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Psalm 17
A prayer of David
1Hear, O LORD, my righteous plea;
listen to my cry.
Give ear to my prayer--
it does not rise from deceitful lips.
2May my vindication come from You;
may Your eyes see what is right.
3Though You probe my heart and examine me at night,
though You test me, You will find nothing;
I have resolved that my mouth will not sin.
4As for the deeds of men--
by the word of Your lips
I have kept myself from the ways of the violent.
5My steps have held to Your paths;
my feet have not slipped.
6I call on you, O God, for You will answer me;
give ear to me and hear my prayer.
7Show the wonder of Your great love,
You who save by Your right hand
those who take refuge in You from their foes.
8Keep me as the apple of Your eye;
hide me in the shadow of Your wings
9from the wicked who assail me,
from my mortal enemies who surround me.
10They close up their callous hearts,
and their mouths speak with arrogance.
11They have tracked me down, they now surround me,
with eyes alert, to throw me to the ground.
12They are like a lion hungry for prey,
like a great lion crouching in cover.
13Rise up, O LORD, confront them, bring them down;
rescue me from the wicked by Your sword.
14O LORD, by Your hand save me from such men,
from men of this world whose reward is in this life.
You still the hunger of those You cherish;
their sons have plenty,
and they store up wealth for their children.
15And I--in righteousness I shall see Your face;
when I awake, I shall be satisfied with seeing Your likeness.
This psalm, as the inscription informs us, is "A prayer of David", as are many of the psalms. We should all be men and women of prayer. David sets a worthy example of prayerfulness. He prays in all situations, pouring out his heart to God, expressing to God all of his thoughts and feelings, hiding nothing.
Much of the psalm is spent in setting up (so to speak) the petitions of the prayer. The actual petitions do not come until verses 13 and 14. In verses 1 through 12, David delineates the reasons why God should answer his prayer: because his cause is righteous (vv. 1-5); because of God's love for His people (vv. 6-9); because of the evil of his enemies (vv. 9-12). David's petitions follow (vs. 13-14a). David concludes the psalm by (in faith) contrasting the ends for his enemies versus his own ends (14b-15).
David's Righteous Cause
1Hear, O LORD, my righteous plea;
listen to my cry.
Give ear to my prayer--
it does not rise from deceitful lips.
2May my vindication come from You;
may Your eyes see what is right.
3Though you probe my heart and examine me at night,
though you test me, you will find nothing;
I have resolved that my mouth will not sin.
4As for the deeds of men--
by the word of your lips
I have kept myself from the ways of the violent.
5My steps have held to your paths;
my feet have not slipped.
Christ clearly stated: "In this world you will have trouble" (John 16:33). This fact is not borne out more clearly than in the lives of God's people as documented throughout the Bible. God's people are as liable (more so, it seems) to face trouble as anyone else. There is, however, a great difference between the lot of God's people, and that of those who do not know God: we can turn to God in prayer. Herein lies a great difference.
As we have seen in our study of the Psalms, David's life was, indeed, full of trouble. So here again, David prays for deliverance from trouble: "Hear, O LORD, my righteous plea; listen to my cry. Give ear to my prayer." David (almost redundantly) entreats that God would "hear", "listen" and "give ear" to his prayer. David's three-fold repetition expresses his vehemence for his petition. It also reminds us that, so often, the unrighteous are the most vocal. David prays that God would hear the righteous, not the loudest.
David asks God to take heed of three different things: his "righteous plea", his "cry", and his "prayer". Each of these three support David's case as to why God should answer his act upon his petition. The first, his "righteous plea", appeals to God's own righteousness, an immutable character trait of God. The second, his "cry", appeals to God's love for His people, for what father can ignore the "cry" of his child? The third, his "prayer", appeals to the value that God places on the institution of "prayer". It is largely (nearly exclusively) through "prayer", the petitions of His people, that God has chosen to intervene in this world. We would be hard-pressed to find any action of God that has not been the result of "prayer".
David reminds God that his prayer "does not rise from deceitful lips." God, of course, "searches our hearts" (cf. Rom. 8:27) and can discern the depth of our sincerity. A great distinguishing trait between God and man is that God cares more about, not the outward actions, but the attitudes of the heart. The Lord Himself told Samuel: "The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." (I Sam. 16:7). There is no use pretending in prayer to God: God "looks at the heart."
David desires to use this fact to his advantage, for he is blameless in this situation. We are not told the circumstances of the situation to which this prayer pertains. Many think that this was a prayer of deliverance from Saul and his army. Certainly, in that situation, David was in the right (indeed, he was blameless). In any case, David asks God to base His reaction to David's prayer solely upon the merits of the situation. David is not seeking some unfair advantage, or special privilege; rather, David is seeking righteousness and justice. He says: "May my vindication come from You; may Your eyes see what is right." It is much easier to pray from the position of seeking righteousness than of seeking mercy. When one is blameless, one can pray with confidence that the desired answer is within God's will, for God is righteous and just. It is indeed a blessing that we have somewhere to turn for perfect justice; the "justice" systems of men are often imperfect, setting free the guilty, imprisoning the innocent. However, man's injustice to man is righted by God, whether it be in this life or the next.
David was so confident of his standing in this situation that he challenged God to subject him to intense scrutiny: "Though You probe my heart and examine me at night, though You test me, You will find nothing." David appealed to God on a basis that his enemies could not, as we shall see in verses 10 through 12. The standards of scrutiny that David requests are the most stringent: to "probe [one's] heart" (for the heart reveals one's true character), to "examine [one] at night" (for one is most vulnerable to sin at night), to withstand the "test" of God (for the testing of God is a true test of righteousness).
David was not only blameless in the past situation, but he plans to remain so: "I have resolved that my mouth will not sin." We stumble in sin often because we have no resolution to be free from sin. We need such resolution. Unfortunately, many (instead of having a resolve against sin) actually secretly desire to sin. You are bound to stumble if you have a desire for sin. You need rather a hatred for sin. If you do not have a hatred for sin, pray that God would give you such a hatred.
David specifically resolves "that [his] mouth will not sin". David singles out the tongue for special attention because so much sin begins with the tongue, and sins of the tongue are easiest to fall into. As James says: "If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check" (James 3:2).
David goes on to say that he has not been led into sin by the misconduct of his enemies: "As for the deeds of men--by the word of Your lips I have kept myself from the ways of the violent. My steps have held to your paths; my feet have not slipped." Sin begets sin. It is easy to be led into violence when violence is inflicted upon us. We must be careful lest we be drawn into sin by those who sin around us. David resisted sin "by the word of [God's] lips." The Word of God affords the greatest resistance against temptation. David used it here; Christ used it when He resisted temptation (cf. Matt. 4). But to use the Word against temptation, we must know the Word. "Oh, it is a great advantage when we have the word not only by us, but in us, engrafted in the heart; when it is present with us, we are more able to resist the assaults of Satan. Either a man forgets the word, or hath lost his affection to it, before he can be drawn to sin."[Footnote #9]
God's Love for His People
6I call on You, O God, for You will answer me;
give ear to me and hear my prayer.
7Show the wonder of Your great love,
You who save by Your right hand
those who take refuge in You from their foes.
8Keep me as the apple of Your eye;
hide me in the shadow of Your wings
9from the wicked who assail me,
from my mortal enemies who surround me.
In the first five verses, David offered up his own blamelessness as a reason that God should answer his prayer. Here, David gives a second reason for God to answer his prayer, that is, God's love for His people: "I call on You, O God, for You will answer me; give ear to me and hear my prayer. Show the wonder of Your great love, You who save by Your right hand those who take refuge in You from their foes." David knows of God's love through past experience with answered prayer. This is why he says confidently: "I call on You, O God, for You will answer me." When you trust the Lord, it's a never-ending, glorious cycle: dependence upon Him begets confidence, confidence leads to answered prayer, answered prayer leads to further dependence, etc.
David enumerates some of the aspects of God's love for His people. God "save[s] by [His] right hand." The right hand is the hand of strength, so David is saying that God does not pull punches when coming to the rescue of His people. David prays to God: "Keep me as the apple of Your eye; hide me in the shadow of Your wings..." The "apple of Your eye" refers to one's pupil, which is a very valuable, yet small and easily injured, part of the body. Because of this, God has designed special protections for our pupils. They set into the socket of the eye so that they physically have special protections. God has also given us special reflexes which naturally protect the eye when danger threatens it. David is asking for the same sort of special protection.
David asks for similar protection when he asks to be hidden "in the shadow of [God's] wings." This speaks of the special protection that a bird gives its chicks. Jesus desires to give His people such protection. In fact, He lamented that the people of Jerusalem did not "hide in the shadow of [His] wings": "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing." (Matt. 23:37).
The Evils of David's Enemies
10They close up their callous hearts,
and their mouths speak with arrogance.
11They have tracked me down, they now surround me,
with eyes alert, to throw me to the ground.
12They are like a lion hungry for prey,
like a great lion crouching in cover.
David cites, as the third reason that his prayer should be answered, the wickedness of his enemies. In summary, they are hardened, arrogant, anxious to sin, beastly. They are wicked inside and out, with "callous hearts" and mouths that speak "with arrogance". Their sin is premeditated, for David says: "They have tracked me down, they now surround me, with eyes alert, to throw me to the ground." Their behavior is like the worst of savage animals: "They are like a lion hungry for prey, like a great lion crouching in cover."
The Petition
13Rise up, O LORD, confront them, bring them down;
rescue me from the wicked by your sword.
Finally, having set up the reason that God should answer his prayer, David gets to the main petition: "Rise up, O LORD, confront them, bring them down; rescue me from the wicked by your sword. O LORD, by your hand save me from such men." David is asking for direct intervention in the situation, by saying "by your hand save me." David is asking for a true "act of God." Make no mistake, God does at times directly intervene. Expect as much when you pray!
Disparate Ends Contrasted
14O LORD, by your hand save me from such men,
from men of this world whose reward is in this life.
You still the hunger of those You cherish;
their sons have plenty,
and they store up wealth for their children.
15And I--in righteousness I shall see Your face;
when I awake, I shall be satisfied with seeing Your likeness.
To close the psalm, David contrasts the disparate ends that his enemies and he will have. David describes his enemies as "men of this world whose reward is in this life." It is sad when one's rewards are found solely in this life. Many see this life as all. They even desire (through reincarnation) to return to it after they die. Their eyes gaze in rapt attention upon the glittering gold of this life. They do not realize that gold is merely street pavement in Heaven! Many, even Christians, assess others by their net worth. "Oh" (we say) "he drives that car; he lives on that hill; he has that job; etc." When assessing others, we nearly always overlook the things that matter, the true riches, the riches that will survive this decaying world. We fail to consider all the things that those "whose reward is in this life" lack. "They [lack] interest in God, Christ, the Spirit, the promises, the covenant of grace, and everlasting glory; they [lack] acceptation and reconciliation with God; they [lack] righteousness, justification, sanctification, adoption, and redemption; they [lack] the pardon of sin, and power against sin, and freedom from the dominion of sin; they [lack] that favor that is greater than life, and that joy that is unspeakable and full of glory, and that peace that passes understanding, and that grace, the least spark of which is more worth than heaven and earth; they [lack] a house that hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God; they [lack] those riches that perish not, the glory that fades not, that kingdom that shakes not."[Footnote #10]
Though the wicked have nothing in the next life, we have what we need in this life. As David reminds: "You still the hunger of those You cherish." God provides for our needs, He "still[s] the hunger." God also blesses the families of the righteous: "[T]heir sons have plenty and they store up wealth for their children."
David concludes by eloquently expressing the riches that do not perish: "And I" (contrary to those who have their riches in this world) "--in righteousness I shall see Your face; when I awake, I shall be satisfied with seeing Your likeness." The greatest moment of our existence will come when we pass from this life and "awake" to see the face of God, smiling in approval. No, our reward is not in this life (as it is for the wicked), so why wait for it here? Do not expect worldly rewards; do not even desire them. All they could do is distract you from God. Instead, long for the time when you will "awake" to see the face of God. Then, like David, you "shall be satisfied" with eternal satisfaction.
Lord, help us to rest in this hope, the hope of waking and seeing Your face. May this hope strengthen us in times of trouble. We praise You for the eternal satisfaction that You have promised us in Your Kingdom. Moreover, we praise You for the righteousness, that we have received through faith in Jesus Christ, which makes it possible to dwell with You in Your Kingdom. In His name we pray, Amen.
(Our study in the Psalms will continue in the next issue)
9. Thomas Manton, cited in Spurgeon, A Treasury of David, Vol. I; pg. 224.
10. Thomas Brooks, Precious Remedies Against Satan's Devices, from The Works of Thomas Brooks, Vol. 1; pg. 44.
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