Psa 17:1-5 | KingComments | STEP | Psalm 17, like Psalm 16, is about David, whereby he is clearly a picture of the Lord Jesus. He is also a picture of the faithful remnant of Israel. Psalm 16 is about his inner, intimate, confidential and personal relationship with his God. This has been revealed through suffering, just as happens with pure gold that has been tested by fire. We see this in perfection in the Lord Jesus in Whom through all suffering His complete trust in His God became visible. We see in His suffering Who God is to Him. In this He is an example for every believer, both now for us who belong to the church and for the faithful remnant in the future. In Psalm 17 we see the pressure that is being exerted on David from outside. The same thing applies to the believing remnant and also to the Lord Jesus. Through that pressure, a sincere heart is revealed as one that is completely devoted to God. In the case of the Lord Jesus we recognize this in the description of Him in the Gospels. Here it is more about the circumstances that are characterized by enemies surrounding the righteous. This is also what the faithful remnant will experience in the end time. We see in this psalm the Lord Jesus connected with the believing remnant. His experiences are shared by them. What He has experienced, they will, to some extent, experience. He is with them in the Spirit. In this psalm He teaches His own to trust in God as the God of the resurrection, the God Who will soon come to save them. We can divide this psalm into three parts: 1. are the basis of David’s prayer. In it he speaks of his righteousness; he expresses his uprightness. 2. deal with oppression by the enemy. This section begins with a prayer followed by a description of the enemy. 3. Finally, . This section again begins with a prayer. David asks for destruction of the enemy and his deliverance. The enemy, both of David and of the Lord Jesus and the faithful remnant in the future, is the unbelieving part of the people. This unbelieving part, the apostate multitude, with the antichrist at its head, is supported by the restored Roman Empire, the European Union, or the beast coming out of the sea spoken of in Revelation 13 ( ). We find the essence of this prayer of David in the middle of the psalm, in : “Keep me as the apple of the eye; hide me in the shadow of Your wings.” This psalm is “of David” ( ). The psalm is called “a prayer”, which we also hear from beginning to end. Three other psalms of David are likewise so named ( ) and further only the one psalm of Moses ( ). David calls the LORD’s attention with three powerful statements: “hear”, “give heed”, and “give ear to” ( ). The matter at hand is “a just cause”. The word “cause” is not in the original and has been added. It is therefore possible to read the text this way: “Hear the right [strictly: righteousness]” (Darby Translation). ‘Hear’ also means ‘deal’. ‘Righteousness’ implies ‘according to Your covenant and/or Your promises’. David is not speaking of others, but of himself. It may seem that he is trying to defend himself, but he is not. A just cause is only just if that cause is so judged by God. David is not concerned with restoring honor to himself or to assert himself, but with the honor of God which is at stake here. This is about injustice in the world and among the people of God. David prays to the righteous Judge for justice. In he expresses his confidence that he will see God’s face in righteousness, which means that God will act and deliver in righteousness. He sees his cause as God’s cause. Therefore, he urgently asks God to hear him. He speaks of his “crying” to God. He cries out aloud, for his soul is in distress ( ). What he wants to say he calls “my prayer”, indicating that he comes to God as a supplicant. He adds that his prayer “is not from deceitful lips”. This is not posturing, but indicates that he approaches God with a clear conscience to present his cause to Him. It is the prayer of a righteous person (cf. ), that is, of one who stands upright before God. He can approach God freely because there are no things in his life that are contrary to God’s holiness and because he is upright in his heart ( ). The point is not that he is sinless, but that he does not walk around with sins that he has not confessed. He has integrity and is sincerely devoted to the LORD. What he says is consistent with what is in his heart and also evident in his actions ( ). David also demonstrates this in . He wants the LORD to confirm his innocence on the basis of righteous judgment with a judicial decision. To do this, he appeals to God’s “presence” ( ), that is, to God’s presence in his life. After all, God’s eyes “look with equity”, that is, He sees the right things and judges them according to what is consistent with law and justice. He will then see that according to truth and justice there is no sin in the sense of deceit or hypocrisy present with him. Then his justice can go out from God’s presence so that his adversaries are gagged.

‏ Psalms 17:1-5

Introduction

Psalm 17, like Psalm 16, is about David, whereby he is clearly a picture of the Lord Jesus. He is also a picture of the faithful remnant of Israel. Psalm 16 is about his inner, intimate, confidential and personal relationship with his God. This has been revealed through suffering, just as happens with pure gold that has been tested by fire.

We see this in perfection in the Lord Jesus in Whom through all suffering His complete trust in His God became visible. We see in His suffering Who God is to Him. In this He is an example for every believer, both now for us who belong to the church and for the faithful remnant in the future.

In Psalm 17 we see the pressure that is being exerted on David from outside. The same thing applies to the believing remnant and also to the Lord Jesus. Through that pressure, a sincere heart is revealed as one that is completely devoted to God. In the case of the Lord Jesus we recognize this in the description of Him in the Gospels.

Here it is more about the circumstances that are characterized by enemies surrounding the righteous. This is also what the faithful remnant will experience in the end time. We see in this psalm the Lord Jesus connected with the believing remnant. His experiences are shared by them. What He has experienced, they will, to some extent, experience. He is with them in the Spirit. In this psalm He teaches His own to trust in God as the God of the resurrection, the God Who will soon come to save them.

We can divide this psalm into three parts:

1. Psa 17:1-5 are the basis of David’s prayer. In it he speaks of his righteousness; he expresses his uprightness.

2. Psa 17:6-12 deal with oppression by the enemy. This section begins with a prayer followed by a description of the enemy.

3. Finally, Psa 17:13-15. This section again begins with a prayer. David asks for destruction of the enemy and his deliverance. The enemy, both of David and of the Lord Jesus and the faithful remnant in the future, is the unbelieving part of the people. This unbelieving part, the apostate multitude, with the antichrist at its head, is supported by the restored Roman Empire, the European Union, or the beast coming out of the sea spoken of in Revelation 13 (Rev 13:1-10).

We find the essence of this prayer of David in the middle of the psalm, in Psa 17:8: “Keep me as the apple of the eye; hide me in the shadow of Your wings.”

Prayer for Justice

This psalm is “of David” (Psa 17:1a). The psalm is called “a prayer”, which we also hear from beginning to end. Three other psalms of David are likewise so named (Psa 86:1 ; Psa 102:1 ; Psa 142:1) and further only the one psalm of Moses (Psa 90:1).

David calls the LORD’s attention with three powerful statements: “hear”, “give heed”, and “give ear to” (Psa 17:1b). The matter at hand is “a just cause”. The word “cause” is not in the original and has been added. It is therefore possible to read the text this way: “Hear the right [strictly: righteousness]” (Darby Translation). ‘Hear’ also means ‘deal’. ‘Righteousness’ implies ‘according to Your covenant and/or Your promises’.

David is not speaking of others, but of himself. It may seem that he is trying to defend himself, but he is not. A just cause is only just if that cause is so judged by God. David is not concerned with restoring honor to himself or to assert himself, but with the honor of God which is at stake here.

This is about injustice in the world and among the people of God. David prays to the righteous Judge for justice. In Psa 17:15 he expresses his confidence that he will see God’s face in righteousness, which means that God will act and deliver in righteousness.

He sees his cause as God’s cause. Therefore, he urgently asks God to hear him. He speaks of his “crying” to God. He cries out aloud, for his soul is in distress (Psa 106:44 ; Psa 142:6). What he wants to say he calls “my prayer”, indicating that he comes to God as a supplicant.

He adds that his prayer “is not from deceitful lips”. This is not posturing, but indicates that he approaches God with a clear conscience to present his cause to Him. It is the prayer of a righteous person (cf. Jam 5:16b), that is, of one who stands upright before God. He can approach God freely because there are no things in his life that are contrary to God’s holiness and because he is upright in his heart (1Jn 3:21).

The point is not that he is sinless, but that he does not walk around with sins that he has not confessed. He has integrity and is sincerely devoted to the LORD. What he says is consistent with what is in his heart and also evident in his actions (Psa 66:18). David also demonstrates this in Psa 17:3-5.

He wants the LORD to confirm his innocence on the basis of righteous judgment with a judicial decision. To do this, he appeals to God’s “presence” (Psa 17:2), that is, to God’s presence in his life. After all, God’s eyes “look with equity”, that is, He sees the right things and judges them according to what is consistent with law and justice. He will then see that according to truth and justice there is no sin in the sense of deceit or hypocrisy present with him. Then his justice can go out from God’s presence so that his adversaries are gagged.

A Righteous Prays

In these verses, David places himself before God and submits his inner self and his actions to Him. He draws God’s attention to what He knows about him. He testifies to his righteousness. In doing so, he gives his own assessment of what is in him and the deeds he has done and the ways he has gone. He can say that there is nothing that accuses him.

In Psa 17:3, David speaks of three methods that God has used to see what is in his heart: God has “tried” him, “visited” him, and “tested” him. It is also possible to translate these three verbs in imperative: “Test my heart, search it by night, test me” (cf. Psa 139:23). The result of the examination is certain: “You find nothing” or “You will find nothing”.

Having tried the heart is to examine it to see if it is pure in its motives. God has visited him at night, when he is alone and, as it were, face to face with God, when nothing distracts him. That is also the most appropriate opportunity to confront him with a sin if there were one. His whole person has been tested, which refers more to the circumstances that serve as a testing environment in which he is living.

David knows that the injustice done to him by wicked people has no ground whatsoever. God has also observed this with him, for He has found nothing after thorough examination. Therefore, he has the firm confidence that God’s assessment of his righteous case that he submits to Him will be in accordance with it.

The meaning of the last part of the verse – “I have purposed that my mouth will not transgress” – is that nothing more and nothing else has come out of his mouth than what he has thought. It implies that his thoughts and his words, by which he makes his thoughts known, are in complete harmony. He does not use his words to hide his true thoughts. He has no wrong, hidden thoughts. This is often the case with people, but not with David.

This too we see in perfection and always with the Lord Jesus, in Whom every word He speaks expresses exactly what He thinks. He is what He says (Jn 8:25). This is how it should be with every believer.

After David has spoken of his inner self, he then speaks of his actions (Psa 17:4). In this, too, God will not be able to discover anything that could make his righteous cause a failure. David speaks of “the deeds of men”. It is not about sinful deeds, but about man’s general doings, his daily activities. In this he has been obedient to “the word of Your lips”, which is the Word of God.

That has kept him from going “the paths of the violent [literally: of the burglar or transgressor]”. The paths of the violent are the paths of the devil who is the violent, the burglar and transgressor. It is not so much about a path of violence but about a forbidden path, a path of disobedience, as a burglar goes. It is a path that causes harm others. People who live without God live for the devil and go his way. It is the path of “destruction and misery” (Rom 3:16). Only obedience to God’s Word keeps us from this. The Lord Jesus is the perfect example in this.

By being obedient to the word of God’s lips, David has held fast to the paths of God (Psa 17:5). He has gone the way that God has gone before him. He has put his feet in His footsteps. As a result, his feet have not slipped. The way we go, we go step by step. God’s Word is a lamp to our feet, meaning that God’s Word gives light for every step we have to take. God’s Word is also a light to our path, which is the entire way we travel, with our eye fixed on the final goal (Psa 119:105).