proclaiming here. Who am I, a mere mortal that You would think of me? That You, creator of the universe, almighty God, would care about me?
“Whatever is or is not true about men, this one thing is certain – man is not what he was meant to be.”
GK Chesterton
God created humankind in His image, and He called humans “good”. It’s all in Genesis 1. Then Adam and Eve blew it. They had it all! They ruled over all the animals, had the perfect vegan diet, lived in the prefect climate, and all they had to do was obey one simple rule. See, God created us with free will. He tells us how to live and we’re supposed to obey. However, with our fallen, sinful nature, we can’t be perfect. It’s impossible. Which is why God sent Jesus as a perfect, sinless man, then He carried all our sins away on the cross, wiping our slate clean.
Where is the Gospel?
The folks at Spoken Gospel take this further…
When the New Testament quotes this psalm, it doesn’t refer to the outlandish gap between heaven and earth, or God and man. It talks about heaven coming to earth and God becoming man in the person of Jesus (Hebrews 2:6).
God, who made us in his image, was made into our image. God was not only mindful of us, but became like us. He who is God’s strength itself became a literal baby (Matthew 1:23).
Hebrews 2:9 even quotes this psalm and says it’s about Jesus: “But we do see Jesus, who was made lower than the angels for a little while, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.”
The God who lives forever in glory above the heavens tasted death for those who were sure to die here on the earth. In Jesus we see how an eternal God who lives forever cares for frail humans who die. The everlasting God died in our frail image to give us eternal life.
Jesus laid his glory, honor, and crown in the dust so we could be exalted and lifted up! Surely we can join David in this psalm and say with wonder in our voices, “What is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you die for them?”
Spoken Gospel
Does God Care for YOU? Yes, He Does!
Furthermore, He, God, wants to have a personal relationship with YOU!
Isn’t it about time you let Him in?
