Yahweh My God

O LORD My God, in You I put my trust;
Save me from all those who persecute me;
And deliver me.

(Psalm 7:1)

The inscription on this psalm calls it “a meditation of David, which he sang to the LORD concerning the works of Cush, a Benjamite.” We cannot positively identify who Cush was or relate this to any particular incident in Scripture. All we know about it is what we find reflected in this psalm.

David is looking for vindication from Yahweh. Apparently, Cush made some accusations against him, charging him with iniquity, doing evil to one who was at peace with him and plundering him without cause (Psalm 7:3-5). It seems likely that the allegedly aggrieved party Cush had in mind was himself.
Cush was not a helpless individual, though. It looks like he was himself a warrior, with a band of soldiers to rival David’s, for David is concerned, “Lest they tear me like a lion, rending me in pieces, while there is none to deliver (v.2).

This was a matter of covenant. David was of the tribe of Judah, Cush was of the tribe of Benjamin, and both were of Israel, the people with whom God made covenant. Because they were both in covenant with God, they both had covenant responsibilities toward each other. Now there was strife between them, a division so serious it was about to escalate into all out war.

David turns to God, as he always does, even when he is in the wrong. He appeals to Yahweh to judge the matter and is ready for the verdict either way: “O LORD My God, if I have done this … let the enemy pursue me and overtake me. Yes, let him trample my life to the earth and lay my honor in the dust” (vv. 3-5).

However, David is confident of a different verdict and his expectation is that he will be vindicated: “Judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness, and according to my integrity within me” (v. 8). He has kept his covenant obligation toward his neighbor and has not been deceitful. He leaves it to God, who “tests the hearts and minds” (v. 9), to decide the case. “My defense is of God, who saves the upright in heart” (v. 10).

In this name Yahweh My God, we see the covenant aspect and the personal aspect. Yahweh is the personal name by which God revealed Himself to His people in covenant. By calling Him my God, David sees himself as in personal relationship with Yahweh. David trusts in Him, runs to Him for refuge and is submissive to Him. He looks to Yahweh as the one who knows his heart, the judge who will render proper judgment and set things right for him. We find this name a number of times in the psalms, most if not all of them, by David:

Consider and hear me, O LORD My God,
Enlighten my eyes,
Lest I sleep the sleep of death;
Lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed against him;”
Lest those who trouble me rejoice when I am moved.

(Psalm 13:3)

The LORD My God will enlighten my darkness. (Psalm 18:28)

O LORD My God, I cried out to You, and You healed me. (Psalm 30:2)

Vindicate me, O LORD My God,
According to Your righteousness;
And let them not rejoice over me.

(Psalm 35:24)

Many, O LORD My God, are Your wonderful works
Which You have done;
And Your thoughts toward us
Cannot be recounted to You in order;
If I would declare and speak of them,
They are more than can be numbered.

(Psalm 40:5)

I will praise You, O LORD My God with all my heart,
And I will glorify Your name forever.

(Psalm 86:12)

O LORD My God, You are very great;
You are clothed with honor and majesty.

(Psalm 104:1)

David looks to Yahweh My God to vindicate him, enlighten his eyes and his darkness (that is, to renew his strength and vitality in the face of his foe), and to heal him. He praises Him for His greatness, honor and majesty. He acknowledges the wonderful works his God has done for him and the multitude of thoughts He has toward him.

We do not find this name in the New Testament but we do find the qualities it represents. We see them in Yeshua haMeshiach (Jesus the Anointed). In Him we have new covenant and personal relationship with God. In Him we are vindicated — God finds in our favor and judges us as righteous. In Him we have one whose works on our behalf are indeed wonderful and whose thoughts toward us are too many to count.

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written: “For Your sake we are killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.” Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:31-39)

Yahweh My God!
Yeshua My God!
Jesus My God!