Albert Barnes Commentary Psalms 7:5

"Let the enemy pursue my soul, and overtake it; Yea, let him tread my life down to the earth, And lay my glory in the dust. Selah" — Psalms 7:5 (ASV)

Let the enemy persecute my soul — Persecute my “life,” because the word translated “soul” — נפשׁ nephesh — is clearly used this way here. He was willing, if he had been guilty of the accusation, for the enemy mentioned here to “pursue” or persecute him until his life was destroyed. Compare this with Paul's statement in Acts 25:11.

The meaning here is simply that if he were guilty as accused, he would be willing to be treated accordingly. He did not wish to shield himself from any just treatment; if he had been guilty, he would not complain even if he were cut off from the land of the living.

And take it — Take my life; put me to death.

Yes, let him tread down my life upon the earth — The allusion here is to the way the vanquished were often treated in battle, when they were ridden over by horses or trampled by men into the dust. David’s idea is that if he were guilty, he would be willing for his enemy to triumph over him, subdue him, and treat him with the utmost indignity and scorn.

And lay my honor in the dust — All the tokens or marks of my honor or distinction in life. That is, I am willing to be utterly degraded and humbled if I have been guilty of this conduct toward my enemy.

The idea in all this is that David did not wish to shield himself from the treatment he deserved if he had done wrong. His own principles were such that he would have felt the treatment mentioned here would have been right and proper as a recompense for such base conduct. He would not have had a word to say against it. Therefore, his desire for God’s intervention arose solely from his feeling that, in these respects, he was entirely innocent, and that his enemy's conduct was unjust and cruel.

Selah — A musical pause, not affecting the meaning, but introduced here, perhaps, because the meaning of the psalm now demanded a change in the style of the music. See the notes at Psalms 3:2.