Let the Thanks Come out! #5

 In Psalm 7, David is crying out to God, as he is being both sought after and spoken evil of by those who were out to get him. After first opening up his own life for God's examination, halfway through the song He brings us back to the character of God:

8 The Lord judges the peoples;
    judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness
    and according to the integrity that is in me.
9 Oh, let the evil of the wicked come to an end,
    and may you establish the righteous—
you who test the minds and hearts,
    O righteous God!
10 My shield is with God,
    who saves the upright in heart.
11 God is a righteous judge,
    and a God who feels indignation every day.
12 If a man does not repent, God will whet his sword;
    he has bent and readied his bow;
13 he has prepared for him his deadly weapons,
    making his arrows fiery shafts.
14 Behold, the wicked man conceives evil
    and is pregnant with mischief
    and gives birth to lies.
15 He makes a pit, digging it out,
    and falls into the hole that he has made.
16 His mischief returns upon his own head,
    and on his own skull his violence descends.
17 I will give to the Lord the thanks due to his righteousness,
    and I will sing praise to the name of the Lord, the Most High.

God is the righteous judge. David had been looking at his own righteousness as compared to that of those who were against him, as we see in the first verse we read. But as he struggled with God about his circumstances his focus turned to the righteousness of God, as we find in verse 11: God is a righteous judge, and a God who feels indignation every day. God can truly say: "Welcome to my world, where every day people, including you, have evil words, actions, and intentions." What should be our response? Give thanks to the Lord! He is just and good, and He knows what He's doing. He sees it all. We cannot.