The Eastern Cross/Bible/Psalms/Psalm 7
The Book of Psalms · the Psalter
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A Psalm of David, which he sang to the Lord because of the words of Cush the Benjaminite.
Ψαλμὸς τῷ Δαυὶδ, ὃν ᾖσε τῷ Κυρίῳ ὑπὲρ τῶν λόγων Χουσὶ υἱοῦ Ἰεμενεί.
O Lord my God, in thee have I trusted: Save me from all them that persecute me, and deliver me.
Κύριε ὁ Θεός μου, ἐπὶ σοὶ ἤλπισα, σῶσόν με ἐκ πάντων τῶν διωκόντων με, καὶ ῥῦσαί με,
"O Lord my God, in You have I hoped: save me from all them that persecute me, and deliver me". As one to whom, already perfected, all the war and enmity of vice being overcome, there remains no enemy but the envious devil, he says, "Save me from all them that persecute me, and deliver me: lest at any time he tear my…
Lest at any time the enemy seize my soul as a lion, While there is none to ransom, nor to save.
μή ποτε ἁρπάσῃ ὡς λέων τὴν ψυχήν μου, μὴ ὄντος λυτρουμένου, μηδὲ σώζοντος.
O Lord my God, if I have done this (If there is unrighteousness in my hands);
Κύριε ὁ Θεός μου, εἰ ἐποίησα τοῦτο, εἰ ἔστιν ἀδικία ἐν χερσί μου,
And that it might be clear that the already perfect soul, which is to be on her guard against the most insidious snares of the devil only, says this, see what follows. "O Lord my God, if I have done this". What is it that he calls "this"? Since he does not mention the sin by name, are we to understand sin generally?…
If I have requited with evil those who requited me with good; May I then perish empty by means of my enemies.
εἰ ἀνταπέδωκα τοῖς ἀνταποδιδοῦσί μοι κακὰ, ἀποπέσοιμι ἄρα ἀπὸ τῶν ἐχθρῶν μου κενός·
Let the enemy persecute my soul, and take it; And let him trample my life on the ground, And lay my glory in the dust. Pause.
Καταδιώξαι ὁ ἐχθρὸς τὴν ψυχήν μου καὶ καταλάβοι, καὶ καταπατήσαι εἰς γῆν τὴν ζωήν μου, καὶ τὴν δόξαν μου εἰς χοῦν κατασκηνώσαι· διάψαλμα.
"Let the enemy" therefore "persecute my soul and take it" (ver. 5). By again naming the enemy in the singular number, he more and more clearly points out him whom he spoke of above as a lion. For he persecutes the soul, and if he has deceived it, will take it. For the limit of men's rage is the destruction of the…
Arise, O Lord, in thy wrath; Be exalted in the utmost boundaries of mine enemies: Awake, O Lord my God, according to the decree which thou didst command.
Ἀνάστηθι Κύριε ἐν ὀργῇ σου, ὑψώθητι ἐν τοῖς πέρασι τῶν ἐχθρῶν μου· ἐξεγέρθητι Κύριε ὁ Θεός μου ἐν προστάγματι ᾧ ἐνετείλω,
"Arise, O Lord, in Thine anger" (ver. 6). Why yet does he, who we say is perfect, incite God to anger? Must we not see, whether he rather be not perfect, who, when he was being stoned, said, "O Lord, lay not this sin to their charge"? Or does the Psalmist pray thus not against men, but against the devil and his…
And the congregation of the nations shall compass thee: And for this cause do thou return on high.
καὶ συναγωγὴ λαῶν κυκλώσει σε· καὶ ὑπὲρ ταύτης εἰς ὕψος ἐπίστρεψον.
The Lord shall judge the nations: Judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness, And according to my innocence that is in me.
Κύριος κρινεῖ λαούς· κρίνον με Κύριε κατὰ τὴν δικαιοσύνην μου, καὶ κατὰ τὴν ἀκακίαν μου ἐπʼ ἐμοί.
Oh let the wickedness of sinners come to an end; And then thou shalt direct the righteous, O God that searchest the hearts and reins.
Συντελεσθήτω δὴ πονηρία ἁμαρτωλῶν, καὶ κατευθυνεῖς δίκαιον, ἐτάζων καρδίας καὶ νεφροὺς ὁ Θεός.
"But let the wickedness of sinners be consummated". He says, "be consummated," be completed, according to that in the Apocalypse, "Let the righteous become more righteous, and let the filthy be filthy still." [Revelation 22:11] For the wickedness of those men appears consummate, who crucified the Son of God; but…
My help is righteous, coming from God Who saves the upright in heart.
Δικαία ἡ βοήθειά μου παρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ τοῦ σώζοντος τοὺς εὐθεῖς τῇ καρδίᾳ.
God is a righteous judge, and strong, and patient, Not inflicting vengeance every day.
Ὁ Θεὸς κριτὴς δίκαιος, καὶ ἰσχυρὸς, καὶ μακρόθυμος, μὴ ὀργὴν ἐπάγων καθʼ ἑκάστην ἡμέραν.
If ye will not repent, he will furbish his sword; He has bent his bow, and made it ready.
Ἐὰν μὴ ἐπιστραφῆτε, τὴν ῥομφαίαν αὐτοῦ στιλβώσει, τὸ τόξον αὐτοῦ ἐνέτεινε, καὶ ἡτοίμασεν αὐτό.
"Unless ye be converted," He says, "He will brandish His sword". The Lord Man Himself may be taken to be God's double-edged sword, that is, His spear, which at His first coming He will not brandish, but hides as it were in the sheath of humiliation: but He will brandish it, when at the second coming to judge the quick…
And on it he has fitted the instruments of death; He has completed his arrows for the raging ones.
Καὶ ἐν αὐτῷ ἡτοίμασε σκεύη θανάτου, τὰ βέλη αὐτοῦ τοῖς καιομένοις ἐξειργάσατο.
"And in it He has prepared the instruments of death: He has wrought His arrows for the burning". That bow then I would readily take to be the Holy Scripture, in which by the strength of the New Testament, as by a sort of string, the hardness of the Old has been bent and subdued. From thence the Apostles are sent forth…
Behold, he has travailed with unrighteousness, He has conceived trouble, and brought forth iniquity.
Ἰδοὺ ὠδίνησεν ἀδικίαν, συνέλαβε πόνον, καὶ ἔτεκεν ἀνομίαν.
He has opened a pit, and dug it up, And he shall fall into the ditch which he has made.
Λάκκον ὤρυξε καὶ ἀνέσκαψεν αὐτὸν, καὶ ἐμπεσεῖται εἰς βόθρον ὃν εἰργάσατο.
"He hath opened a ditch, and digged it" (ver. 15). To open a ditch is, in earthly matters, that is, as it were in the earth, to prepare deceit, that another fall therein, whom the unrighteous man wishes to deceive. Now this ditch is opened when consent is given to the evil suggestion of earthly lusts: but it is digged…
His trouble shall return on his own head, And his unrighteousness shall come down on his own crown.
Ἐπιστρέψει ὁ πόνος αὐτοῦ εἰς κεφαλὴν αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐπὶ κορυφὴν αὐτοῦ ἡ ἀδικία αὐτοῦ καταβήσεται.
"His toil shall be turned on his head, and his iniquity shall descend on his pate". For he had no mind to escape sin: but was brought under sin as a slave, so to say, as the Lord says, "Whosoever sins is a slave." [John 8:34] His iniquity then will be upon him, when he is subject to his iniquity; for he could not say…
I will give thanks to the Lord according to his righteousness; I will sing to the name of the Lord most high.
Ἐξομολογήσομαι Κυρίῳ κατὰ τὴν δικαιοσύνην αὐτοῦ, ψαλῶ τῷ ὀνόματι Κυρίου τοῦ ὑψίστου.
"I will confess to the Lord according to His justice". This is not the sinner's confession: for he says this, who said above most truly, "If there be iniquity in my hands:" but it is a confession of God's justice, in which we speak thus, Verily, O Lord, You are just, in that You both so protect the just, that You…
Every note is a real passage, quoted word for word from a published English translation, with its source. Nothing here is summarised or written by us. Some verses have many notes and some have none, because the Fathers wrote more on some passages than others.
All of these translations are in the public domain. The passages were matched to their verses by the Historical Christian Commentaries project, which also hosts the full texts we link to. The Fathers are a treasury of the Church's mind, and they are best read alongside the life of the Church: if a passage raises a question, bring it to your priest.