Albert Barnes Commentary Psalms 7:3

"O Jehovah my God, if I have done this; If there be iniquity in my hands;" — Psalms 7:3 (ASV)

O Lord my God - A solemn appeal to God as to the sincerity and truth of what he was about to say.

If I have done this - This refers to the accusation made against him, for it is evident that "Cush," whoever he was, had accused David of some wrongdoing—some wicked action. What that was can only be learned from what follows, and even this is not very specific.

As far as it appears, however, the accusation seems to be that David brought evil in some way upon someone who was at peace with him. This means he was accused of wantonly and without provocation wronging this person and, as a result of this wrongdoing, had the gains from it in his own possession—some spoil, plunder, or property that he had taken from him.

The charge, it seems, was that he had made a wanton and unprovoked attack on someone who had not injured him, and that he had taken, and still had in his possession, something of value that properly belonged to another.

It is not clear from the psalm whether the accuser (Cush) in this referred to himself or to some other person. However, since Cush was filled with rage and David’s life was endangered by him, it seems most probable that the reference was to Cush himself, and that he felt he had been personally wronged.

David’s purpose in the passage before us is to deny this charge completely. He does this in the most explicit manner, stating that the accusation was so far from being true that he had, on the contrary, delivered the life of the one who was his enemy. He adds that if the charge were true, he would be willing for the injured man to persecute and oppose him, and even trample his life down to the earth.

If there be iniquity in my hands - This means, if the iniquity he refers to is present; or, in other words, if he had in his possession what had been wrongfully taken from another—namely, as it appears, from this "Cush" who now accused him.

The word "iniquity" here denotes an "unjust possession"—property that had been unjustly taken from another. As remarked above, the slanderous charge seems to have been that he had taken that property from someone who was at peace with him and that he retained it contrary to justice.

David means to deny this charge peremptorily.