God - Our Defender

My defense is of God, which saveth the upright in heart. Psalms 7:10 (KJV)

 Exposition

The judge has heard the cause, has cleared the guiltless, and uttered his voice against the persecutors. Let us draw near, and learn the results of the great assize. Yonder is the slandered one with his harp in hand, hymning the justice of his Lord, and rejoicing aloud in his own deliverance.

My defense is of God, which saveth the upright in heart. Oh, how good to have a true and upright heart. Crooked sinners, with all their craftiness, are foiled by the upright in heart. [10-11]

God defends the right. Filth will not long abide on the pure white garments of the saints, but shall be brushed off by divine providence, to the vexation of the men by whose base hands it was thrown upon the godly. When God shall try our cause, our sun has risen, and the sun of the wicked is set for ever. Truth, like oil, is ever above, no power of our enemies can drown it; we shall refute their slanders in the day when the trumpet wakes the dead, and we shall shine in honour when lying lips are put to silence. O believer, fear not all that thy foes can do or say against thee, for the tree which God plants no winds can hurt.

 

Explanatory notes and quaint sayings

Verse 10. My defense is of God. Literally, "My shield is upon God," like Psalms 62:8, "My salvation is upon God." The idea may be taken from the armour bearer, ever ready at hand to give the needed weapon to the warrior. Andrew A. Bonar.

 

Hints for pastors and laypersons

Upright in heart – Explain the character.

 

The believer's trust in God, and God's care over him – Show the action of faith in procuring defense and protection, and of that defense upon our faith by strengthening it, etc.

---

Article excerpted from The Treasury of David by Charles H. Spurgeon

 

This seven volume "magnum opus", by Charles H. Spurgeon, was first published in weekly installments over a twenty-year span in the London Metropolitan Tabernacle's periodical, The Sword and the Trowel. As each section was completed it was published as a volume until the seventh and final volume was released in 1885.