He Pleads His Own Innocence (Psalms 7:3-5).
O YHWH, my God, if I have done this,
If there be iniquity in my hands,
If I have rewarded evil to him who was at peace with me,
Yes, I have delivered him who was without cause my adversary,
Let the enemy pursue my life (nephesh), and overtake it,
Yes, let him tread my life (chay) down to the earth,
And lay my glory in the dust.' Selah.
David is aware that YHWH at least knows the truth, that he is innocent of seeking Saul's death. He is guilty of no ‘iniquity' in this regard. Iniquity is the opposite of ‘right' and indicates what is crooked and distorted. Indeed he has never done evil against anyone who was at peace with him, and he has spared Saul's life more than once, in spite of the fact that he is his enemy without genuine reason (1 Samuel 24:3-6; 1 Samuel 26:11). Happy is the man who can say from an honest heart that he has treated fairly those who have treated him fairly, and even those who have treated him unfairly, as David could.
He declares that he is quite willing to be judged in this regard, and that if it be proved untrue, then he is ready to forfeit his own life to the violent men who seek him. Then let him be pursued and slain, his breath be taken from him, and his life trodden in the earth, and his glory laid in the dust (compare Isaiah 26:19). ‘Breath', ‘life' and ‘glory' are three parallel words. Man had within him the breath (nephesh) of life (chay) (Genesis 2:7), and was made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26-27). This was man's glory, the image of the divine glory (compare Psalms 16:9; Psalms 30:12; Psalms 57:8).