Hear, Yahweh, my righteous plea; Give ear to my prayer, that doesn’t go out of deceitful lips.
Parallel Translations
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Hear, Yahweh, my righteous plea; Give ear to my prayer, that doesn’t go out of deceitful lips.
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Hear the right, O LORD, attend unto my cry, give ear unto my prayer, that goeth not out of feigned lips.
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A Prayer of David. Hear the right, O LORD, attend unto my cry; give ear unto my prayer from lips without deceit.
Cross-references (21)
Passages linked to Psalms 17:1 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Psalms 142:6 Listen to my cry, for I am in desperate need. Deliver me from my persecutors, for they are too strong for me.
- Psalms 61:1 Hear my cry, God. Listen to my prayer.
- Psalms 145:18 Yahweh is near to all those who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.
- Daniel 9:18-19 My God, turn your ear, and hear. Open your eyes, and see our desolations, and the city which is called by your name; for we do not present our petitions before you for our righteousness, but for your great mercies’ sake. Lord, hear. Lord, forgive. Lord, listen and do. Don’t defer, for your own sake, my God, because your city and your people are called by your name.”
- Matthew 15:8 ‘These people draw near to me with their mouth, and honor me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.
- 1 John 3:21 Beloved, if our hearts don’t condemn us, we have boldness toward God;
- 2 Chronicles 7:15 Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to prayer that is made in this place.
- Psalms 7:8 Yahweh administers judgment to the peoples. Judge me, Yahweh, according to my righteousness, and to my integrity that is in me.
- Psalms 18:20 Yahweh has rewarded me according to my righteousness. According to the cleanness of my hands, he has recompensed me.
- Psalms 43:1 Vindicate me, God, and plead my cause against an ungodly nation. Oh, deliver me from deceitful and wicked men.
- Psalms 66:19 But most certainly, God has listened. He has heard the voice of my prayer.
- Psalms 86:1 Hear, Yahweh, and answer me, for I am poor and needy.
- Psalms 140:12 I know that Yahweh will maintain the cause of the afflicted, and justice for the needy.
- Isaiah 29:13 The Lord said, “Because this people draws near with their mouth and honors me with their lips, but they have removed their heart far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment of men which has been taught;
- Psalms 5:2 Listen to the voice of my cry, my King and my God; for I pray to you.
- Psalms 142:1 I cry with my voice to Yahweh. With my voice, I ask Yahweh for mercy.
- Nehemiah 1:6 Let your ear now be attentive, and your eyes open, that you may listen to the prayer of your servant, which I pray before you at this time, day and night, for the children of Israel your servants, while I confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against you. Yes, I and my father’s house have sinned.
- Psalms 18:44 As soon as they hear of me they shall obey me. The foreigners shall submit themselves to me.
- Psalms 55:2-3 Attend to me, and answer me. I am restless in my complaint, and moan because of the voice of the enemy, because of the oppression of the wicked. For they bring suffering on me. In anger they hold a grudge against me.
- John 1:47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and said about him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no deceit!”
- Jeremiah 3:10 Yet for all this her treacherous sister, Judah, has not returned to me with her whole heart, but only in pretense,” says Yahweh.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (26 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 1. Hear my righteousness, O Jehovah. The Psalmist begins…
1. Hear my righteousness, O Jehovah. The Psalmist begins the psalm by setting forth the goodness of his cause. He does this because God has promised that he will not suffer the innocent to be oppressed, but will always, at length, succor them. Some explain the word righteousness as denoting righteous prayer, an interpretation which appears to me unsatisfactory. The meaning rather is, that David, confiding in his own integrity, interposes God as a Judge between himself and his enemies, to cognosce or determine in his cause. We have already seen, in a preceding psalm, that when we have to deal with wicked men, we may warrantably protest our innocence before God. As, however, it would not be enough for the faithful to have the approving testimony of a good conscience, David adds to his protestation earnest prayer. Even irreligious persons may often be able justly to boast of having a good cause; but as they do not acknowledge that the world is governed by the providence of God, they content themselves with enjoying the approbation of their own conscience, as they speak, and, gnawing the bit, bear the injuries which are done to them rather obstinately than steadfastly, seeing they do not seek for any consolation in faith and prayer. But the faithful not only depend upon the goodness of their cause, they also commit it to God that he may defend and maintain it; and whenever any adversity befalls them, they betake themselves to him for help. This, therefore, is the meaning of the passage; it is a prayer that God, who knew David to have done justly, and to have performed his duty without giving occasion to any to blame him, “Que David se soit portd justement et fait son devoir sans donner a aucun occasion de le blasmer.” — Fr.
“Que nous sommes blasmez et persecutez a tort.” — Fr.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain My righteous cause.
My righteous cause.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Psa 17:1 « A Prayer of David. » Hear…
Psa 17:1 « A Prayer of David. » Hear the right, O LORD, attend unto my cry, give ear unto my prayer, [that goeth] not out of feigned lips.
A Prayer of David] He was a man of prayer; but this was his appeal to God, the supreme Judge, as the word importeth.
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Ver. 1. Hear the right, O Lord] Heb. Righteousness, which crieth unto God no less than blood doth, Gen 4:10 Or, hear the right, that is, my prayer, saith R. David, rightly made with heart and voice. Or, Hear, O righteous Lord, as Christ also saith, O righteous Father, Joh 17:25
Attend unto my cry] Some profane persons bear well their crosses, because their cause is good; but they cry not when God bindeth them, Job 36:13. Or, if they cry, they cry out of hard fortune, as the Athenians did when their good General Nicias was slain, and their army routed in Sicily (Thucyd.); or against dame Virtue, as if it were no more than a mere name, as Brutus did, when beaten out of the field (Dio). Or, against providence, as if there were a mist over the eye of it, as Pompey did, when discomfited by Caesar; so blaming the sun, because of the soreness of his own blear eyes. But David (greatly wronged by Saul and his courtiers) by humble and hearty prayer maketh his request known to God with thanksgiving, Php 4:6. And this, like his harp, drove away the evil spirit of grief and discontent.
That goeth not out of feigned lips] His devotion was not sorrowful, as is that of hypocrites; it was not an empty ring, a mere outside, the labour of the lips, but the travail of the heart; it was sincere and thoroughly wrought, as St James hath it, ενεργουμενη, Jas 5:16. Wicked men speak God fair, but it is as the devil did our Saviour, to be rid of him, or as those, Psa 78:36, who flattered him with their mouths, and lied unto him with their tongues.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain The right, Heb. righteousness, i.e. me, who, notwithstanding all…
The right, Heb. righteousness, i.e. me, who, notwithstanding all their accusations and slanders, am righteous. Or, my righteous cause; do thou take notice of it, and give sentence for me. Or, my righteous prayer. I desire nothing that is unreasonable or unjust, but that thou wouldst judge righteously between me and mine enemies, and vindicate thine own honour and faithfulness in making good thy promise to me; which thy righteousness obliges thee to do.
My cry, i.e. my fervent prayer attended with strong cries.
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Not out of feigned lips, Heb. not with deceitful lips, which speak one thing, when my heart knoweth and designeth another. And this profession of his sincerity in his words doth fitly make way for his solemn appeal to God in the following verses.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain This psalm is a prayer. As there is a…
This psalm is a prayer. As there is a time to weep and a time to rejoice, so there is a time for praise and a time for prayer. David was now persecuted, probably by Saul, who hunted him like a partridge on the mountains; without were fightings, within were fears, and both urged him as a suppliant to the throne of mercy. He addresses himself to God in these verses both by way of appeal (Hear the right, O Lord! let my righteous cause have a hearing before thy tribunal, and give judgment upon it) and by way of petition (Give ear unto my prayer Psa 17:1, and again Psa 17:6, Incline thy ear unto me and hear my speech); not that God needs to be thus pressed with our importunity, but he gives us leave thus to express our earnest desire of his gracious answers to our prayers. These things he pleads with God for audience, 1. That he was sincere, and did not dissemble with God in his prayer: It goeth not out of feigned lips. He meant as he spoke, and the feelings of his mind agreed with the expressions of his mouth. Feigned prayers are fruitless; but, if our hearts lead our prayers, God will meet them with his favour. 2. That he had been used to pray at other times, and it was not his distress and danger that now first brought him to his duty: "I have called upon thee formerly (Psa 17:6); therefore, Lord, hear me now." It will be a great comfort to us if trouble, when it comes, find the wheels of prayer a-going, for then we may come with the more boldness to the throne of grace. Tradesmen are willing to oblige those that have been long their customers. 3. That he was encouraged by his faith to expect God would take notice of his prayers: "I know thou wilt hear me, and therefore, O God, incline thy ear to me." Our believing dependence upon God is a good plea to enforce our desires towards him. Let us now see,
I. What his appeal is; and here observe,
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1. What the court is to the cognizance and determination of which he makes his appeal; it is the court of heaven. "Lord, do thou hear the right, for Saul is so passionate, so prejudiced, that he will not hear it. Lord, let my sentence come forth from thy presence, Psa 17:2. Men sentence me to be pursued and cut off as an evil-doer. Lord, I appeal from them to thee." This he did in a public remonstrance before Saul's face (Sa1 24:12, The Lord judge between me and thee), and he repeats it here in his private devotions. Note, (1.) The equity and extent of God's government and judgment are a very great support to injured innocency. If we are blackened, and abused, and misrepresented, by unrighteous men, it is a comfort that we have a righteous God to go to, who will take our part, who is the patron of the oppressed, whose judgment is according to truth, by the discoveries of which every person and every cause will appear in a true light, stripped of all false colours, and by the decisions of which all unrighteous dooms will be reversed, and to every man will be rendered according to his work. (2.) Sincerity dreads no scrutiny, no, not that of God himself, according to the tenour of the covenant of grace: Let thy eyes behold the things that are equal. God's omniscience is as much the joy of the upright as it is the terror of hypocrites, and is particularly comfortable to those who are falsely accused and in any wise have wrong done them.
2. What the evidence is by which he hopes to make good his appeal; it is the trial God had made of him (Psa 17:3): Thou hast proved my heart. God's sentence is therefore right, because he always proceeds upon his knowledge, which is more certain and infallible than that which men attain to by the closest views and the strictest investigations.
(1.) He knew God had tried him, [1.] By his own conscience, which is God's deputy in the soul. The spirit of a man is the candle of the Lord, with this God had searched him, and visited him in the night, when he communed with his own heart upon his bed. He had submitted to the search, and had seriously reviewed the actions of his life, to discover what was amiss, but could find nothing of that which his enemies charged him with. [2.] By providence. God had tried him by the fair opportunity he had, once and again, to kill Saul; he had tried him by the malice of Saul, the treachery of his friends, and the many provocations that were given him; so that, if he had been the man he was represented to be, it would have appeared; but, upon all these trials, there was nothing found against him, no proof at all of the things whereof they accused him.
(2.) God tried his heart, and could witness to the integrity of that; but, for the further proof of his integrity, he himself takes notice of two things concerning which his conscience bore him record: - [1.] That he had a fixed resolution against all sins of the tongue: "I have purposed and fully determined, in the strength of God's grace, that my mouth shall not transgress." He does not say, "I hope that it will not," or, "I wish that it may not," but, "I have fully purposed that it shall not:" with this bridle he kept his mouth, Psa 39:1. Note, Constant resolution and watchfulness against sins of the tongue will be a good evidence of our integrity. If any offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, Jam 3:2. He does not say, "My mouth never shall transgress" (for in many things we all offend), but, "I have purposed that it shall not;" and he that searches the heart knows whether the purpose be sincere. [2.] That he had been as careful to refrain from sinful actions as from sinful words (Psa 17:4): "Concerning the common works of men, the actions and affairs of human life, I have, by the direction of thy word, kept myself from the paths of the destroyer." Some understand it particularly, that he had not been himself a destroyer of Saul, when it lay in his power, nor had he permitted others to be so, but said to Abishai, Destroy him not, Sa1 26:9. But it may be taken more generally; he kept himself from all evil works, and endeavoured, according to the duty of his place, to keep others from them too. Note, First, The ways of sin are paths of the destroyer, of the devil, whose name is Abaddon and Apollyon, a destroyer, who ruins souls by decoying them into the paths of sin. Secondly, It concerns us all to keep out of the paths of the destroyer; for, if we walk in those ways that lead to destruction, we must thank ourselves if destruction and misery be our portion at last. Thirdly, It is by the word of God, as our guide and rule, that we must keep out of the paths of the destroyer, by observing its directions and admonitions, Psa 119:9. Fourthly, If we carefully avoid all the paths of sin, it will be very comfortable in the reflection, when we are in trouble. If we keep ourselves, that the wicked one touch us not with his temptations (Jo1 5:18), we may hope he will not be able to touch us with his terrors.
II. What his petition is; it is, in short, this, That he might experience the good work of God in him, as an evidence of and qualification for the good will of God towards him: this is grace and peace from God the Father. 1. He prays for the work of God's grace in him (Psa 17:5): "Hold up my going in thy paths. Lord, I have, by thy grace, kept myself from the paths of the destroyer; by the same grace let me be kept in thy paths; let me not only be restrained from doing that which is evil, but quickened to abound always in that which is good. Let my goings be held in thy paths, that I may not turn back from them nor turn aside out of them; let them be held up in thy paths, that I may not stumble and fall into sin, that I may not trifle and neglect my duty. Lord, as thou hast kept me hitherto, so keep me still." Those that are, through grace, going in God's paths, have need to pray, and do pray, that their goings may be held up in those paths; for we stand no longer than he is pleased to hold us, we go no further than he is pleased to lead us, bear us up, and carry us. David had been kept in the way of his duty hitherto, and yet he does not think that this would be his security for the future, and therefore prays, "Lord, still hold me up." Those that would proceed and persevere in the way of God must, by faith and prayer, fetch in daily fresh supplies of grace and strength from him. David was sensible that his way was slippery, that he himself was weak, and not so well fixed and furnished as he should be, that there were those who watched for his halting and would improve the least slip against him, and therefore he prays, "Lord, hold me up, that my foot slip not, that I may never say nor do any thing that looks either dishonest or distrustful of thee and thy providence and promise." 2. He prays for the tokens of God's favour to him, Psa 17:7. Observe here, (1.) How he eyes God as the protector and Saviour of his people, so he calls him, and thence he takes his encouragement in prayer: O thou that savest by thy right hand (by thy own power, and needest not the agency of any other) those who put their trust in thee from those that rise up against them. It is the character of God's people that they trust in him; he is pleased to make them confidants, for his secret is with the righteous; and they make him their trust, for to him they commit themselves. Those that trust in God have many enemies, many that rise up against them and seek their ruin; but they have one friend that is able to deal with them all, and, if he be for them, no matter who is against them. He reckons it his honour to be their Saviour. His almighty power is engaged for them, and they have all found him ready to save them. The margin reads it, O thou that savest those who trust in thee from those that rise up against thy right hand. Those that are enemies to the saints are rebels against God and his right hand, and therefore, no doubt, he will, in due time, appear against them. (2.) What he expects and desires from God: Show thy marvellous loving-kindness. The word signifies, [1.] Distinguishing favours. "Set apart thy loving-kindnesses for me; put me not off with common mercies, but be gracious to me, as thou usest to do to those who love thy name." [2.] Wonderful favours. "O make thy loving-kindness admirable! Lord, testify thy favour to me in such a way that I and others may wonder at it." God's loving-kindness is marvellous for the freeness and the fulness of it; in some instances it appears, in a special manner, marvellous (Psa 118:23), and it will certainly appear so in the salvation of the saints, when Christ shall come to be glorified in the saints and to be admired in all those that believe.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Hear the right, O Lord,.... The psalmist appeals to…
Hear the right, O Lord,.... The psalmist appeals to the Lord as a Judge, sitting on the throne judging right, that he would hear his cause litigated between him and his adversaries, determine and give the decisive sentence about it; so Christ committed himself to him that judgeth righteously, Pe1 2:23; for by "right" may be meant his right and cause, or his righteous cause, as in Psa 9:4; unless rather his righteous prayer should be intended, so the Targum paraphrases it, "my prayer in righteousness"; not presented for the sake of his own righteousness, but on account of the righteousness of Christ, and for the vindication of his righteous cause before men: the Vulgate Latin, Ethiopic, and Arabic versions, render it "my righteousness", meaning his righteous cause; but rather the word may be rendered "righteousness" (z), or the "righteous one", and may design the psalmist himself, who was a righteous person, and such the Lord hears; or Christ, whose name is the Lord our righteousness, Jer 23:6; and who, as an advocate or intercessor for himself and for his people, is Jesus Christ the righteous, Jo1 2:1. The Septuagint version takes it to be an epithet of the Lord himself, translating it, "O Lord of my righteousness", as in Psa 4:1; and so the Syriac version, "hear, O holy Lord"; and in this manner does Christ address his father in prayer, Joh 17:11; and the consideration of the holiness and righteousness of God is of use in prayer to glorify God, and to command a proper awe and reverence of him;
attend unto my cry; the word for "cry" signifies both a noise made in a way of joy and grief; wherefore the Chaldee paraphrase renders it, "attend to my praise", or hymn of praise, and which arises from sorrow and distress; and intends not mental prayer attended with groanings which cannot be uttered, but vocal prayer expressed in a loud and mournful manner, signifying the distress the person is in, and his earnestness and importunacy for help; and of this sort were some of Christ's prayers; see Heb 5:7;
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give ear unto my prayer, that goeth not out of feigned lips; hypocritical and deceitful ones; but this went forth from his heart, which was lifted up with his hands to God, to whom he drew nigh with a true heart, and called upon him in the sincerity and uprightness of his soul; and of this sort were all Christ's prayers, in whose mouth there is no guile: the various expressions, "hear, attend, give ear", which signify the same thing, show the distress the supplicant was in, the fervency of his prayer, and his vehement and earnest desire to be heard and answered immediately; and since the accent "athnach" is upon the word "my prayer", this last clause is not to be joined only to that, but refers to all that is said before; as that his "right" and his "cry", as well as his prayer, were unfeigned.
(z) "justitiam", Vatablus, Cocceius, Gejerus; , Aquila in Drusius; "justitiam", i.e. "me qui sum justus", Piscator.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain David appealing to God for his integrity, begs for…
David appealing to God for his integrity, begs for defense against his enemies, ver. 1-9. Describes their wickedness, ver. 10- 12. Prays for deliverance from them, and rests in hope, ver. 13-15. A prayer of David.
The right - Regard my righteous cause.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain David implores the succour of God against his enemies;…
PSALM XVII
David implores the succour of God against his enemies; and
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professes his integrity and determination to live to God's
glory, 1.
He prays for support, and expresses strong confidence in God,
5-9;
describes the malice and cruelty of his enemies, and prays
against them, 10-14;
receives a strong persuasion of support and final victory, 15.
NOTES ON PSALM XVII
The title is, A prayer of David; in which there is nothing that requires explanation. David was most probably the author of this Psalm; and it appears to have been written about the time in which Saul had carried his persecution against him to the highest pitch. See 1Sa 27:1-12. The Arabic calls it "A prayer of a perfect man, of Christ himself, or of any one redeemed by him." Dr. Delaney, in his life of David, supposes that this poem was written just after parting with Jonathan, when David went into exile.
Verse 1. Hear the right] Attend to the justice of my cause, יהוה צדק Yehovah tsedek, righteous Jehovah. "O righteous Jehovah, attend unto my cry."
Goeth not out of feigned lips.] My supplication is sincere: and the desire of my heart accompanies the words of my lips.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Psa 17:1. Hear the right, O Lord — Hebrew,…
Psa 17:1. Hear the right, O Lord — Hebrew, צדק, tzedek, righteousness, that is, my righteous cause, or me, who, notwithstanding all their accusations, and slanders, am righteous in my conduct toward them and all men. Attend unto my cry — My fervent prayer, attended with strong cries. That goeth not out of feigned lips — Hebrew, שׁפתי מרמה, shipthee mirmah, lips of deceit, or of guile, which speak one thing when the heart knows and designs another. This profession of his sincerity in his words fitly makes way for his solemn appeal to God, in the following verses.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Hear the right - Margin, as in Hebrew, “justice.”…
Hear the right - Margin, as in Hebrew, “justice.” The prayer is, that God would regard that which was “right” in the case, or that he would vindicate the psalmist from that which was wrong. It is the expression of his confident assurance even in the presence of God that his cause was right, and that he was asking only that which it would be consistent for a “just” God to do. We can offer an acceptable prayer only when we are sure that it would be right for God to answer it, or that it would be consistent with perfect and eternal justice to grant our requests. It is to be observed here, however, that the ground of the petition of the psalmist is not that “he” was righteous, that is, he did not base his petition on the ground of his own merits, but that his “cause” was righteous; that he was unjustly oppressed and persecuted by his enemies. We cannot ask God to interpose in our behalf because we have a claim to his favor on the ground of our own merit; we may ask him to interpose because wrong is done, and his glory will be promoted in securing that which is just and right.
Attend unto my cry - The word used here - רנה rinnâh - means either a shout of joy, Psa 30:5; Psa 42:4; Psa 47:1; or a mournful cry, outcry, wailing, Psa 61:1; et soepe. It is expressive, in either case, of deep feeling which vents itself in an audible manner. Here it denotes the earnest “utterance” of prayer.
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Give ear unto my prayer - See the notes at Psa 5:1.
That goeth not out of feigned lips - Margin, as in Hebrew, “without lips of deceit.” That is, that is sincere, or that proceeds from the heart. The utterance of the lips does not misrepresent the feelings of the heart. True prayer is that in which the lips “do” represent the real feelings of the soul. In hypocritical prayer the one is no proper representation of the other. It is evident that the prayer here was not mere mental prayer, or a mere desire of the heart. It was uttered prayer, or oral prayer; and, though private, it was in the form of uttered words. The feeling was so great that it was expressed in an audible cry to God. Deep emotion usually finds vent in such audible and fervent expressions. Compare the Saviour’s earnest prayer in the garden of Gethsemane, Luk 22:41 ff.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain Psalms 17
Psalms 17
A Prayer of David
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1 Hear the right, O Lord, attend unto my cry;
Give ear unto my prayer, that goeth not out of feigned lips.
2 Let my sentence come forth from thy presence;
Let thine eyes behold the things that are equal.
3 Thou hast proved mine heart; thou hast visited me in the night;
Thou hast tried me, and shalt find nothing:
I am purposed that my mouth shall not transgress.
4 Concerning the works of men, by the word of thy lips
I have kept me from the paths of the destroyer.
5 Hold up my goings in thy paths,
That my footsteps slip not.
6 I have called upon thee, for thou wilt hear me, O God:
Incline thine ear unto me, and hear my speech.
7 Shew thy marvellous loving-kindness, O thou that savest by thy right hand them which put their trust in thee
From those that rise up against them.
8 Keep me as the apple of the eye;
Hide me under the shadow of thy wings,
9 From the wicked that oppress me,
From my deadly enemies, who compass me about.
10 They are inclosed in their own fat:
With their mouth they speak proudly.
11 They have now compassed us in our steps:
They have set their eyes bowing down to the earth;
12 Like as a lion that is greedy of his prey.
And as it were a young lion lurking in secret places.
13 Arise, O Lord, disappoint him, cast him down:
Deliver my soul from the wicked, which is thy sword:
14 From men which are thy hand. O Lord, from men of the world,
Which have their portion in this life, and whose belly thou fillest with thy hid treasure:
They are full of children, and leave the rest of their substance to their oabes.
15 As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness:
I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
Title and Contents.—Respecting tefillah, vid. Introduction. This Psalm has so strongly impressed upon it the characteristics of a prayer, as it wrenches itself from the soul of a man hard pressed by deadly enemies, in a moment of greatest danger, that we need not suppose that the title is a later addition taken from Psa_17:1 b (Hitzig). The manner of expression discloses so vividly the agitation, change of sentiment, individuality, and the immediateness of the circumstances, that we are still less to think of the abstract person of the righteous (Hengst.), or of a poet, unknown in person and circumstances, as it is pretended is the case in most of the Psalms of lamentation and prayer (Hupf.); for in the life of David, in the time of the persecution by Saul according to 1 Samuel 23, there were circumstances corresponding exactly with those of this Psalm (Hitzig); and the language which is frequently hard and inflexible, with its peculiarly irregular turns and gloomy tones, together with other points of contact with prominent expressions in other Psalms of David, is a very marked echo of his frame of mind (Delitzsch), although we may perhaps in some passages admit a corruption of the text. (Olsh.)6
The prayer begins with calling upon God as the righteous Judge and infallible searcher of hearts, with an appeal to the honesty of the petitioner (Psa_17:1-2), who knows that he is searched through and through in his inmost soul by God, and accordingly holding fast to the word and ways of God he has kept himself in his conversation and walk, so that the corrupt movements of men have not borne him along with them (Psa_17:3-5). With so much the greater assurance of being heard (Psa_17:6) prayer now rises for deliverance from wicked, strong, and powerful enemies, whose nearness, inexorableness and cruelty (Psa_17:10-12) are intuitively described, calling upon Jehovah immediately to interfere (Psa_17:13), against an enemy who is especially dangerous (Psa_17:12) who is especially prominent among the worldly-minded who seek and find their good and happiness in things of this world (Psa_17:14). He closes by bringing into strong contrast the disposition, position, and hopes of the man of prayer.7
Str. I. Psa_17:1. Righteousness.—This word is not in apposition to Jehovah (Köhler), or in dependence upon Jehovah according to the translations of Symm. and Theodot., κυρὶε δικαιοσύνης, but as an accusative of the object. The interpretation, me as righteous (Aquil., Jerome, Hengst.), unites the expression, or rather its idea, too closely to the person praying. Luther’s marginal reading: If thou wilt not hear me, then hear thy righteous cause, separates it too far from the person. The general character of the expression and its meaning as introducing the contents of the prayer, are effaced by either of the translations: my righteousness = my righteous cause (Calv.), or, my righteous prayer (Chald.), or indeed, my sincere petition (Kimchi). The parallelism (Hupf.) does not justify any such special reference. Still less is the article to be brought in as a suffix, and the righteousness or innocence regarded as those who were oppressed and injured in the persecution of David, who complain and pray in his mouth (Geier, et al.) It is true the paraphrase: Hear the righteousness which speaketh through me! would be more exact than that already rejected: Hear me in my righteousness or as righteous. For righteousness of the thing and not of the person would be first stated in accordance with the text, and thus at the same time that opposition of righteousness of the thing and of the person would be avoided (Calov., J. H. Mich., et al.), which is foreign to the text, and indeed according to Psa_17:3 sq., contradictory. But yet the reference of righteousness to the person appears in the text only after many accommodations. To these belong the appeal made to the righteous dealings of God according to His infallible judgment by the praying Psalmist, who in the uprightness of piety cries anxiously to God with the hope of being heard. This interpretation brings into view an advance in the thought which is for the most part overlooked, and likewise is supported by the fact that the last word in Psa_17:2, in an adverbial interpretation, corresponds better with usage than to regard it as an accusative of the object dependent upon “behold,” and thus parallel to: hear righteousness, in Psa_17:1, essentially a statement respecting the character of the petitioner, whilst our interpretation presents an appeal to the infallible judgment of God 8 Hitzig, by comparing Pro_4:25, finds a similar thought expressed to that of Jer_5:3.—From lips without deceit. [A. V. (“that goeth) not out of feigned lips.” Hupfeld: “Not with deceitful lips, or with lips without deceit (falsehood, hypocrisy),” in opposition to the cry and prayer, which at first protests the subjective uprightness of his prayer and the ideas with which he supports it, but at the same time guarantees the objective truth of the assertion of his righteousness in the first member (with which it is parallel) so far as that he who is defiled with guilt dare not approach God and venture to call upon His righteousness as a righteous man, comp. Psa_32:2; Psa_66:18, and “lift up holy hands,” 1Ti_2:8.—C. A. B.]
Str. II. Psa_17:3. Thou hast proved, etc.—The three perfects, since they are followed by an imperfect, do not refer to a definite historical event in the history of David, but form the antecedent, stating the Divine activities which constantly precede the result of the Divine examination described in the conclusion. There is no question or doubt but that David is drawn into this court of examination by God, and hence the clause does not properly admit of being taken as hypothetical, but rather as present.—Thou hast visited in the night.—[The visit is for the purpose of investigating, Job_7:18. It is by night as the time when the soul is undisturbed by the external world, and ready for reflection and examination.—Thou hast tried me.—The usual figure of the refiner of metals.—C. A. B.]
Thou wilt not find in me wicked thoughts; my mouth doth not transgress. [A. V. (“And) shall find nothing; I am purposed that my mouth shall not transgress”]. Since it has not been proved that בל has the meaning of “nothing” there is no object to the verb “find,” if we follow the accents, and connect the next word with the next clause. We might certainly most naturally supply “nothing” from the context in accordance with the sense. But the interpretation of זמּותי, as 1 person Perf. = I have thought, that is, purposed (Is. 4:28) which then would be immediately followed by the statement of the contents of the purpose (Luther, Geier, et al., finally Delitzsch), whilst it is possible, yet is opposed by the fact that the context rather causes us to expect a statement respecting the moral condition of the Psalmist than of his purpose. Moreover the other statements on this subject do not allow us to translate with Böttcher: If I thought wickedness, it must not go over my mouth. The Masora likewise remarks that the tone of this Hebrew word is to be put upon the last syllable. This is then a noun with the suffix, and indeed not the plural of a substantive which cannot be proved, but an infinitive with a feminine ending (Hupf.). If we connect it with the following clause in accordance with the accents, then since the masc. of the verb demands that פי should be the subject of the clause, the translation, my thought does not overstep my mouth (Hitzig), that is, I do not speak in sleep, because I am not excited by passion, appears to do violence to the text; on the other hand, the translation, “my mouth doth not overstep my thoughts,” that is, I say no more than I think (Hengst. [Alexander]) as the simple protestation, “I do not dissemble, I do not lie,” is strained, and with the lack of an object in the preceding clause obscure and unintelligible. The explanation of Aben Ezra, Bucer, Rosenm., et al.: my thought is not different from my words is still less admissible. It is accordingly more natural not to regard the accents as restrictive, but with the ancient translations and Jerome, and since J. D. Mich., many recent interpreters, to make an object for “find,” and gain two parallel clauses beginning with “not,” and understand the meditation in accordance with Hebrew usage as the meditation of evil. So Perowne: “Thou hast tried me and findest no evil thought in me, neither doth my mouth transgress.”—C. A. B.] The suffix would be as Psa_18:23, (Hupf.) not for an actual sin, but for one regarded as possible yet denied. The transition from the mention of sins of thought to sins of action, considered in the subsequent verse, would then be suitably prepared by sins of word.9
Psa_17:4. In man’s doings, by the word of Thy lips, I have carefully avoided the path of the destroyer. [A. V., “concerning the works of men”]. The ancient translators connect the last words of the previous verse closely with this verse, and either translate: my mouth doth not go over to the doings of men, that is, approve them; or, my mouth doth not transgress according to the doings of men. This gives a better parallelism, and therefore many interpreters approve this division of the verses. But the structure of a verse is not always complete. Most interpreters, after Calv. and Geier, regard ל as temporal, as Psa_32:6; others as denoting either reference = as concerns [A. V.] or condition, as Psa_69:22. Delitzsch takes the following words directly in the sense of “against the word of Thy lips,” as the object of the doings of men. According to Hitzig ל introduces the accusative of the object, as 1Sa_22:7; Psa_69:6, which widely separated from the finite verb is again taken up after this by the statement wherein these doings of men consisted.10 [Hupfeld: “In the midst of the surrounding practices of men, which so easily carry others away with them, I have shunned following their wicked examples, being led and supported by the word of God.”—Word of Thy lips.—Hupfeld: “The word of God in the law, that is, the commandments of God in contrast with the doings of men who transgress it, and offer a higher rule.”—C. A. B.] שׁמר is here used in a pregnant sense, without expressing the negative reference by מִן as usual.11
Psa_17:5. My steps hold fast in Thy paths.—The infinitive תָמךְ is regarded by the ancient translators and most ancient interpreters, and among more recent interpreters, De Wette and Stier, as imperative = support my steps [A.V.] But this does not agree with the perfect of the following clause. The infinitive is then either to be regarded in the sense of a gerund, and then most properly as an antecedent to the following clause (De Dieu, et al.), or instead of the finite verb (Gesenius, § 128, 4 b), and indeed as a perfect, yet not as the 1st person singular = I have maintained my steps in Thy paths (Geier), but as the 3d person plural (Cocc0.) with respect to usage = my steps have held fast to Thy paths (Ewald, Hengst., Hitzig, Hupf., Delitzsch).
Str. III. Psa_17:7. Make Thy grace wonderful.—[A. V., show thy marvellous loving-kindness], literally, separate; namely, by gradation in thought, the implored exhibition of Thy grace from the usual exhibitions of the same, so that it may thus prove to be wonderfully glorious to me (Sept.); not: take away Thy grace from the adversaries (Rabbin.) According to others (De Wette, Hupfeld, Delitzsch), the fundamental meaning of this verb is in the Hiphil made to be an attribute of the object, so that the Psalmist does not request anything extraordinary for himself, but merely implores that the well-known wonderful = glorious grace may be shown. Delitzsch translates like Luther and the ancient translators: against Thy right hand. But the right hand of God is frequently mentioned as the instrument of deliverance, Psa_44:3; Psa_98:1; Jdg_7:2; Isa_59:1. The anxiety of the moment transposes the words with the breath.
Str. IV. Psa_17:8. Apple of the eye.—Literally; the little man, the daughter of the eye, Lam_2:18; Zec_2:8. The figure is chosen with reference to Deu_32:10-11; comp. Pro_7:2, as is shown by the subsequent words. [Hupfeld: “The first figure as with us is proverbial, as a symbol of that which is dearest to us, of the most careful, attentive protection. The second, ‘hide me under the shadow of Thy wings,’ is taken from birds, especially the hen, who protects her brood with her wings, a figure of the most tender protection, frequently of God’s protection, Psa_36:7; Psa_57:1; Psa_61:4; Psa_63:7; Psa_91:4 (used of Christ, Mat_23:37), and in the same connection with the first figure, Deu_32:10-11, both in reference to the people of Israel.” Wordsworth: “There is a climax of delicate tenderness in the language here.”—C. A. B.]
Psa_17:9. My enemies who greedily surround me.—The position of the suffix is against the connection of בנפשׁ with the preceding word = my deadly enemies (Geier [A. V.]). On the other hand it is admissible to get the same sense by the translation: against the life (Kimchi), or, in matters of life (Hengst.). Most recent interpreters, however, translate after the Chald. and Aben Ezra: with eagerness, as Psa_27:12; Psa_35:25; Psa_41:3; Isa_5:14.
Psa_17:10. Fat.—Many interpreters, likewise Clauss, Stier, Tholuck, after the Chald. and Symm., understand by this, the prosperity in which they wrap themselves, and which prompts them to haughty expressions. Others regard it as = the fat heart (Geier) = unfeeling heart, (De Wette, Köster, Ewald, et al.); Hupfeld as merely the heart. But manifestly it is meant that their heart, לב, is not a pulsating human heart, but חלב, a lump of fat, Psa_73:7; Psa_119:70 (Delitzsch, Hitzig). The closing up, 1Jn_3:17, denotes the intentional holding off from all influences which would excite human emotions, so that the consequence is, hardening and obduracy, Psa_95:8. We have not here a pleonasm, but a climax, and the context shows that we are not to think of the closing up of secret, crafty schemes, Psa_64:6-7; Pro_7:10, contrasted with speaking of the mouth (Hupf.). The explanation of Theodoret, who understands the heart in the sense of pity is entirely astray.—Speak proudly.—This comes from their delusion of a near and sure victory.
Psa_17:11. Our steps … now have they surrounded me.—[A. V., They have now compassed us in our steps]. Since the singular suffix does not agree with the plural suffix of the noun, the translation quoad gressum nostrum, which supposes that this accusative of closer definition of the part of the body (Gen_3:15) is parallel with the accusative of the person (Delitzsch) has very little to recommend it. It does violence to the text, however, to read with the Masora the plural when the codd. do not have it. The double accusative which is usual with verbs of surrounding, to which ancient interpreters appeal, would here produce this nonsense: with our steps they have now encompassed me. Hitzig, who previously thought, of the accusative of the object to לנטות = “our steps … to fell to the ground,” now explains that the distance is too great between the words, and moreover it is obstructed by the parenthesis: he now changes the vowel points in order to get the meaning: I perceive him. This is certainly admissible, and gives a good sense; whilst the meaning obtained by some of the ancient translations by changing a consonant: “They express congratulations over me,” is violent and unnatural. With the present reading we think that the discourse is broken by the liveliness of passion.
To throw down upon the ground.—[A. V., “Bowing down to the earth.” Barnes: “The Hebrew word נָטָה, natah—means properly to stretch out, to extend; then to incline, to bow, to depress; and hence the idea of prostrating; thus, to make the shoulder bend downwards, Gen_49:15; to bring down the mind to an object, Psa_119:112; to bow the heavens, Psa_18:9. Hence the idea of prostrating an enemy; and the sense here clearly is, that they had fixed their eyes intently on the Psalmist, with a purpose to prostrate him to the ground, or completely overwhelm him.”—C. A. B.] The interpretations that they direct their attention “to turn aside in the land” (Hengst.); or “to wander through the land” (Ewald) [Alexander: “go astray,”—C. A. B.] are artificial and unnecessary.
Psa_17:12. [His likeness = he is like, is not dependent upon the preceding clause, as A. V., but a new and independent clause, introducing the figure of the lion and the young lion, vid., notes upon Psa_10:9 sq.—C. A. B.]
Str. V. Psa_17:13. Go forth to meet him.—[A. V., “disappoint him.” [Perowne: “As David himself went forth to meet first the lion and the bear, and afterwards the champion of Gath.” This is the true interpretation advocated by most recent interpreters.—C. A. B.]—Cast him down.—[Properly to make him fall upon his knees, (Hupf.), the figure of the lion is continued here.—C. A. B.]—The wicked. Jerome understands this to be the devil.—By Thy sword.—[Not as A. V., “which is thy sword.” God is to go forth to meet the enemy, who is like a lion, to cast him down upon his knees, and by His sword slay him, and thus deliver the Psalmist.—C. A. B.]
Psa_17:14. People of the world, literally men of the world [A. V.,] or of temporal life, not men of duration or of enduring success, (Calv., Venema, Ruding., Hengst.,) after the Arabic, but either perishable men (Hitzig) or better after the Syriac: men of the world with reference to their disposition (Kimchi, Geier and most interpreters). The life, in the following relative clause, answers to this, wherein they have their חֶלֶק, that is their portion, as their highest good and happiness, Psa_16:5, not temporal life (Geier), life without duration (Hitzig) as showing the fate of the ungodly, Job_20:5, Isa_65:20; so likewise not life blessed with external good and earthly happiness (Calv., Hengst.) of which they have received their proper portion; but the idle vain life, in contrast to the spiritual life in God (Hupf., Hitzig).12 Here likewise the tone and order of the words show the language of anxiety and haste. Whilst this was overlooked, most interpreters translated the beginning of the verse “from people of Thy hand” [A. V.] and thought for the most part of those men whom God uses as His rods of chastisement and scourges; sometimes likewise of those who must fall into judgment in the wrathful hand of God because the measure of their sins was filled. [The proper rendering is “by Thy hand” as above by Thy sword, the two expressions being parallel.—C. A. B.]—With that which thou hast stored up. [A. V. “with thy hid (treasure)”]. This is a past partic. used as a substantive in a good sense, Psa_31:19; Pro_13:22, and in a bad sense Job_21:19. Almost all interpreters take it here in the former sense, that God gives the worldly minded the portion they have chosen, even children in abundance, Job_22:17, to whom they leave their affluence, yet without knowing or possessing the prospects and enjoyment of the pious. Hitzig on the other hand takes it in the bad sense of the punishment, the reception or experience of which is represented as eating of bitter, deadly food (Job_9:18; Job_21:15, comp. Psa_6:7; Psa_59:15), as God fills the bodies of the wicked with the fire of His wrath (Job_20:23). This judgment is likewise said to extend to children and children’s children (Exo_20:5, comp. Job_21:7-8; Job_21:11); to which the following words according to his translation, may they satisfy the sons, etc., refer. The translation made by most interpreters “their children are filled” would require בניהם. The translation of Köster who follows the Sept. Vulg. closely “they are full of sons” [A. V.], is literal but obscure.
Str. VI. Psa_17:15. The antithetical reference of this strophe is rendered very prominent not only by the emphasis of the I [As for me, A. V.], but likewise by the intentional use of the same word satisfied with reference to Jehovah’s form, in beholding His countenance. These expressions themselves by their undeniable reference to Num_12:8, comp. Exo_33:20, lead us beyond the usual means of recognizing and communing with God. In the present context a glance is given into eternity. It is true there is no mention of a resurrection of the dead as such (Hofmann), or of a natural awaking upon the next morning (Ewald), or of a breathing again and stepping forth from the confusion of a perplexing trouble, as from a night of suffering (Hitzig), so that a new earthly phase of life broke forth upon the psalmist in the sunlight of the Divine grace (Kurtz), or of a mingling of both references (Hupf.), or indeed of an awaking of Jehovah that is in His coming to help, after having hidden His countenance (Cleric. Hensl., Hengst.); but of an awaking from the night of death (among recent interpreters, even Rosenmüller, De Wette, Gesenius), as a hope shining forth from the consciousness of communion with Jehovah (Delitzsch) as Psa_16:10; Psa_49:15.13
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
1. There are troubles, into which we do not fall as a punishment for our sins, but in which we are unjustly persecuted and compelled to flee from hard-hearted, unprincipled and powerful enemies, and with all the justice of our cause, may be in danger of succumbing to the snares of our bitter opponents, and even of losing our lives.
2. In such a situation neither lamentations nor despondency are becoming to the pious. The proper course is to pray for help, which may in anxiety of heart become a cry, without becoming improper, and may appeal before God the righteous Judge to the personal righteousness of the persecuted, without thereby in the least disputing, murmuring or contending with God, or boasting or confiding in one’s own righteousness. For there is no reference to righteousness gained by one’s self, or to one’s own deserts and the worthiness derived therefrom, but to the fact, that the piety of the petitioner has shown itself as vitally and powerfully in his person, as it expresses itself candidly and sincerely in his prayer. And in such cases the question is not of its origin from grace apprehended in faith, but of the earnestness and reality of its attestation.
3. Now he who flees from the judgment and hands of men, to the judgment and presence of God must not forget that the Almighty is likewise the All-knowing, the Searcher of hearts. He must still further be mindful of this, that under the trying eye of the holy and omnipresent God he endures an infallible judgment by night as well as by day, waking or sleeping, dreaming or acting. It is well for the man who feels this judging and sifting nearness of God, which as the fire in the furnace separates the gold from the dross, as soothing his conscience, and who can comfort himself with that fact that God finds in him a man of true piety.
4. The human heart is naturally inclined to evil, and human doings and practices do not move in the paths which please God; they attempt rather, to break through the restraints imposed upon them by God. But the efficacy of the means of grace in the congregation of God is able to change the disposition of the heart and he who holds fast to the word of God, is able likewise to withstand the temptations of his situation and to walk in the ways of God according to God’s regulation.
5. If there is already a great consolation and a strong encouragement to constantly new prayers in the assurance of the faith, that God not only hears the pious, but answers him and thereby testifies, that on His part He has and will maintain intercourse and relations with him; then with increasing needs and under the pressure of great dangers not only the need of the improvement of this intercourse with God, but likewise the joyousness of prayer and the confidence of being heard, gain nourishment and power by the experience made in this intercourse, that it belongs to the nature of God to be a deliverer of those who seek His protection. The courage of the pious is explained by these fundamental principles and upon them it rises in order to implore likewise in special circumstances special gracious help.
6. From the confidence of the faith, that the person of the pious man who has intercourse with God is an object of His love and care, arises the assurance, that this person will not only find occasional help and an assistance referring merely to special and transient needs and dangers, from the almighty Protector of the oppressed, but that he finds constant protection against all the enemies of his body and soul, and can be sheltered forever in God, if he has his satisfaction in the nearness and communion of God in contrast to the people of this world, who do not inquire after God, because they seek and find their satisfaction in the possession of perishable goods and in the enjoyment of earthly joy.
7. Great external happiness, prosperity and luxury, increase the natural selfishness, worldliness and pride of the unconverted man, make his heart insensible to emotions of pity and the inborn feelings of justice, and do not permit him to exhibit thankfulness to God for His great benefits, but rather stop up the sources of his love to God and his neighbor and prevent the approach of those things which would open them, so that the man is choked in his own fat and has become spiritually dead in the midst of his abundance. On the other hand, troubles and dangers, sufferings and infirmities, the lack and loss of earthly goods, impel the pious man with ever renewed energy to lay hold of God and thereby obtain his only salvation and true life in God.
8. He who has God, has life. This truth enters only into the experience of the soul which has communion with God. Moreover the life is likewise the light of the soul, and enlarges its sphere of vision, so that it not only looks upon the gracious countenance which God causes to shine upon His servants in the night of trouble, but it consoles itself with beholding in the future that form of God, in which those who are completely blessed, will see Him as He is. Accordingly the full satisfaction in the blessed enjoyment of thus beholding the Divine glory comes only in eternity and presupposes the awaking from the sleep of death.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
The pious man may call upon the judgment of God and rely upon it when condemned by the judgment of men. He who appeals to God, should consider that God is not only the Almighty and the merciful, but that he is likewise the All-knowing and the Holy God.—God sees not only our works, He hears not only our words, He likewise proves the heart, and this without cessation, by day and by night.—He who will walk in the ways of God must direct himself by the word of God and keep the regulations of God.—The Divine grace not only delivers from the hands of earthly enemies, but likewise from inborn sinful corruption and from the power of temporal and eternal death.—Every help of God is a miracle of grace; but in the particular exhibitions of Divine help the miraculous appears in various degrees. It is, however, not always perceived by men with the same clearness and not implored with the same fervor in personal distress.—It is a true sign of human corruption, that temporal happiness hardens the heart as easily as it fills it with vain efforts after perishable goods and joys.—The principal dangers of worldly-mindedness are forgetfulness of God, exaltation of self, and contempt of others.—The way to escape from temporal need and anxiety to eternal goods and joys consists in walking in the ways of God.
Starke: He who would be heard in his cause against all kinds of oppression and perversion, must have innocence as his plea; if not he must first confess his guilt and ask God for forgiveness. If prayer is not to go forth from a false mouth, the heart must previously be free from all deceitfulness; for what fills the heart, will pass over the mouth (Mat_12:34).—If we are attacked and persecuted by the world and our cause is good and righteous we cannot get better advice, than to have recourse to God and place our need in the lap of His grace.—Persecuted Christians often have no judge on earth to do them justice; then sentence must come from heaven.—The eyes of men only see what has a fine appearance of human wisdom and power; but the eyes of the Lord see, what is right and good.—The nights when troubles and afflictions try us, are indeed hard for flesh and blood, but very profitable to the soul, because there is thus revealed to others and ourselves what is concealed in us.—It is not enough to leave off evil works; a Christian is likewise not to speak knowingly an idle word; much less a wicked word. O what watchfulness is necessary for this!—The more ungodly men strive to overthrow the truth of God’s word, or to break from its yoke by bold wickedness, the more carefully should believers be, not to deviate a finger-breadth from reverence and obedience to the word of God.—It is not enough to remain in the right way, but it is likewise necessary to make advances therein and not slip.—O how dangerous and slippery is the way through this wicked world!—God fulfils all His promises to us, not as we think according to our reason, but wonderfully, inconceivably, against all thought and above all reason.—What is more tender, sensitive, dearer than the apple of the eye: yet believers are such before God; how then can those who touch them, remain unpunished? (Zec_2:8.)—The wings of a hen cover her brood so that they cannot be seen by birds of prey; she covers them against rain and storms; she warms them and strengthens them, when they are cold and weak; so likewise, does the Divine grace with His children (Mat_23:37).—It is a terrible word, to have one’s portion only in this world and thus be excluded from everlasting possessions! Woe to the man who for a short temporal pleasure sacrifices everlasting joy!—It is true God often blesses the ungodly with more bodily blessings, than the pious, and fills them better with His treasures; but they have their portion in this life and they starve in the world to come.—Children are a gift of the Lord; but they may increase the condemnation of their parents, if they neglect the salvation of their childrens souls and devote their attention merely to the storing up many goods.—Christian, your spiritual hunger and thirst will not endure forever; no, the time is drawing near, when you will be satisfied with the rich possessions of the house of God.—He who would in the future awake in the image of God, must begin even here the transfiguration and production of the image of God, 2Co_3:18.—A great, yes, an infinite difference between the children of this world and the children of God! The former have their bellies full, the latter the heavens full, the one, the shadows, the other, the true imperishable substance.
Luther: The warmer and more ardent our faith is, the more will God accomplish with it.—Bugenhagen: The world may satisfy itself where it will; I will satisfy myself with God.—Schnepf: What is it to be a man of the world? To have his heaven upon earth and his portion here.—Arndt: There are three reasons why prayer will be heard: 1) a righteous cause: 2) righteousness in Christ; 3) righteousness of heart.—Scriver: The chief blessedness consists in beholding God, and this consists in the sweetest communion.—Renschel: Innocence is the best treasure.—To behold God’s countenance is the true paradise.—Frisch: David in his opening words expresses at once his faith, because he lays hold of the righteousness of his Saviour; his earnestness, because he continues to cry; his humility because he seeks gracious audience; his perseverance, because he knocks for the third time at the door of grace; his uprightness, because he says nothing except what his heart says to him.—Thym: What glory has the servant of God to expect after death? 1) He is to behold the Lord in His glory; 2) he is to be satisfied with the blessings of heaven; 3) he is to awake glorified according to the glory of the Lord unto everlasting life.
[Matth. Henry: It will be a great comfort to us if trouble, when it comes, finds the wheels of prayer agoing, for then may we come with the more boldness to the throne of grace.—God’s omniscicence is as much the joy of the upright as it is the terror of hypocrites, and it is particularly comfortable to those who are falsely accused and in any wise have wrong done them.—If we keep God’s law as the apple of our eye, Pro_7:2, we may expect God will so keep us; for it is said concerning His people, that whoso toucheth them toucheth the apple of His eye. Zec_2:8.—There is no satisfaction for a soul but in God, and in His face and likewise His good will towards us, and His good work in us; and even that satisfaction will not be perfect till we come to heaven.—Barnes: We can offer an acceptable prayer only when we are sure that it would be right for God to answer it, or that it would be consistent with perfect and eternal justice to grant our requests.—Spurgeon: David would not have been a man after God’s own heart, if he had not been a man of prayer. He was a master in the sacred art of supplication.—There is more fear that we will not hear the Lord than that the Lord will not hear us.—Who can resist a cry? A real hearty, bitter, piteous cry, might almost melt a rock, there can be no fear of its prevalence with our heavenly Father. A cry is our earliest utterance, and in many ways the most natural of human sounds, if our prayer should like the infant’s cry be more natural than intelligent and more earnest than elegant, it will be none the less eloquent with God. There is a mighty power in a child’s cry to prevail with a parent’s heart.—That heavenly book which lies neglected on many a shelf is the only guide for those who would avoid the enticing and entangling mazes of sin; and it is the best means of preserving the youthful pilgrim from ever treading those dangerous ways. We must follow the one or the other; the Book of Life, or the way of death; the word of the Holy Spirit, or the suggestion of the evil spirit—C. A. B.]
Footnotes:
[6][This Psalm resembles the preceding in so many particulars, e. g., the prayer שָׁמְרֵנִי, Psa_16:1; Psa_17:8; the recollection of communion with God by night, Psa_16:7; Psa_17:3; the use of אֵל in prayer, Psa_16:1; Psa_17:6; the verb תָמַךְ, Psa_16:5; Psa_15:5 (Delitzsch); the reference to the protecting and defending right hand of God, Psa_16:8; Psa_17:7; Psa_17:14; the contrasted portions of the Psalmist and the wicked, Psa_16:2-6; Psa_17:14-15; and the pleasures of the Divine presence, Psa_16:11; Psa_17:15; that they may properly be regarded as a pair composed at or near the same time, and that towards the close of David’s life (vid. note to Psalms 16).—C. A. B.]
[7][It is very usual among interpreters to regard this enemy who is especially prominent as Saul, and the Psalm is referred to the period of the persecution by Saul, but it seems better to regard this enemy as the powerful Joab, who was the plague of David’s life, especially towards its close, and the Psalmist often alludes to this bold, powerful, unscrupulous chieftain, who more than once had the audacity to threaten David himself. That David regarded him as an enemy we see from his command to Solomon, 1Ki_2:5-6.—C. A. B ]
[8][The author is incorrect in regarding מֵישָׁרִים as an adverb, it is better with Hupf. and most interpreters to regard it as the object of “behold,” Jehovah is to acknowledge His own judgment as such (Hupf.) He is to behold with favor the right, equity. There is thus a gradation in the thought of this strophe. 1) The Psalmist appeals to Jehovah to hear the right; 2) to let the sentence go forth from His presence, the court of the great Judge, let the decision be proclaimed, and then; 3) to behold it as executed, to look with approval and pleasure upon equity, the right being approved by the infallible Judge.—C. A. B.]
[9][Riehm mediates between the author and Hitzig. Thus, he contends that עבר never means transgress, sin, when used alone, and “since the ‘my mouth doth not transgress’ can hardly be the result of the examination by night, it is better to regard זמותי the object of תמצא, at the same time as the subject of יעבר, thus: thou will not find wicked thoughts in me, they will not pass over my mouth, that is, I will not betray them by speaking in sleep.”—C. A. B.]
[10][Thus Hitzig translates: “The doings of men, by the word of Thy lips, I have shunned the path of the robber.”—C. A. B.]
[11][Hupfeld: “שָׁמַר properly to watch, take heed, observe, usually positively, in order to follow the law and the right way (as Psa_18:21, the ways of God; Prov. 2:29, the righteous), here, on the contrary, in order to avoid. This meaning is usually brought about by the reflexive idea, to be on one’s guard, to beware of something, but this as a negative idea necessarily has מִן with it: whilst here the accusative presupposes the original active signification, which here either pregnantly includes the negative consequences which are not expressed, or developes from the idea of watch, guard, keep, according to the nature of that which is watched, a negative side or reference = to keep off, hold off, avoid. Wordsworth translates: “I have marked the paths of the transgressor, I have tried them by the words of Thy lips. The sentiment is explained by the Apostolic precept. “If any man obey not our words, note that man, and have no company with him, that he may be ashamed (2Th_3:14).”—C. A. B.]
[12][Perowne: “We have here a view of the world and of life very remarkable for the Old Testament—a kind of anticipation of the contrast between the flesh and the Spirit which St. Paul gives us, or the love of the world and of God of which St. John speaks.”—C. A. B.]
[13][Perowne; “Worldly men have their satisfaction in this life, in treasures, in children; David hopes to be satisfied with the likewise or rather real manifest bodily form (תְּמוּנָח) of God. The personal pronoun stands emphatically at the beginning of the verse, in order to mark the contrast between his own feelings and those of the men of the world. He hopes (as Job also does Job_19:26-27), to see God. (The parallelism of the next clause shows that this must mean more than merely “to enjoy His favors, the light of His countenance,” etc. as in Psa_11:7). There is an allusion probably to such a manifestation of God as that made to Moses, Num_12:8, where God declares that with Moses He will speak ‘mouth to mouth,’ even apparently, and not in dark speeches; and the similitude (rather form, the same word as here) of Jehovah shall he behold.” Wordsworth; “The thought is completed by St. John: ‘Beloved, now are we the sons of God; and it doth not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when He appears we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is,’ (comp. 1Co_13:12; 1Co_15:49; 2Co_3:18; Col_3:10.) As Theodoret observes here, the wicked may be satisfied with sons in this life, but I, O God, shall be satisfied with the sight of Thy Son for evermore. So also Didymus here.” Perowne: “In opposition to this interpretation it is commonly asserted that the truth of a resurrection had not yet been revealed, and that, consequently if we find the doctrine here, the Psalm must be of later date, after the exile (so De Wette). But this is mere assertion. First as regards the use of the figure ‘Waking from death’ occurs in 2Ki_4:31., Death is spoken of as a sleep from which there is no awaking Job_14:12, Jer_51:39. Next Isa_26:19. ‘Awake ye that sleep in the dust,’ plainly refers to the resurrection, (Hence critics who think the truth could not be known before the exile, are obliged to suppose that this chapter was written after that time). Again, why should not David have attained in some degree to the knowledge of a truth, which in later times was so clearly revealed as it was to Ezekiel (who makes use of it as the image of the resurrection of Israel Psa_37:1-14), and Daniel (Psa_12:2)?”—C. A. B.]
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 1. Hear the right—To hear the right, or righteousness,…
1. Hear the right—To hear the right, or righteousness, is the same as to hear the prayer for righteousness, or that righteousness may obtain. David does not pray, Hear the righteous man, but righteousness, being intent upon that which is right rather than personal victory. Herein he submits everything to the will of God as the rule of justice. The hearing invoked is a judicial hearing.
My cry—My outcry, my loud call for help.
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Attend… give ear—That is, hearken, listen, stronger words than “hear.”
Feigned lips—Lips of deceit. This he could aver of himself without reserve, that he was innocent of any crime as the cause of his persecution, and honest in his desire that righteous judgment should be given. Morally he was upright, however defective his judgment; and his appeal to the divine judgment was confidently grounded upon the rectitude of his intentions.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 1. the right] Lit. righteousness or justice. With a…
1. the right] Lit. righteousness or justice. With a righteous cause and a just appeal (Psa_7:8) the Psalmist appears before the righteous Judge (Psa_7:17; Psa_9:4; Psa_9:8), confident in the integrity of his motives towards God and man. A good conscience is the indispensable condition of earnest prayer.
my cry] The word denotes a shrill piercing cry, frequently of joy, sometimes as here of entreaty, “expressive of emotional excitement such as an Eastern scruples not to use in prayer” (Cheyne). Cp. Psa_61:1; Jer_7:16.
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that goeth not out of feigned lips] Uttered by no deceitful lips. Cp. Psa_5:6; Psa_10:7. There is no hypocrisy in this prayer.
1, 2. An appeal for justice.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (1) Hear the right.—Or (see margin), justice. Some ancient…
(1) Hear the right.—Or (see margin), justice. Some ancient versions read, “Hear, Lord of righteousness.” Others make it concrete: “Hear me, the righteous; “but the Authorised Version has the true sense.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain THIS psalm is termed "a prayer Prayer of David."…
THIS psalm is termed "a prayer Prayer of David." It consists, no doubt, mainly of a series of petitions (vers. 1, 2, 6, 7, 8, 9, 13, 14); but contains also a number of verses which have no precatory character (vers. 3, 4, 5, 10-12, 15); and, on the whole, it cannot be said to be occupied with supplication to a greater extent than many of the compositions which are simply termed "psalms." Probably it was called a "prayer" because the writer himself seemed so to entitle it in ver. 1. David"s authorship is generally allowed, since the composition has "the marked characteristics of David"s early style" ("Speaker"s Commentary"). The current of thought and language is vehement and abrupt; there is a deep dependence upon God, and at the same time a warmth of indignation against the writer"s enemies, found frequently in the Davidical psalms, and not very noticeable in the others. There is also an earnest faith in a future life (ver. 15), which was a marked feature of David"s character, but not very common among his contemporaries. The time in David"s life to which the psalm belongs is uncertain; but it has been conjectured, with a certain amount of probability, to have been written during the heat of the persecution by Saul, perhaps when David was pursued after by the wicked king in the wilderness of Maon. (1Sa_23:26) (So Hitzig, Moll, and the "Speaker"s Commentary.")
The metrical arrangement is somewhat doubtful. Perhaps the best division is that of Dr. Kay, who makes the poem one of four stanzas the first of five verses (vers. 1-5); the second of four (vers. 6-9); the third of three (vers. 10-12); and the fourth also of three (vers. 13-15).
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Hear the right, O Lord. (comp. Psa_9:4) Here and elsewhere the psalmist assumes that right is on his side, and that he is persecuted unjustly. Unless he had been convinced of this, he could not have called on God to vindicate him. The narrative in 1Sa 18-27, fully justifies his conviction. Attend unto my cry. (comp. Psa_4:1 Psa_5:2 Psa_61:1) Rinnah, the word translated "cry" here (and in Psa_61:1) is a strong term: it means "shout," "outcry most often, though not here, "a shout of joy." Give ear unto my prayer, that goeth not out of feigned lips; rather, feigning lips, or guileful lips lips, i.e. , that speak falsehood knowingly.
HOMILIES BY C. CLEMANCE Vers. 1-15. The saint"s appeal from the wrongs of earth to the Righteous One on the throne.
The title of our homily on this psalm is in some respects similar to that on the seventh psalm. There, however, the psalm is an appeal to the great Vindicator of one unjustly accused; here, it is the appeal of one beset with persecutors to the great Judge of all. Whenever or by whomsoever the words of this psalm were penned, it may not be easy to say. The probability is that it is one of David"s. If so, there is an abundance of incident in the record of his career by which it may be illustrated and explained. And, indeed, the surest (perhaps the only) way of interpreting such psalms as this is to read them by the light of the Books of Samuel. Anyway, however, it is an infinite mercy that we have preserved to us, not only psalms to be enjoyed at all times,(such as the twenty-third and the forty-sixth), but others adapted for special times. For very often the saints of God have been so impeached, slandered, worried, beset, and persecuted, that the words of this psalm have exactly fitted their ease. And in all such instances, the people of God may find sweet repose in reading the words before us; showing us, as they do,
(1) that however greatly we may be wronged on earth, there is a Righteous One to whom we may make our final appeal;
(2) that he who sitteth on the throne is not only just, but is also One of "marvellous loving-kindness;
(3) that therefore we may pour out our heart before him, and tell him our case the whole of it, exactly as it is; so that, though we are by no means obliged to adopt as our own every word in psalms like this, yet we may learn from them to present our case before God as minutely and exactly as the psalmists did theirs, as varied as are the cases, so varied may be the words.
I HERE IS A REMARKABLE CASE LAID BEFORE GOD. There are in it six features.
1. The writer is sorely and grievously persecuted. (Vers. 9-12) It has been well said, "Where would David"s psalms have been, if he had not been persecuted?" The experiences through which he passed may be studied in the records to which we have referred above. In fact, one of our most skilled expositors said to the writer that his own study of the Books of Samuel had thrown floods of light on the Psalms, had cleared up many phrases that before were unintelligible, and had shown the reason of many others that seemed unjustifiable. And since David was withal the poet of the sanctuary, be could and did put these hard experiences of his life in such words as should be helpful to the troubled and ill-treated saint in all future time. (For the exact significance of detailed expressions, seethe Exposition) Let believers follow David here, and whatever their cares and worries may be, let them tell them out, one by one, to their God, who will never misunderstand them, and, even if some expressions of emotion are unwise and faulty, will cover the faults with the mantle of his forgiving love, and fulfil the desires according to his own perfect wisdom. Oh, the infinite relief of having a Friend to whom we may safely tell every thing!
2. David is conscious of his own integrity. (Vers. 1-4) This is by no means to be understood as a piece of self-righteousness. (see Psa_143:2) It is quite consistent with the deepest humiliation before a holy and heart-searching God, that an upright man should avow his innocence of the guilt that false accusers may charge upon him. In fact, we ought, while penitent before our God for innumerable heart-sins, to be able to look our fellowmen in the face with the dignity of conscious honesty and purity.
3. David knows there is a Judge on the Throne, a Judge of perfect righteousness and One who will listen to his cry (ver. 7). He knows God as One who saves the trusting ones from their foes by his own omnipotent hand.
4. Hence to him David makes his appeal. (Ver. 2) Note: Only one who is at peace with God, and who is among the upright in heart, could possibly make such an appeal as this, for sentence to come forth from God"s presence must be a terror to the rebel, for that sentence could only be one of condemnation. But souls in harmony with God can lovingly look to God as their Redeemer, their Goel, their Vindicator; they will say, with Job, "I know that my Redeemer liveth;" or with Cromwell, "I know that God is above all ill reports; and that he will in his own time vindicate me." Yea, they can call on God to do this, leaving in his hands the time and the way of doing it. (cf. 1Jn_3:21, 1Jn_3:22)
5. With the appeal, David joins fervent supplication.
(1) With regard to his enemies. That God would arise, i.e. interpose in the way of providential aid; that he would cast down the wicked from their high pretensions, and disappoint them, i.e. prevent them be beforehand with them, and frustrate their evil designs ere they attempt to carry them out.
(2) With regard to himself.
(a) That God would deliver him out of their hand.
(b) That God would hold up his goings in the right way.
(c) That God would keep him
(a) as the apple of the eye (literally," the little man," "the daughter of the eye") an exquisitely beautiful figure, admirably adapted to be the basis of an address to the young on God"s care in the structure of the eye;
(b) as a hen gathereth her brood under her wings another figure of marvellous tenderness. (Psa_36:7 Psa_57:1 Psa_61:4 Psa_91:4 Mat_23:37) Nor let it be unnoticed that for all this, David uttered a "piercing cry" (for so the word in the first verse signifies).
6. David remembers that, after all, he has no reason to envy his persecutors; that, after all, it is far better to know God as his God, and to have him as a Refuge, than to have all the ease, comfort, and wealth which this world can give. And this brings us to note
II THAT, REMARKABLE AS THE PSALMIST"S CASE IS, IT PRESENTS TO US A STILL MORE REMARKABLE Contrast.(ver. 14) How much force is there in the expression, "As for me"! (cf. Psa_4:1-6) Note: Amid all the confusion, strife, and whirl of earth, each man has a distinctive individuality, which is all his own, and is never confounded with another"s. (Gal_6:5 Isa_40:27) No one has a right to think he is lost in the crowd. (2Ti_2:19 Rev_2:17 Isa_43:1 Luk_12:6, Luk_12:7) Each one has a relation to God entirely his own. The bad may mingle with the good, but are never confounded with them. Not one grain of wheat is by mistake cast into the fire, nor yet one of the tares gathered into the garner. All that is momentous in hope, character, relation, security, destiny, gathers round the individual. Each one has an "As for me." In the psalm before us there are indications of six points of difference between David and his enemies; so vital are they, that not all the distress which he suffers from them could make him desire to change places with them.
1. He is right; they are in the wrong. (Ver. 1) As we have before said, the writer by no means claims to be perfect, but he knows that he has chosen the side of righteousness, and is sincerely anxious to walk according thereto; he walks in his integrity, though he may be conscious of coming far short of his own ideal. But as for his enemies, to be in the right is no concern of theirs! Their"s is might against right. Note: Happy is the man who sees infinite honour in being right, however much it may cost him!
2. God is to him a Defender; to them he is a Judge to condemn them and put them to shame. This is the ground-tone of the psalm. The throne of the great Eternal is to the psalmist one of grace, mercy, and love; but to his enemies, it appears to shoot forth devouring flame. Note: God will seem to us according to our state before him. (see Psa_18:25, Psa_18:26)
3. The psalmist addresses God in confident hope; they resist God, in proud defiance. The whole attitude of David"s enemies was one of proud self-confidence: "Our tongues are our own: who is Lord over us?" Hence:
4. The throne of righteousness, which was the safety of David, was the peril of his persecutors. His joy was their dread. Wicked men are afraid of God; and it is saddening to reflect that the guilt of an uneasy conscience projects its own dark shadow on the face of infinite love!
5. David had an eternal portion in his God; they lived only for this life. He calls them (ver. 14) "men of the world" (cf. Hebrew original). David could say, "Thou art my Portion, O God;" but with them their all was laid up here. When they depart hence, they will leave behind them all their treasures; but David would go, at death, to the enjoyment of his. Hence:
6. The outlook of the psalmist was full of gladness; theirs, full of gloom. How blissful the anticipation in the one case!
(1) A glorious vision. "I shall behold thy face in righteousness." Whether the writer thought of a bodily vision of Jehovah"s form, or of a spiritual vision of the invisible glory, we cannot say. At any rate, knowing even now the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, we can forecast the ecstatic rapture which we shall feel when he shall be manifested, and we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is!
(2) A glorious transformation. "When I awake, with thy likeness," i.e. with possessing it (otherwise the phrase would be a tautology). As Watts beautifully puts it"I shall behold thy blissful face, And stand complete in righteousness.
(3) Entire satisfaction therein; i.e. both with the vision and with the conformation. Yes! There will be full and complete realization of the glory which now we see only "as through a glass darkly." And this will be in the awakening. (cf. Psa_49:14, "The upright... in the morning The state after death has been viewed in three aspects.
(a) As a slumbrous state in the under-world, from which there was no awaking. This was the pagan view.
(b) As a slumbrous state in the underworld, but with the hope of an awaking "in the morning." This was the Hebrew conception.
(c) To the Christian, however, the state after death is from the body, at home with the Lord". (2Co_5:8, Revised Version) The glory, however, will be completed at the resurrection. (Col_3:4, Revised Version) But how different the outlook of the wicked! (Mat_7:13, 14 Php_3:19 Luk_16:22, 23 12:21 13:28) Well may preachers plead agonizingly with their hearers to choose life rather than death! (Heb_11:25, Heb_11:26) Little will the godly think of past sorrow when they Gave their recompense in heaven! Small comfort, will earth"s wealth give to those who miss heaven! C.
HOMILIES BY W. FORSYTH Vers. 1-15. The righteousness of God"s dealing.
It is a common saying that "the pillow is a good counsellor;" and there is much truth in this. In the quietness and retirement of night we are able to collect our thoughts and to commune with our own hearts, as to the past, the present, and the future. And if we do this in the spirit of the psalmist, realizing God"s presence and relying upon him for counsel and guidance, it will be well. Whether this psalm was written at night or not, we cannot tell; but it contains truths fitted to soothe and comfort the soul in the night of trouble, and that mark the progress of the light from sunrise to the perfect day.
I THAT GOD WILL HEAR THE RIGHT. This faith accords with the intuitions of the heart. We are sure that God must be on the side of right, for we feel that it is only when we are for the right that we are on the side of God. If we are true, much more must God be true. If we are just, much more must God be just. And this confidence is confirmed by Gods words and deeds (vers. 4, 5). If it were otherwise, how could we trust God? and how could God govern and judge the world?
II THAT GOD WILL DEFEND THE FAITHFUL. Perfect righteousness no man can claim. But as regards spirit and intention, and even as to actual conduct, some can plead integrity. Job could say, "Behold, my witness is in heaven". (Job_16:19) Samuel could appeal to Israel as to his uprightness, "Behold, here I am, witness against me before the Lord,... whom have I defrauded, or whom have I oppressed?". (1Sa_12:3) So David called Saul to witness to his innocence. "Moreover, my father, know thou and see that there is neither evil nor transgression in mine hand, and I have not sinned against thee". (1Sa_24:11) It is a great matter if we can thus approach God with a good conscience. (1Jn_3:21) But our integrity, after all, is nothing to boast of. Before men, we may be innocent, but not before God. Our trust must therefore be, not in our own merits, but in God"s mercy. God"s loving-kindness will shine forth in giving .protection and deliverance (vers. 6-12) to those who love him and hope in his mercy. He will be their Refuge and Defence against every foe. With tender care and never-failing prayer, he will keep them from the evil.
II THAT GOD WILL DISAPPOINT THE PERSECUTOR, WHILE HE WILL ABUNDANTLY SATISFY THE DESIRES OF THE HUMBLE. (Vers. 13-15) When David was pursued by the forces of Saul, and in sore straits in the wilderness of Maon, God in a wonderful way brought him deliverance. (1Sa_23:25) So we may expect that God will meet the enemies of his people, front to front, and cast them down. There are marvellous deliverances wrought by God in behalf of his children. (2Pe_2:9 2Th_1:6-10) But God does far more than deliver he satisfies. The heart is ever yearning after some unattained possession and enjoyment. "Man never is, but always to be blessed." The children of this world have their desires, and, though they may so far be successful, though they may gain wealth, and have sons to bear their name and inherit their possessions, yet for all this they are not satisfied. Their blessings, through their own perversity, are turned to curses. But in bright contrast with these men of carnal minds, is the man who loveth God and worketh righteousness. "I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness. W.F.
HOMILIES BY C. SHORT Vers. 1-5. The prayer of the righteous.
"In this psalm a servant of God, conscious of his own uprightness, and surrounded by enemies, prays to be kept from the evil world and from the evil men who persecute him, and then from the dark present looks forward with joy to the bright future." The first five verses are as the porch to the temple the introduction to the main prayer of the psalm. The psalmist pleads with God
I FOR THE RIGHTEOUS CAUSE. (Vers. 1, 2) God is righteous, therefore he must be on the side of justice and right. When we pray that liberty may prevail against slavery of mind or body, that justice may triumph over all injustice, that truth may overcome falsehood, that the spirit may be stronger than the flesh, and that religion may conquer all irreligion, we may be sure that we are praying according to the will of God, and may expect him to answer us.
II IS A RIGHTEOUS SPIRIT. The prayer is offered by "lips without deceit," in all sincerity, without any hypocritical pretence. The truthfulness, righteousness, of his spirit are here pleaded as a ground for his being heard. "If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me." Integrity of mind is necessary to all true and successful prayer. He is in earnest about the righteous cause, and not making a pretence to it.
III ON THE GROUND OF RIGHTEOUS CHARACTER. (Ver. 3)
1. God had subjected him to close scrutiny in the night. He had been divinely tested. In the night," when good and evil thoughts spring up in greatest force, because of our freedom from outward occupation, and when the native bias discovers itself unchecked. Then God tries him, and does not find that his thoughts are dross, but gold. This is a bold statement, when put by the side of other statements, "If thou, Lord, shouldst mark iniquity," etc.
2. He keeps evil thoughts in subjection, even when they do arise. They do not pass his mouth, do not find expression, but are held back from utterance. We cannot help evil thoughts, but we can help the utterance of them.
IV HE PLEADS ALSO RIGHTEOUS CONDUCT. (Vers. 4, 5) He has kept himself from the common doings of men, from the ways of the oppressor and destroyer. This is the negative side of his conduct; but it is a great virtue to resist the mass and run against the stream. The positive is that he had held fast in his doings to the Divine paths, and been steadfast in the right course. He has been constant, and steered by the heavenly polestar. S.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Charles H. Spurgeon 1885 · Public Domain TITLE and SUBJECT. A prayer of David. David would…
TITLE and SUBJECT. A prayer of David. David would not have been a man after God's own heart, if he had not been a man of prayer. He was a master in the sacred art of supplication. He flies to prayer in all times of need, as a pilot speeds to the harbour in the stress of tempest. So frequent were David's prayers that they could not be all dated and entitled; and hence this simply bears the author's name, and nothing more. The smell of the furnace is upon the present psalm, but there is evidence in the last verse that he who wrote it came unharmed out of the flame. We have in the present plaintive song, AN APPEAL TO HEAVEN from the persecutions of earth. A spiritual eye may see Jesus here.
There are no very clear lines of demarcation between the parts; but we prefer the division adopted by that precious old commentator, David Dickson. In Ps 17:1-4, David craves justice in the controversy between him and his oppressors. In Ps 17:5-6, he requests of the Lord grace to act rightly while under the trial. From Ps 17:7-12, he seeks protection from his foes, whom he graphically describes; and in Ps 17:13-14, pleads that they may be disappointed; closing the whole in the most comfortable confidence that all would certainly be well with himself at the last.
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Ver. 1. Hear the right, O Lord. He that has the worst cause makes the most noise; hence the oppressed soul is apprehensive that its voice may be drowned, and therefore pleads in this one verse for a hearing no less than three times. The troubled heart craves for the ear of the great Judge, persuaded that with him to hear is to redress. If our God could not or would not hear us, our state would be deplorable indeed; and yet some professors set such small store by the mercyseat, that God does not hear them for the simple reason that they neglect to plead. As well have no house if we persist like gipsies in living in the lanes and commons; as well have no mercyseat as be always defending our own cause and never going to God. There is more fear that we will not hear the Lord than that the Lord will not hear us. "Hear the right; "it is well if our case is good in itself and can be urged as a right one, for right shall never be wronged by our righteous Judge; but if our suit be marred by our infirmities, it is a great privilege that we may make mention of the righteousness of our Lord Jesus, which is ever prevalent on high. Right has a voice which Jehovah always hears; and if my wrongs clamour against me with great force and fury, I will pray the Lord to hear that still louder and mightier voice of the right, and the rights of his dear Son. "Hear, O God, the Just One; "i.e., "hear the Messiah, "is a rendering adopted by Jerome, and admired by Bishop Horsley, whether correct or not as a translation, it is proper enough as a plea. Let the reader plead it at the throne of the righteous God, even when all other arguments are unavailing.
Attend unto my cry. This shows the vehemence and earnestness of the petitioner; he is no mere talker, he weeps and laments. Who can resist a cry? A real hearty, bitter, piteous cry, might almost melt a rock, there can be no fear of its prevalence with our heavenly Father. A cry is our earliest utterance, and in many ways the most natural of human sounds; if our prayer should like the infant's cry be more natural than intelligent, and more earnest than elegant, it will be none the less eloquent with God. There is a mighty power in a child's cry to prevail with a parent's heart.
Give ear unto my prayer. Some repetitions are not vain. The reduplication here used is neither superstition nor tautology, but is like the repeated blow of a hammer hitting the same nail on the head to fix it the more effectually, or the continued knocking of a beggar at the gate who cannot be denied an alms.
That goeth not out of feigned lips. Sincerity is a sine qua non in prayer. Lips of deceit are detestable to man and much more to God. In intercourse so hallowed as that of prayer, hypocrisy even in the remotest degree is as fatal as it is foolish. Hypocritical piety is double iniquity. He who would feign and flatter had better try his craft with a fool like himself, for to deceive the all seeing One is as impossible as to take the moon in a net, or to lead the sun into a snare. He who would deceive God is himself already most grossly deceived. Our sincerity in prayer has no merit in it, any more than the earnestness of a mendicant in the street; but at the same time the Lord has regard to it, through Jesus, and will not long refuse his ear to an honest and fervent petitioner.
Title. "A prayer of David." Since many of the Psalms consist of prayers, the question may be asked why such an inscription more especially belongs to this. But though the others contain divers prayers mixed with other matters, this is a supplication through its whole course. The Venerable Bede, 672-735.
Ver. 1. Hear... attend... give ear. This petition repeated thrice, indicates a great power of feeling and many tears; because the craft of the ungodly, in truth, grieves and afflicts the spiritual man more than their power and violence, for we can get a knowledge of open force and violence, and, when we see the danger, can in some way guard against it. Martin Luther.
Ver. 1. That goeth not out of feigned lips. There are such things as "feigned lips; "a contraction between the heart and the tongue, a clamour in the voice and scoffing in the soul, a crying to God, "Thou art my father, the guide of my youth; "and yet speaking and doing evil to the utmost of our power (Jer 3:4-5), as if God could be imposed upon by fawning pretences, and, like old Isaac, take Jacob for Esau, and be cozened by the smell of his garments; as if he could not discern the negro heart under an angel's garb... This is an unworthy conceit of God, to fancy that we can satisfy for inward sins, and avert approaching judgments by external offerings, by a loud voice, with a false heart, as if God (like children), would be pleased with the glittering of an empty shell, or the rattling of stones, the chinking of money, a mere voice, and crying without inward frames and intentions of service. Stephen Charnock.
Ver. 1. Not out of feigned lips. It is observable that the eagle soars on high, little intending to fly to heaven, but to gain her prey; and so it is that many do carry a great deal of seeming devotion in lifting up their eyes towards heaven; but they do it only to accomplish with more ease, safety, and applause their wicked and damnable designs here on earth; such as without are Catos, within Neros; hear them, no man better; search and try them, no man worse; they have Jacob's voice, but Esau's hands; they profess like saints, but practise like Satans; they have their long prayers, but short prayings; they are like apothecaries' gallipotshaving without the title of some excellent preservative, but within are full of deadly poison; counterfeit holiness is their cloak for all manner of villainies, and the midwife to bring forth all their devilish designs. Peter Bales, in Spencer's "Things New and Old."
Ver. 1. Not out of feigned lips. Not only a righteous cause, but a righteous prayer are urged as motives why God should hear. Calvin remarks on the importance of joining prayer to the testimony of a good conscience, lest we defraud God of his honour by not committing all judgments to him. J. J. Stewart Perowne.
Ver. 1. Though thy prayers be never so well framed in regard of words, and reverently performed as to thy external gestures; yet all is nothing, if thy heart be not in the duty. For prayer is not a work of the head, or hand, or eyes only, but chiefly a work of the heart, and therefore called in Scripture, the "pouring out of the soul" (1Sa 1:15); and the "pouring out of the heart." Ps 62:8. And, indeed, the very soul of prayer lieth in the pouring out of the soul before the Lord. Whensoever, therefore, you draw near unto God in prayer, let it be with thine heart and soul, otherwise thou canst have no assurance of audience, and acceptance; for as Cyprian speaketh, Quomodo te audiri a Deo postulas, etc. How canst thou expect the Lord should hear thee, when thou hearest not thyself? or that he should regard thy prayers, when thou regardest not what thou prayest? Certainly that prayer reacheth not the heart of God, which reacheth not our own. Thomas Gouge, 1605-1681.
Ver. 1. The voice of Jesusour Righteousness, and our own voice. Work out the thought of both coming up to the ear of heaven, noting the qualities of our prayer as indicated by the psalmist's language, such as earnestness, perseverance, sincerity, etc.
Psalms 17:2*
Ver. 1. Let my sentence come forth from thy presence. The psalmist has now grown bold by the strengthening influence of prayer, and he now entreats the Judge of all the earth to give sentence upon his case. He has been libelled, basely and maliciously libelled; and having brought his action before the highest court, he, like an innocent man, has no desire to escape the enquiry, but even invites and sues for judgment. He does not ask for secrecy, but would have the result come forth to the world. He would have sentence pronounced and executed forthwith. In some matters we may venture to be as bold as this; but except we can plead something better than our own supposed innocence, it were terrible presumption thus to challenge the judgment of a sin hating God. With Jesus as our complete and all glorious righteousness we need not fear, though the day of judgment should commence at once, and hell open her mouth at our feet, but might joyfully prove the truth of our hymn writer's holy boast
"Bold shall I stand in that great day; For who aught to my charge shall lay?
While, through thy blood, absolved I am, From sin's tremendous curse and shame."
Let thine eyes behold the things that are equal. Believers do not desire any other judge than God, or to be excused from judgment, or even to be judged on principles of partiality. No; our hope does not lie in the prospect of favouritism from God, and the consequent suspension of his law; we expect to be judged on the same principals as other men, and through the blood and righteousness of our Redeemer we shall pass the ordeal unscathed. The Lord will weigh us in the scales of justice fairly and justly; he will not use false weights to permit us to escape, but with the sternest equity those balances will be used upon us as well as upon others; and with our blessed Lord Jesus as our all in all we tremble not, for we shall not be found wanting. In David's case, he felt his cause to be so right that he simply desired the Divine eyes to rest upon the matter, and he was confident that equity would give him all that he needed.
Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain Hear the right, O Lord, attend unto my cry,.…
Psa_17:1
Hear the right, O Lord, attend unto my cry,. . .that goeth not out of feigned lips.
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Conscious sincerity
The Psalmist is quite sure that he himself is sincere. The verses which follow seem to be a kind of anticipation of the Pharisees self-satisfied prayer; but they are nothing of the kind. The reference is not to sinlessness, but to sincerity. The Psalmist does not say, I am a pure man, without a stain upon the heart or hand. He says, I am a sincere man, the general purpose I have had in view is a purpose marked by honesty. He does not represent himself as pure snow in the face of heaven, but as a man whose supreme motive has been a motive of honesty and general truthfulness. Sincerity can appeal to the right. We draw our prayer out of our own character. This suppliant is so sure of his own honesty that he says, Let the whole case be settled honestly. At other times, when he knows there is not a clean spot upon his whole constitution--one sound healthy spot--he falls right down before God and weeps out his soul ill penitence . . . We should be sure of our motive before we invoke the doing of right. It is better for us to invoke the exercise of mercy. Most men will get more from pity than they ever can get from righteousness. (Joseph Parker, D. D.)
Prayer out of feigned lips
It is observable that the eagle soareth on high, little intending to fly to heaven, but to gain her prey; and so it is that many do carry a great deal of seeming devotion in lifting up their eyes towards heaven; but they do it only to accomplish with more ease, safety, and applause their wicked designs here on earth; such as without are Catos, within Neros; hear them, no man better; search and try them, no man worse; they have Jacobs voice, but Esaus hands; they profess like saints, but practise like Satans; they have their long prayers, but short prayings; they are like apothecaries gallipots--having without the title of some excellent preservative, but within they are full of deadly poison; counterfeit holiness is their cloak for all manner of villanies, and the midwife to bring forth all their devilish designs. (Peter Bales.)
Justice, mercy, and perfection
I. A cry for justice (Psa_17:1-7). Things in the mind of David.
1. A sense of truthfulness. He was conscious that there was no discrepancy between his speech and his spirit. The man, unless he feels that he is sincere, will never dare to appeal to heaven for justice. Virtuous sincerity requires that there should be not only an exact correspondence between the speech and spirit, but also between the spirit and eternal realities.
2. A desire for the Divine verdict. Let my sentence come forth from Thy presence. The human soul everywhere holds that there is justice at the head of the universe, and that it will sooner or later vindicate the right.
3. A consciousness of a Divine searching. Thou hast proved mine heart. A man may be deeply conscious of his imperfection before God, analyst conscious of his innocence of the charges brought against him by man.
4. A determination to be blameless in his speech. I am purposed that my mouth shall not transgress. What he means is, I will utter nothing wrong concerning mine enemies, nothing that can justify their harsh and cruel conduct.
5. An assurance of Divine protection. He was protected from ruin. Protected by God. And protected in connection with his own agency. Gods agency in connection with mans deliverance neither supersedes the necessity nor interferes with the freedom of human effort.
6. A dread of falling from rectitude. Hold up my goings in Thy paths. This means--I am right as far as mine enemies are concerned at present. I am conscious of no wrong. I am anxious to retain my blamelessness. To retain my blamelessness I need Divine help.
7. A confidence that God will attend to his prayer. The meaning is--I have invoked Thee heretofore, and do so still, because I know that Thou wilt hear.
II. Here is a cry for mercy. Show Thy marvellous loving kindness. A prayer for protection from enemies. Note the character in which he appeals to God for protection. He appeals to Him as a mighty Saviour. The manner in which he desired protection. The enemies from whom he sought protection. The cry for mercy is as deep and universal as that for justice.
III. Here is a cry for perfection. Three facts deduce from the words.
1. That the death of a good man is an awaking from sleep. There is much spiritual torpor and spiritual dreaming even in the best.
2. In this awaking at death there will be the complete assimilation of the soul to God.
3. In this assimilation will consist the everlasting satisfaction of our nature. There is no satisfaction without this. The spiritual powers will not work harmoniously under the dominion of any other disposition. The conscience will frown upon any other state of mind. The Great One will not bless with His friendship any other state of mind in His creatures. Likeness to God is likeness to His controlling disposition. His controlling disposition is disinterested love, and this is that well which springs up to everlasting life. (Homilist.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Expositor's Bible 1887 · Public Domain Psalms 17
Psalms 17
THE investigations as to authorship and date yield the usual conflicting results. Davidic, say one school; undoubtedly post-exilic, say another, without venturing on closer definition; late in the Persian period, says Cheyne. Perhaps we may content ourselves with the modest judgment of Baethgen in his last book ("Handcommentar," 1892, p. 45): "The date of composition cannot be decided by internal indications." The background is the familiar one of causeless foes round an innocent sufferer, who flings himself into Gods arms for safety, and in prayer enters into peace and hope. He is, no doubt, a representative of the Ecclesia pressa; but he is so just because his cry is intensely personal. The experience of one is the type for all, and a poets prerogative is to cast his most thoroughly individual emotions into words that fit the universal heart. The psalm is called a "prayer," a title given to only four other psalms, none of which are in the First Book. It has three movements, marked by the repetition of the name of God, which does not appear elsewhere, except in the doubtful Psa_17:14. These three are Psa_17:1-5, in which the cry for help is founded on a strong profession of innocence; Psa_17:6-12, in which it is based on a vivid description of the enemies; and Psa_17:13-15, in which it soars into the pure air of mystic devotion, and thence looks down on the transient prosperity of the foe and upwards, in a rapture of hope, to the face of God.
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The petition proper, in Psa_17:1-2, and its ground, are both strongly marked by conscious innocence, and therefore sound strange to our ears, trained as we have been by the New Testament to deeper insight into sin, This sufferer asks God to "hear righteousness," i.e., his righteous cause. He pleads the bona fides of his prayer, the fervour of which is marked by its designation as "my cry," the high-pitched note usually the expression of joy, but here of sore need and strong desire. Boldly he asks for his "sentence from Thy face," and the ground of, that petition is that "Thine eyes behold rightly." Was there, then, no inner baseness that should have toned down such confidence? Was this prayer not much the same as the Pharisees in Christs parable? The answer is partly found in the considerations that the innocence professed is specially in regard to the occasions of the psalmists present distress, and that the acquittal by deliverance which he asks is Gods testimony that as to these he was slandered and clear. But, further, the strong professions of heart cleanness and outward obedience which follow are not so much denials of any sin as avowals of sincere devotion and honest submission of life to Gods law. They are "the answer of a good conscience towards God," expressed, indeed, more absolutely than befits Christian consciousness, but having noticing in common with Pharisaic self-complacency. The modern type of religion which recoils from such professions, and contents itself with always confessing sins which it has given up hope of overcoming, would be all the better for listening to the psalmist and aiming a little more vigorously and hopefully at being able to say, "I know nothing against myself." There is no danger in such a saying, if it be accompanied by "Yet am I not hereby justified" and by "Who can understand his errors? Cleanse Thou me from secret faults."
The general drift of Psa_17:3-5 is clear, but the precise meaning and connection are extremely obscure. Probably the text is faulty. It has been twisted in all sorts of ways, the Masoretic accents have been disregarded, the division of verses set aside, and still no proposed rendering of parts of Psa_17:3-4 is wholly satisfactory. The psalmist deals with heart, lips, feet-that is, thoughts, words, and deeds-and declares the innocence of all. But difficulties begin when we look closer. The first question is as to the meaning and connection of the word rendered in the A.V. and R.V., "I am purposed." It may be a first person singular or an infinitive used as a noun or even a noun, meaning, in both the latter cases, substantially the same, i.e. my thinking or my thoughts. It is connected by the accents with what follows; but in that case the preceding verb "find" is left without an object, and hence many renderings attach the word to the preceding clause, and so get "Thou shalt find no [evil] thoughts in me." This division of the clauses leaves the words rendered, by A.V. and R.V., "My mouth shall not transgress," standing alone. There is no other instance of the verb standing by itself with that meaning, nor is "mouth" clearly the subject. It may as well be the object, and the clause be, "[It] shall not pass my mouth." If that is the meaning, we have to look to the preceding word as defining what it is that is thus to be kept unuttered, and so detach it from the verb "find," as the accents do. The knot has been untied in two ways: "My [evil] purpose shall not pass," etc., or, taking the word as a verb and regarding the clause as hypothetical, Should I think evil, it shall not pass, etc.
Either of these renderings has the advantage of retaining the recognised meaning of the verb and of avoiding neglect of the accent. Such a rendering has been objected to as inconsistent with the previous clause, but the psalmist may be looking back to it, feeling that his partial self-knowledge makes it a bold statement, and thus far limiting it, that if any evil thought is found in his heart, it is sternly repressed in silence.
Obscurity continues in Psa_17:4. The usual rendering, "As for [or, During] the works of men, by the word of Thy mouth I have kept me," etc., is against the accents, which make the principal division of the verse fall after "lips"; but no satisfactory sense results if the accentuation is followed unless we suppose a verb implied, such as e.g., stand fast or the like, so getting the profession of steadfastness in the words of Gods lips, in face of mens self-willed doings. But this is precarious, and probably the ordinary way of cutting the knot by neglecting the accents is best. In any case the avowal of innocence passes here from thoughts and words to acts. The contrast of the psalmists closed mouth and Gods lips is significant, even if unintended. Only he who silences much that rises in his heart can hear God speaking. "I kept me from," is a very unusual meaning for the word employed, which generally signifies to guard or watch, but here seems to mean to take heed so as to avoid. Possibly the preposition from, denoted by a single letter, has fallen out before "paths." This negative avoidance precedes positive walking in Gods ways, since the poets position is amidst evil men. Goodness has to learn to say No to men, if it is ever to say Yes to God. The foot has to be forcibly plucked and vigilantly kept from foul ways before it can be planted firmly in "Thy paths." By holding fast to courses appointed by God stability is ensured. Thus the closing clause of this first part is rather an acknowledgment of the happy result of devoted cleaving to God than an assertion of self-secured steadfastness. "My feet do not slip," not so much because they are strong as because the road is good, and the Guides word and hand ready.
The second part repeats the prayer for help, but bases it on the double ground of Gods character and acts and of the suppliants desperate straits; and of these two the former comes first in the prayer, though the latter has impelled to the prayer. Faith may be helped to self-consciousness by the sense of danger, but when awakened it grasps Gods hand first and then faces its foes. In this part of the psalm the petitions, the aspects of the Divine character and working, and the grim picture of dangers are all noteworthy. The petitions by their number and variety reveal the pressure of trouble, each new prick of fear or pain forcing a new cry and each cry recording a fresh act of faith tightening its grasp. The "I" in Psa_17:6 is emphatic, and may be taken as gathering up the psalmists preceding declarations and humbly laying them before God as a plea: "I, who thus cleave to Thy ways, call upon Thee. and my prayer is that of faith, which is sure of answer." But that confidence does not make petition superfluous, but rather encourages it. The assurance that "Thou wilt answer" is the reason for the prayer, "Incline Thine ear." Naturally at such a moment the name of God springs to the psalmists lips, but significantly it is not the name found in the other two parts of the psalm. There He is invoked as "Jehovah," here as "God." The variation is not merely rhetorical, but the name which connotes power is appropriate in a prayer for deliverance from peril so extreme. "Magnify [or make wonderful] Thy lovingkindnesses" is a petition containing at once a glimpse of the psalmists danger, for escape from which nothing short of a wonder of power will avail, and an appeal to Gods delight in magnifying His name by the display of His mercy. The prayer sounds arrogant, as if the petitioner thought himself important enough to have miracles wrought for him; but it is really most humble, for the very wonder of the lovingkindness besought is that it should be exercised for such a one. God wins honour by saving a poor man who cries to Him; and it is with deep insight into the heart of God that this man presents himself as offering an occasion, in which God must delight, to flash the glory of His loving power before dull eyes. The petitions grow in boldness as they go on, and culminate in two which occur in similar contiguity in the great Song of Moses in Deuteronomy 32: "Keep me as the pupil of Thy eye." What closeness of union with God that lovely figure implies, and what sedulous guardianship it implores! "In the shadow of Thy wings hide me." What tenderness of fostering protection that ascribes to God, and what warmth and security it asks for man! The combination and order of these two petitions may teach us that, if we are to be "kept," we must be hidden; that if these frail lives of ours are to be dear to God as the apple of His eye, they must be passed nestling close by His side. Deep, secret communion with Him is the condition of His protection of us, as another psalm, using the same image, has it: "He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty."
The aspects of the Divine character, which the psalmist employs to move Gods heart and to encourage his own, are contained first in the name "God," and next in the reference to His habitual dealings with trusting souls, in Psa_17:7. From of old it has been His way to be the Saviour of such as take refuge in Him from their enemies, and His right hand has shielded them. That past is a prophecy which the psalmist grasps in faith. He has in view instances enough to warrant an induction absolutely certain. He knows the law of the Divine dealings, and is sure that anything may happen rather than that it shall fail. Was he wrong in thus characterising God? Much in his experience and in ours looks as if he were; but they who most truly understand what help or salvation truly is will most joyously dwell in the sunny clearness of this confidence, which will not be clouded for them, though their own and others trust is not answered by what sense calls deliverance.
The eye which steadily looks on God can look calmly at dangers. It is with no failure of faith that the poets thoughts turn to his enemies. Fears that have become prayers are already more than half conquered. The psalmist would move God to help, not himself to despair, by recounting his perils. The enemy "spoil" him or lay him waste, the word used for the ravages of invaders. They are "enemies in soul"-i.e., deadly-or perhaps "against [my] soul" or life. They are pitiless and proud, closing their hearts, which prosperity has made "fat" or arrogant, against the entrance of compassion, and indulging in gasconading boasts of their own power and contemptuous, scoffs at his weakness. They ring him round, watching his steps. The text has a sudden change here from singular to plural, and back again to singular, reading "our steps," and "They have compassed me, " which the Hebrew margin alters to "us." The wavering between the singular and plural is accounted for by the upholders of the Davidic authorship by a reference to him and his followers, and by the advocates of the theory that the speaker is the personified Israel by supposing that the mask falls for a moment, and the "me," which always means "us," gives place to the collective. Psa_17:11 b is ambiguous in consequence of the absence of an object to the second verb. To "set the eyes" is to watch fixedly and eagerly; and the purpose of the gaze is in the next clause stated by an infinitive with a preposition, not by a participle, as in the A.V. The verb is sometimes transitive and sometimes intransitive, but the former is the better meaning here, and the omitted object is most naturally "us" or "me." The sense, then, will be that the enemies eagerly watch for an opportunity to cast down the psalmist, so as to lay him low on the earth. The intransitive meaning "to bow down" is taken by some commentators. If that is adopted (as it is by Hupfeld and others), the reference is to "our steps" in the previous clause, and the sense of the whole is that eager eyes watch for these "bowing to the ground," that is stumbling. But such a rendering is harsh, since steps are always on the ground. Baethgen ("Handcommentar"), on the strength of Num_21:22, the only place where the verb occurs with the same preposition as here, and which he takes as meaning "to turn aside to field or vineyard-i.e., to plunder them"-would translate. "They direct their eves to burst into the land," and supposes the reference to be to some impending invasion. A similar variation in number to that in Psa_17:11 occurs in Psa_17:12, where the enemies are concentrated into one. The allusion is supposed to be to some one conspicuous leader-e.g., Saul-but probably the change is merely an illustration of the carelessness as to such grammatical accuracy characteristic of emotional Hebrew poetry. The familiar metaphor of the lurking lion may have been led up to in the poets imagination by the preceding picture of the steadfast gaze of the enemy, like the glare of the green eyeballs flashing from the covert of a jungle.
The third part (Psa_17:13-15) renews the cry for deliverance, and unites the points of view of the preceding parts in inverted order, describing first the enemies and then the psalmist, but with these significant differences, the fruits of his communion with God, that now the former are painted, not in their fierceness, but in their transitory, attachments and low delights, and that the latter does not bemoan his own helplessness nor build on his own integrity, but feeds his soul on his confidence of the vision of God and the satisfaction which it will bring. The smoke clouds that rolled in the former parts have caught fire and one clear shoot of flame aspires heavenward. He who makes his needs known to God gains for immediate answer "the peace of God which passeth understanding," and can wait Gods time for the rest. The crouching lion is still ready to spring; but the psalmist hides himself behind God, whom he asks to face the brute and make him grovel at his feet "Make him bow down," the same word used for a lion couchant in Gen_49:9 and Num_24:9. The rendering of Psa_17:13 b, "the wicked, who is Thy sword," introduces an irrelevant thought; and it is better to regard the sword as Gods weapon that slays the crouching wild beast. The excessive length of Psa_17:14 and the entirely pleonastic "from men (by) Thy hand, O Lord," suggest textual corruption. The thought runs more smoothly, though not altogether clearly, if these words are omitted. There remains a penetrating characterisation of the enemy in the sensuous limitations and mistaken aims of his godless being, which may be satiated with low delights, but never satisfied, and has to leave them all at last. He is no longer dreaded, but pitied. His prayer has cleared the psalmists eyes and lifted him high enough to see his foes as they are. They are "men of the world," belonging, by the set of their lives, to a transitory order of things - an anticipation of New Testament language about "the children of thisworld." "Their portion is in [this] life," while the psalmists is God. {Psa_16:5} They have chosen to have their good things in their lifetime. Hopes, desires, aims, tastes, are all confined within the narrow bounds of time and sense, than which there can be no greater folly. Such limitation will often seem to succeed, for low aims are easily reached; and God sometimes lets men have their fill of the goods at which their perverted choice clutches. But even so the choice is madness and misery, for the man, gorged with worldly good, has yet to leave it, however unwilling to loosen his hold. He cannot use his goods; and it is no comfort to him, sent away naked into darkness of death, that his descendants revel in what was his.
How different the contrasted conditions of the hunted psalmist and his enemies look when the light of such thoughts streams on them! The helpless victim towers above his persecutors, for his desires go up to Him who abides and saturates with His blessed fulness the heart that aspires to Him. Terrors vanish; foes are forgotten; every other wish is swallowed up in one, which is a confidence as well as a desire. The psalmist neither grudges, nor is perplexed by, the prosperity of the wicked. The mysteries of mens earthly lot puzzle those who stand at a lower elevation; but they do not disturb the soul on these supreme heights of mystic devotion, where God is seen to be the only good, and the hungry heart is filled with Him.
Assuredly the psalmists closing expectation embodies the one contrast worth notice: that between the present gross and partial satisfactions of sense-bound lives and the calm, permanent, full delights of communion with God. But does he limit his hopes to such "hours of high communion with the living God" as may be ours, even while the foe rings us round and earth holds us down? Possibly so, but it is difficult to find a worthy meaning for "when I awake" unless it be from the sleep of death. Possibly, too, the allusion to the men of the world as "leaving their substance" makes the reference to a future beatific vision more likely. Death is to them the stripping off of their chosen portion; it is to him whose portion is God the fuller possession of all that he loves and desires. Cheyne ("Orig. of Psalt.," p. 407) regards the awaking as that from the sleep of the intermediate state by "the passing of the soul into a resurrection body." He is led to the recognition of the doctrine of the resurrection here by his theory of the late date of the psalm and the influence of Zoroastrianism on it. But it is not necessary to suppose an allusion to the resurrection. Rather the psalmists confidence is the offspring of his profound consciousness of present communion, and we see here the very process by which a devout man, in the absence of a clear revelation of the future, reached up to a conclusion to which he was led by his experience of the inmost reality of friendship with God. The impotence of death on the relation of the devout soul to God is a postulate of faith, whether formulated as an article of faith or not. Probably the psalmist had no clear conception of a future life; but certainly he had a distinct assurance of it, because he felt that the very "sweetness" of present fellowship with God "yielded proof that it was born for immortality."
William Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor's Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1910) — public domain. 65 of 66 books (1 Corinthians is not separately keyed, as that volume carries no machine-parseable verse references); section-level commentary keyed to the opening verse. Introductory and overview sections not keyed to a specific passage are excluded.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain “David pours forth to God in this psalm an…
INTRODUCTION
“David pours forth to God in this psalm an earnest prayer for deliverance from his inveterate enemies, who were bent on taking away his life. We find in it his opinion of the character of his oppressors, who were obviously persons of consideration and influence, and who were disposed to exercise all the power which their station enabled them to command, to gratify their hatred and malice against him. He affirms his own innocence, and expresses his full conviction that the time would come when the relative conditions of himself and his opponents would be changed. Many persons think, and with some reason, that the psalm was written on the occasion when Saul and his men pursued David in the wilderness of Engedi.”—Phillips.
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SAFE STEPS ON DANGEROUS PATHS
(Psa_17:4-5.)
We are reminded here:
I. Of our need of the Divine succour. “Hold up my goings in Thy paths” (Psa_17:5). This is the language of one who felt that he could not hold himself up. Some in the pride of their heart imagine that they can, in their own wit and strength, face life and its difficulties. Let us look at the path of life, the path which leads to heaven, and we shall see our need of a Divine Helper. In our way through this world to a better we must often encounter:
1. Steep paths. How pure, perfect, high are the statutes of God! We are born in the depths of sin and shame. All that is truly great and truly good lies far above us, as those white mountains of Switzerland lie above the traveller, their tops touching heaven. Now, who can ascend the holy hill? Can we, in our own strength, get so much above ourselves, so much beyond ourselves? Surely not. Without superhuman help we should soon grow faint and weary in scaling these sublime heights, and glide down, or fall down, into sense and sin.
2. Rough paths. Life has its paths of suffering, the paths that have to be traversed with bleeding feet. Here human nature often faints and falls. Men strike against sick-beds, bereavements, losses, persecutions, and lose all energy, peace, hope. Our heart is often “discouraged because of the way,” and unless we have Divine strength, comfort, guidance, we must perish.
3. Dark paths. We are often in most perplexing circumstances, and it is very easy for us to get wrong. “Ye have not passed this way heretofore.” Our path is often untried, strange, and dangerous. We speak of taking a leap in the dark. We are constantly doing this, compelled to do it; life is a series of leaps in the dark. If a Heavenly Hand does not aid us, we must stumble and fall.
4. Slippery paths. Days of youth, when the blood is hot, and life free and full; days of temptation, when a strange illusive light brightens into beauty things of death and darkness; days of comfort, when there is nothing to stir the soul, but everything to lull it; days of prosperity, when riches and honours increase: these are the times when we stand on slippery paths, on enchanted ground; and unless God help us, we are soon, as an old writer says, “on all fours.” Alpine climbers say that the icy peaks which sometimes they attempt to climb are like “the neck of a bottle,” and it is hard work to keep from sliding into the abyss. Life has paths similarly slippery, and unless a Divine guide uphold us, our steps will slide.
“In Psa_16:11 we read, ‘Thou wilt show me the path of life;’ here the psalm speaks of the paths of the destroyer. The path of life is oue; but there are many paths of the destroyer.”—Wordsworth. And Satan is perpetually seeking to drive or to draw us from the King’s highway into his destructive paths. “The path of life is like the vale of Siddim, slimy and slippery, full of lime-pits and pit-falls, springs and stumbling-blocks.”—Trapp. “Hold up my goings”—as a careful driver holds up his horse when going down hill. We have all sorts of paces, both fast and slow, and the road is never long of one sort, but with God to hold up our goings, nothing in the pace or in the road can cast down.”—Spurgeon. “Lord, hold me up, that I may hold out.”—Watson.
We are reminded:
II. Of the sufficiency of the Divine succour. The Psalmist has no doubt of his safety if only God will save him. Thus, in another place: “Hold Thou me up, and I shall be safe” (Psa_119:117). There is no royal road to heaven, but there is a royal Helper, and none can perish who cling to Him. “God is able to make you stand” (Rom_14:4). There is a Catholic story which relates that once a holy painter was painting on the lofty ceiling of a church the image of one of the apostles. Absorbed in his work the artist stepped back to contemplate it, and stepped beyond the edge of the scaffolding; in a moment the figure that he was painting started into life, caught the falling artist, and set him down safely by the altar. If we live in the Church, and seek to glorify God, whenever we take a dangerous step, or stand in perilous slight, a Hand stronger than that of Peter’s, stronger than Gabriel’s, shall preserve us, and keep us in safety.
“On every side He stands,
And for His Israel cares;
And safe in His Almighty hands,
Their souls for ever bears.”
Learn:
1. That we are safe only whilst we rest in God. All other securities for good living are valid only whilst God gives them efficacy. Promises, vows, pledges, all are unreliable, except as God gives them fixity and force. God’s help is the key-stone of all prudential measures. We must all try to take the dying minister’ advice: “Stand up for Christ, stand up in Christ.”
2. That it is the privilege of the believer to be held up. Not only to be picked up when we have fallen, but to be held up, so that we may not fall. The old poet sings—
“That which makes us have no need
Of physic, that’s physic indeed.”
Preventing grace is the best physic.
3. That we are preserved from falling by holding to God’s Word” (Psa_17:4). “Whatever men in general may do or say, I have but one guide and rule of action, viz., Thy Word.”—Perowne. And Kay renders (Psa_17:5). “Because my treadings held firm to Thy paths, my steps have been unmoved.” “By holding fast my goings in Thy paths, or rather, tracks, ruts of wheels, my footsteps have not been moved. I owe my safety to the care which I take to tread in Thy footsteps.” Wordsworth. If we hold firmly by God’s Word, that Word will preserve us. It shows us which are the false paths. “By the words of thy lips I have marked the paths of the transgressor.”—Wordsworth. It strengthens us to walk in true paths. Its examples, its promises, the grace which is ever given in the reading of it, energise us to walk in the path of life which it indicates.
4. That the text gives no sanction to carelessness and sloth. If God hold us up we have something to do, we have to hold to Him. To hold God’s hand day by day is the supremest effort of the soul, it means unceasing thought, prayer, endeavour. God only saves those who daily cling to Him in sighs, and prayers, and tears.
SPECIAL NEED, SPECIAL HELP
(Psa_17:7-14.)
I. Special Need. “Show Thy marvellous lovingkindness” (Psa_17:7). “Make Thy grace wonderful.”—Moll. “Exhibit Thy special mercies, Thou who savest them that flee for refuge.”—Kay. “It has particular reference to extraordinary favours, implying an unusual necessity.”—Alexander. The Psalmist was in a position of peculiar distress and peril. Mark his trying position as here depicted by himself.
1. The number of his enemies (Psa_17:9). They compassed him about. He felt that he was hemmed in by them on every side.
2. The character of his enemies. They were deadly enemies (Psa_17:9). As the 10th verse particularises, they were proud, arrogant, unfeeling. “Their heart is not a pulsating human heart, but a lump of fat”—Moll. Insensible, obdurate, cruel.
3. The strategy of his enemies (Psa_17:11-12). “They had fixed their eyes intently on the Psalmist, with a purpose to prostrate him to the ground, or completely overwhelm him.”—Moll. A greedy lion lurking in secret places, expresses at once, their ferocious disposition and crafty action. It was then with the Psalmist a time of special need. All God’s people know such times. They are often in deep waters, but sometimes deep calleth unto deep; their sky is often clouded, but sometimes it is eclipsed; they often pass through the fire, but sometimes the furnace is heated seven times hotter than it is wont to be heated. Their trouble is sore, their trial fiery. Their tribulation seems to go beyond that of Christians in general; it certainly goes beyond any which they have experienced in the past. They have need of extraordinary help, marvellous lovingkindnesses, special mercies.
II. Special Help. “Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of Thy wings” (Psa_17:8). How truly sublime these conceptions! In the seasons of deepest distress we have the brightest visions of God’s love and power to save. In times of deepest trial we are:
1. The dearest to God. “Keep me as the apple of the eye.” This is a symbol of that which is dearest to us. How precious is the eye, how carefully guarded by us! So we are never dearer to God than when we want Him most. The most suffering child in a family is the best beloved; and so it is in God’s family (Zec_2:8).
2. The nearest to God. “Hide me under the shadow of Thy wings.” How near, how safe! “The wings of a hen cover her brood so that they cannot be seen by birds of prey; she covers them against rain and storms; she warms them and strengthens them when they are cold and weak; so likewise does the Divine grace with His children.”—Moll. Thus in times of persecution and temptation; of suffering and trouble; of weakness and fear, God draws us all the closer to Himself, and under those wings, whose golden feathers are wisdom and power and love, we hide in safety.
3. The happiest in God. The eaglet hiding under the wing of the parent bird is a figure of comfort as well as safety. It is only as we realise deeper experience of pain, and loss, and peril, that we realise the deeper joys of the Divine life. “For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ” (2Co_1:5). The brighter rainbow decks the darker cloud; in mid-winter’s gloom the stars burn brightest. God’s wing is as soft as it is strong, and the sorrow that drives us to the closer communion ensures us a deeper peace, a keener bliss.
“When my sorrows most increase,
Let Thy strongest joys be given!
Jesus, come with my distress,
And agony is heaven!”
SANCTIFIED TRIAL
(Psa_17:7-15.)
In these verses we have an illustration of the purifying and ennobling influences of sanctified trouble. We see that unsanctified prosperity degrades those who enjoy it, whilst sanctified adversity lifts up those who suffer it
I. Sanctified sorrow drives us nearer God. In the 7th and 8th verses this is very apparent. “The hard usage of his enemies drove David into God’s blessed bosom; as children misused abroad run home to their parents.”—Trapp. Wronged by the world, buffeted by the messengers of Satan, overtaken by the storms of adversity, in closer fellowship with God we find balm to our soul. One day an aide-de-camp of the late Emperor Nicholas of Russia threw himself at the monarch’s feet, and begged from his sovereign permission to fight a duel. The Emperor, who was a staunch opponent of duelling, immediately and emphatically refused. “But, sire, I am dishonoured; I must fight,” cried the disconsolate aide. The Czar frowned, and asked him what he meant. “I have been struck in the face,” was the ready reply. “Well,” said the Emperor, “for all that, thou shalt not fight; but come—come with me.” And, taking him by the arm, the Emperor led him into the presence of his court which was assembled in an adjoining saloon. Then, in view of the flower of his realm, the Emperor kissed the cheek of the aide-de-camp which had received the blow. “Go now,” he exclaimed, “and be at peace; thy affront has been effaced.” Thus, when we are wronged by men or devils, we fly to our God, and the kiss of the King of the universe more than atones for the injury and dishonour that may have been done us. The King’s love and favour fill the wounded soul with strength and gladness.
II. Sanctified sorrow conducts to a higher spiritual life. We see this specially in the 14th verse. The Psalmist has been led to feel how much superior is the Divine life to a worldly life. He is led to a new and deeper appreciation of a godly nature, and of all the treasures it inherits. In the midst of persecution and sorrow he realises a more intense spirituality. A naturalist, speaking of the swarms of insects which torment cattle in tropical lands, shows that the sufferings of the cattle issue in their safety. “Observe,” says this writer, “that the furious eagerness of the winged insects, which seem to be the agents of death, is frequently a cause of life. By an incessant persecution of the sick flocks, enfeebled by hot damp airs, they ensure their safety. Otherwise they would remain stupidly resigned, and hour after hour grow less capable of motion, gloomier and more morbid in the bonds of fever, until they could rise no more. The inexorable spur knows, however, the secret of putting them on their legs; though, with trembling limbs, they take to flight, the insect never quits them; presses them, urges them, and conducts them, bleeding, to the wholesome regions of the dry lands and the living waters, where their furious guide abandons them, and returns to the pestilent vapours, to its realm of death.” Thus David’s enemies, like a swarm of winged insects, drove him to loftier heights of life. If he had been left to a level life of care and prosperity he might have fallen a victim to its relaxing influences, but persecutions and tribulations drove him to the higher walks of thought, and feeling, and life. Is it not often thus with God’s people? They are stung by many losses and sorrows; but these afflictions secure their salvation. With trembling limbs, and bleeding hearts, they take their flight from the miasmatic plains of the carnal life, to the tablelands of which God Himself is sun and moon.
III. Sanctified sorrow awakens longings for the heavenly and eternal life (Psa_17:15). Here we see the Psalmist loosened from earth by his troubles, and looking forward to the heavenly and immortal for the satisfaction of all his longings. Such is the beauty of Damascus that we are told Mahomet feared, if he entered it, his heart would be captivated by its loveliness, and he would be unfitted for the celestial, so he turned away from the gates of the Syrian paradise. Amid scenes of affluence and pleasure we may easily forget our great inheritance; but in disappointment and affliction our heart goes out after that Divine and heavenly inheritance which fadeth not away.
MEN OF THE WORLD
“Men of the World” (Psa_17:14)
We will first consider:
I. The characters thus described. “Men of the world” observe:
1. Their portion. “Which have their portion in this life.” “The word here used for ‘world’ denotes the transitory nature of the world as a thing of time. Men of the world are those who have made it their home, and who, together with the world and the lust thereof, are passing away. Being thus worldly-minded, they have their portion in life, i.e. in the brief years of their existence upon earth.”—Perowne. “Life is by some understood to mean a life of ease or pleasure; but this is far less natural than the obvious sense of this life, this present state as distinguished from futurity.”—Alexander.
(1.) They live to the visible. The “world.” Their pain and pleasure, hope and fear, loss or gain, all have to do with the senses and the worldly life.
(2.) They live to the present. Their disposition is gross—their highest good and happiness is in the purely natural life. “Worldliness consists in these three things:—Attachment to the Outward; attachment to the Transitory; attachment to the Unreal: in opposition to love for the Inward, the Eternal, the True.”—Robertson. A man may not be an atheist, and yet be a man of the world; a man may not be vicious, and yet be a man of the world; nay, a man may be moral, amiable, kind, and yet be a man of the world. They love not God: “The friendship of the world is enmity with God.” They love the near and the low, not the distant and the high—they are deaf to the injunction, “Set not your affections upon things of the earth.” They look at the things which are temporal. How many there are with many good qualities, but who at their best are never more than men of the world!
2. Their prosperity.
(1.) They have enough for themselves. “Whose belly thou fillest with Thy hid treasure.” “To the eye of sense God seems sometimes to have reserved His choicest gifts for the ungodly.”—Alexander. “They have more than heart could wish, their eyes stand out with fatness” (Job_21:7-15).
(2.) They have enough for their children. “They are full of children,” &c. Margin, their children are full. “The obvious signification is, that they have enough for themselves and for their children.”—Barnes. They found large and flourishing houses. The prosperity of the wicked need not excite any particular surprise.
(1.) They set their whole heart on such prosperity.
(2.) They bend their whole strength to compass their aim.
(3.) They have no moral scruples to stand in the way of their progress. They live to the world, and get it. Its wreaths theirs, its gold, its purple, its dainties.
Observe:
II. The disadvantages of their lot.
The Psalmist in this place is not envying “the men of this world;” but, on the contrary, pities them.
1. The hand of God is against them. “From the wicked by Thy sword: from men by Thy hand” (Psa_17:13-14). Many take worldly prosperity as a sign of God’s favour, but it is no such sign. God’s hand is against men of the world. His sword is lifted against them, and must smite erelong if they repent not.
2. They have a profound discontent. A carnal content they have, but does not the Psalmist intimate in the 15th verse, that “true” satisfaction comes only through righteousness? Yes, the men of the world are full of precious things—pleasures, honours, gold, and silver—but their spirit is desolate and unsatisfied. “Their portion is a lean and hungry one at the best—one that may fill the hand, but cannot fill the soul.”—Binnie.
3. They soon part with their inheritance for ever. “This world.” “This life.” Whatever this world gives us it soon takes back again, just as the hungry ocean-waves suck back again the glittering shells with which they first strewed the shore. And then? “For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever” (1Jn_2:16-17).
SATISFACTION
(Psa_17:15.)
Satisfaction! What a magical word! Oh! What is it? Where is it to be found? Who shall teach us to realise it? In this verse we have suggested to us,
I. The nature of true satisfaction.
1. It is spiritual. The Psalmist shows here that it is not external and physical, but internal and spiritual. The sensual men in the 14th verse, are not satisfied men are not men seeking satisfaction in a right direction. Not in mere sensuality shall we ever find content. You cannot satisfy the body with thoughts, neither can you satisfy the soul with meats. Not in social rank and glory shall we prove satisfaction. The ancient star-worshippers affixed mirrors to their breasts to bring near to them the orbs they worshipped, but the orbs themselves were far away in the heavens, nevertheless; and titles, purple, coronets, golden fortunes, crowns of fame, are but mirrors also in which you have the reflections of high and glorious things—reflections, and nothing more. Not in mere intellectuality shall we find content,—art, science, philosophy. St. Augustine complains to God of his friends offering him the books of the philosophers;—“And these were the dishes in which they brought to me, being hungry, the sun and the moon instead of Thee.” True satisfaction is not in the sphere of the senses, but of the spirit.
2. It is complete. The satisfaction of the sensual in the 14th verse, is one-sided, only regarding one section of the complex nature. The Psalmist’s satisfaction was all pervasive—the gratification of his whole being—appetite, sensibility, imagination, spirit. “Their’s, partial, defective, such as would but gratify their bestial part; his, adequate, complete, a happiness of proportion, such as should satisfy the man.”—John Howe.
3. It is full, “satisfied, fed to the full.”—French. The whole nature blessed, and fully blessed. “They hunger no more, neither do they thirst any more.”
4. It is everlasting. The Psalmist looks forward here to the great future, and anticipates endless blessedness. The perpetuity of the inheritance of the worldly man referred to in Psa_17:14, is quite a mock immortality—he dies, and his estate is soon dissipated; but the joy of a spiritualised and perfected nature flows for evermore.
II. The source of true satisfaction.
1. The vision of God. “As for me—in righteousness let me behold Thy face.”—Perowne. The knowledge of God—the perception of His goodness, wisdom, beauty. The secret of all our discontents is our misapprehension of the Divine nature, law, government, purpose. If we could see the Throne, and Him that sits thereupon, with unclouded face—for really the cloud is on our face, not on God’s—our soul would be filled with ecstasy. To know that God is all beauty, and His law all love, and His government all wise, and His kingdom and eternity all joy—to know this, is overflowing and everlasting gladness. To have a clear, full vision of Jesus, Who is the brightness of the Father’s glory, is the secret of satisfaction. Observe, it is through righteousness that we gain this vision. “In righteousness let me behold Thy face.” “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”
2. The likeness of God. “When I awake with Thy likeness.” “When Thy likeness is awakened.”—Horsley. As we become pure we get the clearer vision of God, and as we get the clearer vision of God, the Divine image is inwrought once more in our deepest nature. “We all with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord,” &c. (2Co_3:18).
“Unlike my God I cannot rest,
For sin is perfect misery:
But stamp Thine image on my breast,
Conform my hallowed soul to Thee.
“Partaker of Thine utmost grace,
My soul would then be satisfied;
As Moses, when he saw Thy face,
And sank into Thine arms and died.”
(1.) This satisfaction may be largely attained in this life. It is a grave error to place this satisfaction wholly in the future. In this life we may, through the grace of Jesus, attain power over sin, fix our heart singly upon God, and attain thus to the vision of God, the likeness of God, and all the joy of which God is the fountain. Let us seek a pure heart.
(2.) This satisfaction is fully attained in the life to come. “They shall see His face, and His name shall be in their foreheads.” Here we begin to awake in the likeness of God, and as His image shines more clear in our soul, our satisfaction becomes more profound; in heaven, that likeness shall be complete—we shall see Him as He is, and our joy shall be full.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Sermon Bible 1900 · Public Domain The religious aspects of night are many.
Psa 17:3
The religious aspects of night are many.
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I. Viewed in its relations to the life of man, it strikes us, first of all and pre-eminently, as an interruption. It breaks in upon and suspends human occupations, of whatever kind; it writes on the face of the heavens the veto of God on uninterrupted work. This enforced suspension of activity suggests, not merely the limited stock of strength at our disposal, but it also reminds us that we have a higher life than that which is represented and made the most of by the activity of this life, which will last when all that belongs to this life shall have passed away, a life for the nutriment and development of which God thus makes provision, and invites us to make provision, lest we should be swept without thought, without purpose, down the stream of time into the vast eternity that awaits us.
II. Night suggests danger. The daylight is of itself protection. Night is the opportunity of wild beasts and of evil men; they ply their trade during its dark and silent hours. He who gave us life can alone guarantee to us the permanence of the gift, since He can order the unruly wills and affections of sinful men, and can control the destructive force of nature and the sequence of events.
III. Night is a time during which God often speaks solemnly to the soul of man. (1) The sleep of the body is not always the sleep of the soul. If the Bible is to guide us, there can be no doubt that dreams have often been made the vehicle of the communication of the Divine will to man, and that it leads us to expect that they may be so again. (2) But it is not in dreams that God generally speaks to man in the silent hours of the night. Never does God speak more solemnly, more persuasively, to the human soul than during the waking hours of the night. Sleeplessness may be a very great blessing, if we only think of it, first, as a part of the will of God concerning us, and, next, if we are open to its many opportunities.
H. P. Liddon, Contemporary Pulpit, vol. ii., p. 193 (see also Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxvi., p. 161).
Psa 17:5
The prayer may be regarded as showing (1) the right spirit, (2) the right method, (3) the right purpose, of life.
I. In pointing out the right spirit of life, we see humility, dependence, ignorance of the future, etc.
II. The right method of life is based on (1) devotion; (2) trust in God; (3) continuous prayer for help.
III. The right purpose of life is to traverse the whole way of righteousness, that our footsteps slip not, that every step of the journey be taken safely and successfully.
Parker, City Temple, vol. i., p. 60.
References: Psa 17:7.—Spurgeon, Morning by Morning, p. 141. Psa 17:8.—Ibid., Sermons, vol. xv., No. 904; F. V. Brown, Christian World Pulpit, vol. ix., p. 190; G. Bainton, Ibid., vol. xxi., p. 244.
Psa 17:13
I. If any are tempted to ask why the ungodly sometimes have such power and do so much evil, here is an answer. The ungodly in power is a sort of public hangman or executioner, who is appointed to do the vile but necessary scavenger work of the universe, the destroying and clearing away that is needed.
II. The sword is the very type and embodiment of the idea of successful force. Sword-power is very strong. And many strive to forge their being into a hard perfection, hard, and keen, and glittering. The sword-power works by wounding, by cutting, by oppressing the weak, by sharp words, by selfish actions, by having its own way, by being feared, by never sparing. God permits such success; God uses such success to punish or try mankind. "The ungodly, which is a sword of Thine"—a mere hard tool, without any directing power of its own, a sword, not the wielder of a sword, not working intelligently with God, not knowing what is really being done.
III. True training for true life is the learning to heal wounds, not to inflict them; to save, not to destroy; to build up, not to pull down; to be as oil to the afflicted, not sharp as a sword. Beware of the sword-power and its spirit. "They that take the sword shall perish by the sword."
E. Thring, Uppingham Sermons, vol. ii., p. 128.
Psa 17:14
The general purport of the expression "a man of the world" will be allowed to be that which is evidently David’s meaning in the text: a man who has no spiritual yearnings, no holy aspirations; a mere earthworm, selfish, sordid, and greedy of gain; whose supreme and only thought is to make money, and have his nest well feathered here.
I. Think of the portion which belongs to men of the world. There is not a greater mistake than to imagine that you will be heart-rich as soon as you become purse-rich. Riches do make happy; but it is not the riches of the pocket, but the riches of the mind and heart: the riches of taste, of culture, of affection, and, above all, the riches of God’s grace, which impart capacities of deep and intense enjoyment, otherwise unknown. It is a very solemn thought for any of you who are mere "men of the world" that, though you should be ever so successful, though your gains indeed should be far beyond your expectation, what you have got is only "a portion for this life."
II. Look, next, at the contrast as suggested by David’s words in the next verse: "As for me, I will behold Thy face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied when I awake with Thy likeness." There were two things in which he placed the secret of true happiness: the one was seeking God as his Saviour, and the other was being made like Him in character. (1) "I will behold Thy face in righteousness." When reference is made to the "face of God," there is generally an allusion to Jesus Christ, His Son. The Psalmist means that he will fix his eye on God as reconciled to him through the righteousness of the Redeemer. This is the first secret of a happy life. (2) Satisfied when? "When I awake." The moment of resurrection will be the first moment in our history when, in the fullest, amplest sense of the word, we shall be able to say, "I am satisfied! I have all that I can desire!"
J. Thain Davidson, The City Youth, p. 169.
Reference: Psa 17:14.—Expositor, 3rd series, vol. v., p. 308.
Psa 17:15
Notice:—
I. The date of the satisfaction. "When I awake." The intermediate state is often in the Bible called sleep. It is a metaphor, chosen not to describe a state of unconsciousness, but to illustrate the peace and the calm of that blessed interval in which the soul and the body, separated for a while from each other, await their final summons. By-and-bye the dews of the morning begin to fall. The quickening Spirit—the same that raised Jesus from the grave—begins to do His resuscitating work. The Sun of righteousness rises high in the heavens in His perfect beauty. By His attracting influence every body and every soul, reknit, are drawn up to meet Him in the air. The date of which David speaks is the Easter morning of the first resurrection.
II. The nature of the satisfaction. "Thy likeness." (1) Take it, first, with the body. Like the body of Jesus we are to believe our new resurrection body will be. Only it will have passed through a great change: no longer carnal, but spiritual; not dull, but glorious; not a hinderer, but a helper, of the soul; framed and moulded in exquisite adaptation, first to hold a perfected spirit, and then to be as wings to execute all the pure and unlimited desires of the soul for the glory of God. (2) And as with the corporeal, so with the spiritual, nature of man. "We shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is." Everything assimilates to what it is conversant with. If a man dwells on any sin, he will grow to the type of the sin he broods upon; and if a man have his eye to Jesus, he will infallibly grow Christlike.
J. Vaughan, Sermons, 7th series, p. 127.
I. In our study of the Psalmist’s words the first thing in question is the awakening that he teaches us to anticipate. (1) The expression "when I awake" may apply to the waking of the soul out of this life. (a) Our natural powers will then awake. (b) Our spiritual life will then awake. (c) We shall awake from all that is dreamy and unsubstantial. (2) While the term will apply to the waking of the soul out of this life in the hour of dissolution, it will also apply to the waking of the body out of the grave in the hour of resurrection. Sure as the fair colours of spring and the rich sweeps of autumnal corn sleep in shrivelled seeds that long lie buried underground, so does the glory of the resurrection lie latent in the graves of the saints; and sure as their Forerunner woke will they wake to see Him and serve Him for ever.
II. The next thing to be considered is the great sight which on awaking we shall certainly behold. (1) We shall behold the face of the Lord. That face will be seen in the mystic moment of our wakening. For what was the first sight that met the eye of Peter when he woke out of sleep in the prison? The illumined face of the angel who, with gentle violence, smote him on the side, and summoned him to rise. What sight first met the waking eye of Lazarus when, with deep sob, heaving breast, disparted lip, and soul all dazzled with wonder, he stood up in his shroud at the gate of his grave? The face of Him who had just sounded the awakening mandate, "Lazarus, come forth." The first sight that greets the waking life must be the face of the wakener. The soul’s Wakener is always Christ. (2) We shall behold this vision in a state of righteousness. It is not of the abstract quality of righteousness that the holy poet is speaking, but of a righteous or justified state. (3) We shall behold this vision of the Lord "in His likeness." The unveiled soul will look upon the unveiled Saviour; and the reflection, like the glory which casts it, will be perfect for ever. (4) We shall behold this vision and be satisfied. It suits our nature; it fills our growing capacities; it meets the hunger of every faculty and every affection; it is holy; it is eternal.
Stanford, Symbols of Christ, p. 322.
Psa 17:15
Psa 73:20
The period to which both David and Asaph look in these two verses is the end of life. The words of both, taken in combination, open out a series of weighty lessons.
I. The first of these is that to all men the end of life is an awaking. The representation of death most widely diffused among all nations is that it is a sleep. The recoil of men’s heart from the thing is testified by the aversion of the languages to the bald name "death." And the employment of this special euphemism of sleep is a wonderful witness to our weariness of life and to its endless toil and trouble. But the emblem of sleep, true and sweet as it is, is but half the truth. We shall sleep. Yes; but we shall wake too. We shall wake just because we sleep. The spirit, because emancipated from the body, shall spring into greater intensity of action, shall put forth powers that have been held down here, and shall come into contact with an order of things which here it has but indirectly known. To our true selves and to God we shall wake.
II. The second principle contained in our text is that death is to some men the awaking of God. "When Thou awakest, Thou shalt despise their image." God "awakes" when He ends an epoch of probation and longsuffering mercy by an act or period of judgment. So far then as the mere expression is concerned, there may be nothing more meant here than the termination by a judicial act in this life of the transient "prosperity of the wicked." But the emphatic context seems to require that it should be referred to that final crash which irrevocably separates him who has "his portion in this life" from all which he calls his "goods." The whole period of earthly existence is regarded as the time of God’s gracious forbearance and mercy, and the time of death is set forth as the instant when sterner elements of the Divine dealing start into prominence.
III. Death is the annihilation of the vain show of worldly life. The word rendered "image" is properly "shadow." "Thou shalt despise their shadow." The men are shadows, and all their goods are not what they are called, their "substance," but their shadow, a mere appearance, not a reality. That show of good is withered up by the light of the awaking God. What He despises cannot live. "When he dieth, he shall carry nothing away." Let us see to it that not in utter nakedness do we go hence, but clothed with that immortal robe and rich in those possessions which cannot be taken away from us, which they have who have lived on earth as heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ.
IV. Death is for some men the annihilation of the vain shows in order to reveal the great reality. "I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with Thy likeness." "Likeness" is properly "form," and is the same word which is employed in reference to Moses, who saw "the similitude of the Lord." If there be, as is most probable, an allusion to that ancient vision in these words, then the "likeness" is not that conformity to the Divine character which it is the goal of our hopes to possess, but the beholding of His self-manifestation. These dim hopes suggest to us some presentiment of the full Christian truth of assimilation dependent on vision, and of vision reciprocally dependent on likeness. "I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with Thy likeness," cries the prophet Psalmist. "It is enough for the disciple that he be as his Master," responds the Christian hope.
A. Maclaren, Sermons Preached in Manchester, 2nd series, p. 1.
References: Psa 17:15.—A. Raleigh, The Little Sanctuary, p. 257; Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. i., No. 25; Homiletic Quarterly, vol. iii., p. 277; Homiletic Magazine, vol. xiv., p. 233, and vol. xv., p. 47; Preacher’s Monthly, vol. v., p. 180; G. Matheson, Moments on the Mount, p. 39; J. Irons, Thursday Penny Pulpit, vol. vi., p. 137; T. Binney, Christian World Pulpit, vol. i., p. 120. Psalm 17—I. Williams, The Psalms Interpreted of Christ, p. 296. Psa 18:9.—J. E. Vaux, Sermon Notes, 4th series, p. 10. Psa 18:16.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxiv., No. 1432. Psa 18:19.—W. Wilkinson, Thursday Penny Pulpit, vol. vii., p. 80. Psa 18:25, Psa 18:26.—J. Service, Salvation Here and Hereafter, p. 156.
The Sermon Bible, ed. William Robertson Nicoll (1888–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
F. W. Grant 1903 · Public Domain An appeal against the enemy: on the ground of…
An appeal against the enemy: on the ground of the perfection of Christ, the Intercessor for the people.
A prayer of David.
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The sixteenth psalm, then, has shown us the perfect obedience of One who has come into the path of it in love toward the saints, a path which has led Him as far as death itself, but to find through it a way of life, a way into the presence of God, and the eternal joy there. Now in the seventeenth, we have the effect of this, the identification of Christ with His people, making His appeal against the enemy, grounded upon His personal perfection, to avail for them. The psalm, taken by itself, would but obscurely express this, the work of atonement not having as yet been brought out, as later it will be,when immediately the fullness of grace toward others becomes manifest. Here, for the most part, the psalm is apparently an individual appeal, -Christ, who is most surely the Speaker, pleading in His own behalf. In the seventh verse first a plural is introduced, but in such a way as at first sight only to enunciate the general principle under which His individual case would come; and the common rendering (which is a legitimate one) would make this clearly the meaning. After this again all is individual until the eleventh verse, where we find again a plural, "our steps," but with which, strangely enough, the written text in the Hebrew joins a singular, "they have surrounded me," though the K’ri (the "spoken" amended text) substitutes "us," which the modern translations generally accept.* But the Septuagint has preserved the "me," and gives the first part of the verse quite differently.
{*It involves only the continuation of the stroke of the jod, by which it becomes a vau.}
Thus there have been evident difficulties with this abrupt plural, -which is found no more to the end of the psalm. If we realize no divine order in the series, we lose the clue by which to penetrate the mystery, or more likely see no mystery. If it be of God, on the other hand, that the seventeenth psalm has its place between the sixteenth and the eighteenth, then these verses acquire special importance, and not only become themselves intelligible, but give light upon the whole character of the psalm. And this is constantly so with the "dark" things of Scripture, which in this very way claim special attention from us: the Spirit of God would by this awaken interest on our part, and never, we may be sure, without some special reward for the search to which it prompts. Nor is there anything of this sort so small but that it may cover a great treasure.
When it is seen, by this absolute perfection which He claims unchallenged, Who the Speaker in this psalm is, then the association of others with Him must have very special interest. It has been noticed by others how careful in this particular Scripture is. "My Father and your Father," the Lord says to His disciples; never our Father": that would really falsify the relationship. So He prays for them, and invites them to watch -but never to pray -with Him. All this is perfect in its place. So in this psalm the cry is single, individual; the perfection is His alone who cries; it is "give ear unto my prayer; incline thine ear unto Me; Thou answerest Me." But, if the way in which the seventh verse is rendered here be the right one, then the prayer is for the salvation of all who "take refuge" in God, -that is, of all believers. And then even that which seems most individual in the prayer becomes possible to be read in the light of the truth of the identification of the believer with his Representative before God, -of his being "in Christ Jesus."
How this psalm, then, displays the Mediator will be evident. It at once takes its place with the other psalms of this series; and we are able to see in it the love which has manifested itself to men, as well as the strength of their salvation. Christ is not here asking for Himself; but is the great Intercessor in behalf of His people. Let us take it up in detail.
1. The psalm divides into three main parts, the first of which gives the appeal of the Perfect One on the ground of that perfection. He asks, not for mercy but for righteousness, and in entire confidence in God claims Him as Judge in His behalf. He knows Him, -knows that His eyes regard equity.
It is One with whom He is not meeting for the first time. The all-searching eyes have been upon Him; and in the silence of the night, when truth, freed from the conflict of the world’s voices, makes itself most clearly heard, God had been with Him; the Light of light, in the presence of which the slightest breath of evil had been a dense and darkening cloud, bad shone down to meet a perfect response. "Thou hast assayed me; Thou findest nothing!" This is the Voice that said on earth: "I do, always the things that please Him"; and there was but One: "my mouth goeth not beyond my thoughts," is the answer of perfect Truth to perfect Light.
Around Him there was only contradiction to all this: "the works of men" He puts all together, making no distinction, giving them no other name but that. "As for the works of men, by the word of Thy lips I have kept me from the paths of the violent," -the breaker forth: that is the character of men at large: God’s word, God’s will, they persistently break through. Alas, there is nowhere a timid woman, -nowhere the child of a few years, -who could not be characterized in this way.
Let us notice how distinctly He affirms the word of God to be His guide and guard. If a perfect moral nature were enough, He had surely that, -"holy" from His very birth. If there were any who might be supposed superior to the need of a "book" to guide, here was One; yet how perfectly he held to, and upheld at all times the "word of Thy lips." And how great our need, then, of it! How thorough should be our subjection to it! "The word of Thy lips," -the very utterance of God Himself! It is as if the psalmist would utterly refuse to be hindered by that "human element in inspiration," of which in the present day we hear so much, from drawing near to Him who would thus draw near, and who cannot be hindered by any creature-limit drawn about Him, from accomplishing His ends.
The result of this divinely guided course is a steadfast and unswerving step. To be with God is, of necessity, to have God with us, and to introduce His unchanging character into our ways. Thus the apostle, preaching no "yea and nay," but a "yea and amen" Christ, can affirm for himself that with him also there is not yea and nay. (2Co 1:17-19.) Yet though He did not now repent of his previous letter, he had repented. (2Co 7:8.) Only One has trodden perfectly this perfect path, and "left us an example that we should walk in His steps."
2. Thus we have had the ground of the appeal. Now we have the nature of the appeal, as a cry for deliverance from the enemy, so commonly before one in these pages. God is invoked as the God of power, and trusted as the God of truth. Answer, He will; and the certainty of this has drawn forth the cry. What confidence, too, may be ours, with the name of Him whom the Father ever heareth by which to draw near to God.
Yet it is an appeal to "marvelous loving-kindness," because of those for whom, as if entirely for Himself, it is made: for it is a prayer for sinners who not in weakness merely but in the consciousness of unworthiness "take refuge" in the mercy as well as the might of God. This is surely no common ground upon which He as well as they are to find acceptance, but far different from that. He does not associate Himself with these suppliants, but prays for them; and then again His voice is heard as for Himself alone. He is not associating Himself with them, so as to say, "Keep us," but identifying Himself with them, so that He can say, "Keep Me," -they being covered with the perfection of His beauty, and God to act toward them as to Himself. Such language we shall find elsewhere in the Psalms: words of a Substitute and Representative of His people, -a glory of Christ, to be found, as we surely know, everywhere in Scripture, though here presented in the peculiar manner of the Psalms, a secret for faith to penetrate and possess.
For Who is it in the fortieth psalm, who, coming into the world simply to do the will of God, and to offer to Him the one offering, now to take the place of all others, cries out "Mine iniquities have taken hold upon Me"? And Who, as the Trespass-offering in the sixty-ninth psalm, "restoring what He took not away," says yet again, "My trespasses* are not hid from Thee"? Such things we are forced, if we apply them (as we must) to Christ, to interpret rightly. Yet here we have only that same truth of representation of which substitution is but the result in suffering and sacrifice, -the Cloud-Pillar of ministrant Glory.
{* Ashmothai; not "sins," as in the common version.}
Looked at as the intercession of Christ for His own, -the saints in whom all His delight is, -how tenderly does He speak of them! "Keep Me as the reflection in the eye," -which is literally, "the little man," the human figure, "the daughter" or product "of the eye." It is the image of Himself which God sees, as it were in the eyes of His beloved Son, ever having Himself before them! will He not preserve that?
Then He draws near to the Father’s heart for refuge: "hide me in the shadow of Thy wings." It is the image so familiar to us in the breathings of the Lord’s own heart over Jerusalem; but there love that was refused.
"From the wicked that oppress me, -my enemies that with desire [literally, "in soul," -the seat of desire] encircle me: in their own fat are they closed up," -shut up in their own luxurious selfishness; and this is the most evident penalty of sin, which even here begins to stiffen and harden the heart into the unchangeableness of eternity: sin being the coffin, the grave, the final prison of the soul!
Now you see them in their settled enmity against the "righteous; and here the plural comes in again, as we have seen. The wicked associate the Lord’s people with Himself; or at least hate His reflection in them. What they do to them, they do really therefore to Him. With the savage intensity of bloodhounds they are here seen dogging the steps of their victims; fastening their eyes on them, ready to pull them down to the ground. Their whole figure is just that indeed of a ravenous beast of prey: humanity is lost with the casting off of God, and the beast made to be taken and destroyed is his only likeness.
3. The third part, from an Israelite standpoint, is a very striking one. It contrasts the portion of the saint, now suffering at the hands of the wicked, with that of the wicked at whose hands they suffer, and who, completely under divine control, and used of God for the accomplishment of His purposes, has from His hand a present portion, soon to pass away. Beyond it lies that of faith, with God and eternal.
We see that this is not the standpoint of law, which "is not of faith," (Gal 3:12), and which distinctly has its blessings in the present, but answers rather to our Lord’s story of the rich man and Lazarus (Luk 16:1-31), where the one accepted of God is yet unable to claim anything under law, -is but a beggar (comp. Psa 37:25), while the man careless of God is the "man of this world." For the Jewish believer of the period to which these psalms have special reference, in the short crisis of trouble so often brought before us, and with millennial days in immediate prospect, the portion of faith is not necessarily -not even nominally -in heaven; but rather in the scene which the psalm last referred to pictures, when the meek will possess the earth and the wicked be cast out of it. For the Christian the blessing to be enjoyed is, of course, heavenly; and of the Jewish remnant of the future, of whom these psalms speak, many will be slain, and thus find their place with the heavenly instead of the earthly people. These are the martyrs who, in the final visions of the Apocalypse, are seen to join the company of the throned saints of the first resurrection. (Rev 20:4-6.)
This part begins with an urgent cry once more for God to interfere. "Arise, Jehovah, confront him, cast him down: rescue my life from the wicked one, thy sword." So (rightly, I believe,) the common version. The revised puts "by thy sword"; remanding the older translation to the margin. But there is no preposition in the Hebrew, though that is often the case where we should put one: the sense given by the common version, however, is more in accordance with the context, and gives the fuller thought. If the lawless persecutor be, after all, God’s sword, then how simple for Him to turn it aside! His supremacy is manifest; and this is carried into the next verse, where, however, the same question is raised, shall we say "from men thy hand," or "
by thy hand"? But that their portion is from God there is no question. Acting for Him, although they mean it not, indeed mean nothing less, yet He gives them for their work, as He paid Nebuchadnezzar for his blind service against Tyre. (Eze 29:18-19.) But this is not His grace or in the things that His grace bestows. They are but men of the world, or of time, as I have rendered the word, because the sense of transitoriness inheres in it;* they have their portion in a life that passes away. "Full" they may well be, therefore, for a time, and who shall envy them? though they may leave what is more than they can themselves enjoy, with the brief lives in which to enjoy it, -to their babes.
{*As in Psa 89:47: "Remember how short my time is," -literally, "how transitory I am"!}
The saints’ portion, too, can he expressed in a few words; but who can estimate it aright? "For me, in righteousness shall I behold Thy face; I shall be full, awaking in Thine image."
Here in the first place, that it is Christ’s own voice is evident. The hope before Him is objective and subjective. On the one hand, as come out of His voluntary exile from it, the beholding of the Father’s face in the place of full and supreme manifestation; on the other, His own emerging from all the conditions of manhood in the humiliation in which He had assumed it, so as to be in manhood itself the manifest image and glory of God. We know, indeed, how little of what this implies; but it is the path of His humanity we trace in it, and thus we know that in measure we too are to share it with. Him. Even of man in the old creation it could be said that "he is the image and glory of God." (1Co 11:7.) And if this be sadly obscured by the fall, it is, even apart from this, the shadow only of the ultimate purpose of God with regard to man. And while Christ is its perfect expression, the breadth of this expression must take in all redeemed humanity in some sense. No doubt that here also there are degrees of such glory, -glory celestial and glory terrestrial, as in nature. Thus again God, who is light, is the "Father of lights," -many-hued and many-toned, in order that the light itself may have more adequate expression.
The objective and subjective, while different, are in close connection. "We know that we shall be like Him," says the beloved apostle; and this is the reason he gives for it, "for we shall see Him as He is." (1Jn 3:2.) On the other hand, "the world knew Him not," (Joh 1:10, ) because morally it had wandered far from Him. Could untruth apprehend the perfect Truth, or Love be understood by what was "enmity against God"? For us, when the long conflict with sin within us shall be over, how wondrous shall be the soul’s vision out of its now undimmed eyes, how shall the "pure in heart" find the blessedness predicted for them, that "they shall see God"!
For the Lord, there could, of course, be no change in this respect. The days of His youth were as holy as His manhood; those of His life on earth no less so than His life in heaven. Such limitations, however, there were assumed in His assumption of flesh as made possible a life of faith, nay, the pattern life. Here we know indeed nothing except that of which the word of God assures us, and would be careful in any reasoning at all upon it. Yet we may be sure that whatever were these limitations they would make possible for Him also a looking forward to behold the face of God, as on earth He had not beheld it. Wonder as we may and must, His humanity was in these respects such as ours, "apart from sin." He abode in it, though divine, subjecting Himself to its conditions, so that He could be really a babe, a child, a man, and then again under the awful shadow of the desertion of the cross! What perfect love -what utter reverence -do we owe Him, for such inconceivable self-humiliation as was this!
F. W. Grant, The Numerical Bible (4th ed., 1903) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. R. Dummelow 1909 · Public Domain The Psalmist makes his appeal to the justice of…
The Psalmist makes his appeal to the justice of God (Psa_17:1-2), and supports his prayer by an assertion of his conscious innocence (Psa_17:3-5) and an account of the eager cruelty of his enemies (Psa_17:9-12). The concluding thought, that true satisfaction is found in God alone (Psa_17:14-15), recalls the teaching of Psalms 16, with which this Ps. presents other points of likeness.
1. Feigned] false, insincere.
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2. My sentence] my judgment, in the favourable sense of 'vindication.' Let thine eyes, etc.] better, 'thine eyes look upon equity,' a confident assertion of God's justice.
3. Proved] tested.
In the night] when man is alone with God, and conscience shows things in their true character. Shalt find, etc.] RM 'findest no evil purpose in me.'
4. Concerning] RV 'as for.'
By the word of thy lips] the commandments of God.
5. RV 'My steps have held fast to thy paths, My feet have not slipped.'
8. The apple of the eye] The pupil of the eye, a specially important and delicate organ, with peculiarly sensitive arrangements for its protection: see Deu_32:10. Under the shadow of thy wings] as a mother-bird shelters her young.
10. They are inclosed in their own fat] better, 'they have shut up their heart,' a figure for arrogance.
11. Us] The Psalmist mentions his companions along with himself.
Bowing down] RV 'to cast us down.'
12. Like as a lion] RV 'He is like a lion,' the chief enemy (perhaps Saul) being meant.
13. Disappoint] RV 'confront.' From the wicked, which is, etc.] RV 'from the wicked by thy sword.'
14. From men which are, etc.] RV 'from men by thy hand.' From men of the world, etc.] RM 'from men whose portion in life is of the world,' whose ideal is animal gratification, a numerous offspring, and wealth to leave behind them. Full of children] RV 'satisfied with children.'
15. The Psalmist's satisfaction, present and future, lies in the fellowship of God. When I awake] either 'after each night's rest,' or 'after the night of trouble is past.' The thought of life after death may not have been clearly in the writer's mind, but his conviction and experience that true life is life in God involve the foundation of the Christian hope.
With thy likeness] cp. Num_12:8; Psa_139:18. The Psalmist seeks continual fellowship with God.
J. R. Dummelow, A Commentary on the Holy Bible (Macmillan, 1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Arno C. Gaebelein 1922 · Public Domain Psalm 17
Psalm 17
The Prayer of Christ Against the Enemy
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1. The Righteous Intercessor (Psa 17:1-5)
2. Prayer for deliverance (Psa 17:6-12)
3. The deliverance (Psa 17:13-15)
Psa 17:1-5. This Psalm is blessedly linked with the foregoing one. We hear Christ interceding for the saints in whom is His delight (16:3). He pleads His own perfection. He is righteous; His prayer does not come from feigned lips. Not David, but Christ alone could truly say, “Thou hast proved my heart; Thou hast visited me in the night; Thou hast tried me. Thou findest nothing.” By the Word of God He had walked and was kept from the paths of the destroyer. What a grand testimony to inspiration we have in verse 4 when the Spirit of Christ declares beforehand that Christ would walk in obedience to the Word and that Word is called here “the Word of Thy lips,” which came from the mouth and heart of God.
Psa 17:6-12. It is a marvellous prayer for His own with whom He so perfectly identifies Himself. The seventh verse is the key, for He prays, “Show Thy marvellous loving-kindness, delivering those who put their trust in Thee by Thy right hand from those rising up against them.” He pleads for His beloved saints that they may be kept as the apple of the eye, and hidden under the shadow of His wings. He speaks as for Himself, but it is for the saints, those that trust God, and God hears Him and answers. The enemy threatens His people on earth and therefore we find the plural in verse 11, “they have now compassed us in our steps.”
Psa 17:13-15. The final prayer is to the Lord to arise and to rescue His suffering people from the wicked one, who is the sword in the hand of the Lord. Then when the Lord ariseth His people will behold His face in righteousness and in awakening shall be satisfied with His likeness. Oh, blessed Hope! which is ours too, when shall it be!
Arno C. Gaebelein, The Annotated Bible (1913–1922) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain The Believer Takes His Refuge in God.
The Believer Takes His Refuge in God.
Every true believer is a poor sinner in the sight of God, knowing that his natural sinfulness will not permit justifying himself before the tribunal of divine justice. At the same time every believer can and does cheerfully approach God, not on the strength of his own merits, but by virtue of his trust in the righteousness of Christ imputed to him. Moreover, he may, at such a time, urge the sincerity of his conduct, the righteousness of his life, for the good works which he performs are the work of God in him and will therefore well merit the Lord’s attention. A prayer of David.
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Making a Plea On the Strength of his Righteousness Of Life
v. 1. Hear the right, O Lord, listening as the believer presents the argument of his righteousness, attend unto my cry, his loud and importunate call; give ear unto my prayer, that goeth not out of feigned lips, out of lips that have nothing to do with hypocrisy and deceit; for if he were defiled with guilt, he would not dare to approach the Lord, praying lips, in that case, being filled with falsehood.
v. 2. Let my sentence come forth from Thy presence, that acquitting him of wrong-doing, God Himself stating that David was not guilty before Him; let Thine eyes behold the things that are equal, God sees and judges aright, He reads the hearts and minds and knows true uprightness.
v. 3. Thou hast proved mine heart testing it for its sincerity; Thou hast visited me in the night, an investigation at that time being especially searching since the soul is then undisturbed by the happenings and noises of the outside world; Thou hast tried me, making a very careful examination, and shalt find nothing, no wicked thoughts; I am purposed that my mouth shall not transgress, he would not permit a sinful thought to pass the door of his mouth.
v. 4. Concerning the works of men, as David noted in what manner men in general behaved, by the word of Thy lips, in accordance with God’s command, I have kept me from the paths of the destroyer, he had not followed the example of the wicked in becoming guilty of oppression, of robbery and violence.
v. 5. Hold up my goings in Thy paths, his steps follow the ways outlined by God, that my footsteps slip not, he has not left the way of God’s command on either side, he can in all sincerity urge his righteousness before the tribunal of God. This is an example to all believers and at the same time a warning against hypocrisy; for only he who has a good conscience is able to pray in this manner.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 General Information:
General Information:
Parallelism is common in Hebrew poetry. (See: Poetry and Parallelism)
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A prayer of David
"This is a prayer that David wrote."
Give ear to my prayer from lips without deceit
The phrase "give ear" is a metaphor for listening, and "lips without deceit" is synecdoche for a person who does not lie. AT: "Listen to my prayer for I speak without deceit" (See: Metaphor and Synecdoche)
Let my vindication come from your presence
Vindication coming from God represents God judging someone and declaring him innocent. God's "presence" is a metonym for God himself. AT: "Let my vindication come from you" or "Declare that I am innocent" (See: Metaphor and Metonymy)
let your eyes see what is right!
Here "your eyes" is synecdoche for God himself, and "see" is a metaphor for paying attention and firmly deciding to do something. AT: "please see what is right" or "do what is right" (See: Synecdoche and Metaphor)
translationWords
pray
David
just
Yahweh
deceive
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 Ps 17 The psalmist pleads for God’s protection and…
Ps 17 The psalmist pleads for God’s protection and vindication, affirms his own integrity, and prays that the Lord will prevail against his fierce enemies.
17:1 comes from honest lips: Deception characterizes the wicked. The godly reject such deceit as a failure of character and pray for rescue from such people (5:6; 43:1; 120:2). They love honesty, truth, and integrity (15:2-3; 24:4; 101:7).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.