When the believer is slandered he has the court of heaven to fly to and a righteous Judge who is the patron of oppressed innocency.
He will be our defense and will return upon the wicked their shame.
Self vindication is not judicious or serviceable.
Psalm 1
1 O LORD my God, in thee do I put my trust: save me from all them that persecute me, and deliver me:
2 Lest he tear my soul like a lion, rending it in pieces, while there is none to deliver.
3 O LORD my God, if I have done this; if there be iniquity in my hands;
4 If I have rewarded evil unto him that was at peace with me; (yea, I have delivered him that without cause is mine enemy:)
5 Let the enemy persecute my soul, and take it; yea, let him tread down my life upon the earth, and lay mine honour in the dust. Selah.
6 Arise, O LORD, in thine anger, lift up thyself because of the rage of mine enemies: and awake for me to the judgment that thou hast commanded.
7 So shall the congregation of the people compass thee about: for their sakes therefore return thou on high.
8 The LORD shall judge the people: judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness, and according to mine integrity that is in me.
9 Oh let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end; but establish the just: for the righteous God trieth the hearts and reins.
10 My defence is of God, which saveth the upright in heart.
11 God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day.
12 If he turn not, he will whet his sword; he hath bent his bow, and made it ready.
13 He hath also prepared for him the instruments of death; he ordaineth his arrows against the persecutors.
14 Behold, he travaileth with iniquity, and hath conceived mischief, and brought forth falsehood.
15 He made a pit, and digged it, and is fallen into the ditch which he made.
16 His mischief shall return upon his own head, and his violent dealing shall come down upon his own pate.
17 I will praise the LORD according to his righteousness: and will sing praise to the name of the LORD most high.
Psalm 1 – J. Vernon McGee
Psalm 7 – Refuge in God from Evil Men
This psalm should be compared with I Samuel 24, 25, 26. Cush, or “dark-complexioned,” may refer to a Benjamite who was David’s calumniator with Saul. If David needed deliverance from his foes, how much more do we from Satan! I Peter 5:8-9.
So far from being guilty of the offense charged against him, David on two occasions had spared Saul’s life, I Samuel 24 and 26. It seems as if, Psalm 7:6-9, God has abdicated His throne, and the suppliant is pleading with him to resume it, with no fear as to the verdict. Evil recoils, like the boomerang, on those who set it in motion. Ralph the Rover perished on the Inchcape Rock, whose warning bell he had destroyed. The hunter falls into the pit prepared in the forest track for his prey, Judges 1:7. What a noble prayer in Psalm 7:9! —Through the Bible Day by Day
Psalm 7:8—Judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness, and according to mine integrity.
Specific charges were being made against David, of which he knew himself to be absolutely innocent. He would not have dared to challenge God thus, if the whole of his life was passing under review. In that case there would have been no hesitation in confessing that, taken generally, he was a sinful man. Similarly, God’s children are often accused of wrongs of which they are absolutely innocent. In such case they have a right to declare their innocence before their fellows; then if this avail not to procure their acquittal, they must turn to God, and ask Him to interpose.
But what a question this suggests! Are you able, child of God, to declare that, as far as you have the light, you are living righteously, soberly, godly, in this present world? Is your life right-wise—that is, four-square with the demands of God’s law, able to bear the test of his line and plummet? Can you assert your integrity? Integrity is derived from the Latin integer, a whole, a number unbroken by fractions. Are you whole-hearted? or, to use the grand old word, is your heart perfect before God? If it be, it matters very little what men shall say of your character. If a man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but glorify God on this behalf. What is said is aimed rather at the Master than the servant. God becomes responsible for you vindication. He will arise and show Himself strong, putting to silence the enemy and avenger. Trust your reputation with God, and, in the meanwhile, go on doing his will. There is no harm in calmly and temperately attesting your innocence; but if this avails not to stay the storm, bend before it. Do not appeal to law. God will vindicate you. —Our Daily Homily