Fathers

Psalms 7

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Yahweh, my God, I take refuge in you. Save me from all those who pursue me, and deliver me, lest they tear apart my soul like a lion, ripping it in pieces, while there is no one to deliver. Yahweh, my God, if I have done this, if there is iniquity in my hands, if I have rewarded evil to him who was at peace with me (yes, I have delivered him who without cause was my adversary), let the enemy pursue my soul, and overtake it; yes, let him tread my life down to the earth, and lay my glory in the dust. Arise, Yahweh, in your anger. Lift up yourself against the rage of my adversaries. Awake for me. You have commanded judgment. Let the congregation of the peoples surround you. Rule over them on high. Yahweh administers judgment to the peoples. Judge me, Yahweh, according to my righteousness, and to my integrity that is in me. Oh let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end, but establish the righteous; their minds and hearts are searched by the righteous God. My shield is with God, who saves the upright in heart. God is a righteous judge, yes, a God who has indignation every day. If a man doesn’t repent, he will sharpen his sword; he has bent and strung his bow. He has also prepared for himself the instruments of death. He makes ready his flaming arrows. Behold, he travails with iniquity. Yes, he has conceived mischief, and brought out falsehood. He has dug a hole, and has fallen into the pit which he made. The trouble he causes shall return to his own head. His violence shall come down on the crown of his own head. I will give thanks to Yahweh according to his righteousness, and will sing praise to the name of Yahweh Most High.

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What the Fathers say

Psalms 7:12

Western Saints

Augustine of Hippo

"Unless ye be converted," He says, "He will brandish His sword" [Psalm 7:12]. 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 dead, in the manifest splendour of His glory, He shall flash light on His righteous ones, and terror on the ungodly. …

Exposition on Psalm 7 ↗

Jerome

'Unless ye be converted, he will brandish his sword.' This passage admits a twofold understanding. For many think it is said of God, so that, for example's sake, it is said to sinners. And what does it say? 'Unless ye be converted, he will brandish his sword': that is, unless ye do penance, the Lord will strike you with his sword. But let us see whether the things that follow can be fitted to the person of the Lord. 'He hath bent his bow, and made it ready.' This can be said of God. …

Homily 3, on Psalm 7 ↗

Thomas Aquinas

Then when he says, "Unless," he shows that the Lord prepares himself to inflict punishment, even though he delays for a reason. And this preparation is set forth: first on God's part as the one punishing; second on man's part as the one punished or receiving, at "Behold, he is in labor." The preparation on God's part is described according to man's preparation against merit or sin: because "the impious man and his impiety are hateful to God" (Wis. 14). …

Exposition on the Psalms of David ↗