Psalms 7:2

“Lest he tear my soul like a lion, etc.] That is, one of his persecutors, the chief of them; it may be Saul, whom the psalmist compares to a lion for his majesty and greatness, the lion being the king among beasts; and for his authority, power, and might, and for his wrath and cruelty, which he feared; and which, should it be exerted on him, would tear his soul, or himself, in pieces; would rend his soul from his body, and dispatch his life; (see <201912>Proverbs 19:12). So the Apostle Paul calls the Roman governor, before whom he was, and from whose hands he was delivered, a lion, for his power and fierceness, (<550417>2 Timothy 4:17). And so our adversary the devil, the chief of all…”

“Lest he - Lest “Cush” should do this. See the title, and the introduction to the psalm, Section 2. Tear my soul like a lion - Tear or rend my “life” - that is, “me” - like a lion. The word rendered “soul” here - נפשׁ nephesh - refers, as it properly does elsewhere, to the “life,” and not to the soul, as we use the term, denoting the thinking, immortal part. The simple idea is, that David was apprehensive of his “life,” and, in order to indicate his great peril, he uses language derived from the fierceness of the lion. Such imagery would be well understood in a country where lions abounded, and nothing could more strikingly denote the danger in which David was, or the fierceness of the wrath…”

“Lest - Mine enemy. Tear - Out of my body. Psalms 7:3”

“7:2 Like a lion, a wicked enemy relentlessly and violently pursues its prey (10:9; 17:12; 22:13, 21; 35:17; 57:4), but God promises victory (91:13).”

“Lest: Psa 35:15; Isa 38:13 like: Psa 10:9, Psa 17:12, Psa 22:13; Deu 33:20; Pro 19:12; Ti2 4:17; Pe1 5:8 rending: Psa 50:22; Hos 13:7, Hos 13:8 while: Jdg 18:28; Sa2 14:6 \*marg. Job 10:7, not to deliver, Heb. not a deliverer Psalms 7:3”