Psalms 7:3

3 (7-4) O Lord, my God, if I have done this thing, if there be iniquity in my hands:

Psalms 7:3 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 7:3

O Lord my God, if I have done this.
] The crime which Saul and his courtiers charged him with, and which was made so public that every body knew it; and therefore it was needless particularly to mention it; namely, that he lay in wait for Saul, and sought his life to take it away, ( 1 Samuel 24:9 ) . The Targum interprets it of this psalm, paraphrasing it, "if I have made this song with an evil intention"; to give an ill character of any, and lead them with false charges;

if there be iniquity in my hands;
not that he was without sin, he had it in his heart; nor that he lived without the actual commission of sin: but his sense is, that there was no iniquity, as not in his heart, purpose, and design, so not in his hand, nor attempted by him, of the kind he was accused of, ( 1 Samuel 24:11 ) . Otherwise, we often hear him complaining of the depravity of his nature, and acknowledging his sins and transgressions, ( Psalms 32:5 ) ( Psalms 38:3 Psalms 38:4 ) ( 51:1-5 ) .

Psalms 7:3 In-Context

1 <The psalm of David, which he sung to the Lord, for the words of Chusi, the son of Jemini.> (7-2) O Lord, my God, in thee have I put my trust; same me from all them that persecute me, and deliver me.

2 (7-3) Lest at any time he seize upon my soul like a lion, while there is no one to redeem me, nor to save.

3 (7-4) O Lord, my God, if I have done this thing, if there be iniquity in my hands:

4 (7-5) If I have rendered to them that repaid me evils, let me deservedly fall empty before my enemies.

5 (7-6) Let the enemy pursue my soul, and take it, and tread down my life, on the earth, and bring down my glory to the dust.