(8) The Lord shall.--Better, Jehovah judgeth the nations. Everything is complete, and the work of judgment begins. The poet prays that his sentence may be according to his own consciousness of righteousness and integrity. Of this plea of innocence Jerome says, "David could not say this; this properly belongs to the Saviour, who was sinless." Others think it is the ideal Israel, which stands before Jehovah's tribunal. But we may compare Job's protestations of innocence, and his persistent demand for a trial. David (if he is the author) refers naturally to his innocence of the charge calumniously brought against him. As between Saul and himself, his conduct had been blameless.
Verse 8. - The Lord shall judge the people. Hitherto judgment has been prayed for, now it is announced, "The Lord shall judge " - shall decide between David and his enemies - shall judge them in his anger, and at the same time judge David, i.e. vindicate his cause. David has no desire to escape this judgment Judge me, he says, O Lord, according to my righteousness. Judge me, i.e., and, if thou findest me righteous, acquit me and vindicate me. And according to mine integrity that is in me; literally, which is on me (comp. Job 29:24, "I put on righteousness, and it clothed me; my judgment was as a robe and a diadem"). Ver. 9: - Oh let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end. It is not the removal of the wicked, but the removal of their wickedness, that David desires (comp. Psalm 10:15). But establish the just; i.e. protect strengthen, and sustain him. For the righteous God trieth the hearts and reins (comp. Jeremiah 11:20; Jeremiah 17:10; Jeremiah 20:12). "The heart, as the seat of the understanding and the will, the reins of natural impulses and affections" ('Speaker's Commentary').
7:1-9 David flees to God for succour. But Christ alone could call on Heaven to attest his uprightness in all things. All His works were wrought in righteousness; and the prince of this world found nothing whereof justly to accuse him. Yet for our sakes, submitting to be charged as guilty, he suffered all evils, but, being innocent, he triumphed over them all. The plea is, For the righteous God trieth the hearts and the reins. He knows the secret wickedness of the wicked, and how to bring it to an end; he is witness to the secret sincerity of the just, and has ways of establishing it. When a man has made peace with God about all his sins, upon the terms of grace and mercy, through the sacrifice of the Mediator, he may, in comparison with his enemies, appeal to God's justice to decide.
The Lord shall judge the people,.... The inhabitants of the world in general; for God is the Judge of all the earth, and he judges the world in righteousness daily, and ministers judgment in uprightness, though it is not always manifest; or his own people in particular, whose cause he pleads, whose injuries and wrongs he avenges, whose persons he protects and defends; this the psalmist expresses with confidence, and therefore, suitable to his character as a Judge, he entreats him as follows:
judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness; he speaks not of his justification before God, in whose sight he well knew no flesh living could be justified by their own righteousness, Psalm 143:2; nor of the righteousness of his person, either imputed or inherent; but of the righteousness of his cause, Psalm 35:27; not of his righteousness God-ward, for he knew that he was a sinner with respect to him; but of his righteousness towards Saul, against whom he had not sinned, but had acted towards him in the most righteous and faithful manner, 1 Samuel 24:11; and therefore desired to be judged, and was content to stand or fall according to his conduct and behaviour towards him;
and according to mine integrity that is in me; who had always acted the sincere and upright part towards Saul, though he had pursued him with so much fury and violence; the psalmist's prayer was heard and answered, Psalm 18:20.
judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness; he speaks not of his justification before God, in whose sight he well knew no flesh living could be justified by their own righteousness, Psalm 143:2; nor of the righteousness of his person, either imputed or inherent; but of the righteousness of his cause, Psalm 35:27; not of his righteousness God-ward, for he knew that he was a sinner with respect to him; but of his righteousness towards Saul, against whom he had not sinned, but had acted towards him in the most righteous and faithful manner, 1 Samuel 24:11; and therefore desired to be judged, and was content to stand or fall according to his conduct and behaviour towards him;
and according to mine integrity that is in me; who had always acted the sincere and upright part towards Saul, though he had pursued him with so much fury and violence; the psalmist's prayer was heard and answered, Psalm 18:20.