Psa 17:9-14 | KingComments | STEP | Here begins the second part of the psalm, which consists of . In it, there is talk of oppression by the enemy. This section also begins with a prayer. The word “I” with which begins has emphasis here. David says: “I, it is I who call upon You. I, who have just shown You my whole inner and outer self, by which You have seen that everything in it corresponds to Who You are.” He calls upon God because he knows that God hears him. He asks God to show him “wondrously” His “lovingkindness” ( ). This is a beautiful expression. Every display of God’s lovingkindness to us is a wonder. Do we also have an eye for that and bow down in worship to Him for it? The first wonder of God’s lovingkindness is that He has saved us ( ). After that, He has shown us countless more wonders of His lovingkindness. Has He not often helped us in His lovingkindness in all kinds of situations, for which we ourselves saw no solution and for which we then resorted to Him? Here it is about a situation where David is surrounded by people who rise up against God’s right hand [the context makes it clear that this is meant here]. It points to the audacity of these rebels, for they rise up against the power of God, of whom the right hand speaks. With His right hand, God supports and delivers His own ( ). By this David is saying to God that he realizes that his enemies do not rise up against him, but against the strong God. We can also apply the “right hand” to the Messiah. He is at God’s right hand and He is the power of God ( ; ). For himself, he asks for protection. For that, he boldly appeals to God’s lovingkindness, reminding God how precious he is to Him. He describes this preciousness by speaking of himself as the “apple of the eye” ( ; cf. ). The request for its protection also includes the request to be able to continue to see everything clearly. The apple of the eye is the pupil of the eye. The Hebrew word means ‘little man, daughter of the eye’. This is because your image is reflected by the pupil when you look at it. That David is the apple of God’s eye means that David is reflected in the apple of God’s eye, God’s pupil. This, in turn, is because the LORD does not lose sight of him and constantly protects him. The apple of his eye is one of the most sensitive and vulnerable parts of the body. He therefore makes an additional appeal for God’s protection asking that God hides him “in the shadow” of His “wings” ( ; cf. ; ; ). In addition to protecting what is precious, it is also about protecting and securing what is defenseless. These pictures illustrate the love of God in His acts of care and protection for those who are dear and precious to Him. Moses uses both of these pictures in the song he teaches God’s people. In doing so, he wants to teach them about their preciousness to God and the love and care God has lavished on them because of it ( ). David presents himself to God in his preciousness and vulnerability because of “the wicked” who “despoil” him and his “deadly enemies who surround” him ( ). He is in mortal danger. The wicked are out to despoil him. His deadly enemies have surrounded him, making him feel like a surrounded, besieged city (cf. ), from which every way out has been cut off.

‏ Psalms 17:9-14

Prayer for Protection

Here begins the second part of the psalm, which consists of Psa 17:6-12. In it, there is talk of oppression by the enemy. This section also begins with a prayer. The word “I” with which Psa 17:6 begins has emphasis here. David says: “I, it is I who call upon You. I, who have just shown You my whole inner and outer self, by which You have seen that everything in it corresponds to Who You are.” He calls upon God because he knows that God hears him.

He asks God to show him “wondrously” His “lovingkindness” (Psa 17:7). This is a beautiful expression. Every display of God’s lovingkindness to us is a wonder. Do we also have an eye for that and bow down in worship to Him for it? The first wonder of God’s lovingkindness is that He has saved us (Tit 3:4-6). After that, He has shown us countless more wonders of His lovingkindness. Has He not often helped us in His lovingkindness in all kinds of situations, for which we ourselves saw no solution and for which we then resorted to Him?

Here it is about a situation where David is surrounded by people who rise up against God’s right hand [the context makes it clear that this is meant here]. It points to the audacity of these rebels, for they rise up against the power of God, of whom the right hand speaks. With His right hand, God supports and delivers His own (Psa 18:35 ; Psa 139:10). By this David is saying to God that he realizes that his enemies do not rise up against him, but against the strong God. We can also apply the “right hand” to the Messiah. He is at God’s right hand and He is the power of God (Heb 1:3; 1Cor 1:24).

For himself, he asks for protection. For that, he boldly appeals to God’s lovingkindness, reminding God how precious he is to Him. He describes this preciousness by speaking of himself as the “apple of the eye” (Psa 17:8; cf. Zec 2:8). The request for its protection also includes the request to be able to continue to see everything clearly.

The apple of the eye is the pupil of the eye. The Hebrew word means ‘little man, daughter of the eye’. This is because your image is reflected by the pupil when you look at it. That David is the apple of God’s eye means that David is reflected in the apple of God’s eye, God’s pupil. This, in turn, is because the LORD does not lose sight of him and constantly protects him.

The apple of his eye is one of the most sensitive and vulnerable parts of the body. He therefore makes an additional appeal for God’s protection asking that God hides him “in the shadow” of His “wings” (Psa 36:7 ; Psa 57:1b ; Psa 63:7 ; Psa 91:4; cf. Rth 2:12; Isa 49:2 ; Isa 51:16; Mt 23:37). In addition to protecting what is precious, it is also about protecting and securing what is defenseless.

These pictures illustrate the love of God in His acts of care and protection for those who are dear and precious to Him. Moses uses both of these pictures in the song he teaches God’s people. In doing so, he wants to teach them about their preciousness to God and the love and care God has lavished on them because of it (Deu 32:10-11).

David presents himself to God in his preciousness and vulnerability because of “the wicked” who “despoil” him and his “deadly enemies who surround” him (Psa 17:9). He is in mortal danger. The wicked are out to despoil him. His deadly enemies have surrounded him, making him feel like a surrounded, besieged city (cf. 2Kgs 6:14), from which every way out has been cut off.

The Wicked and Deadly Enemies

In Psa 17:9, David has told God what his enemies are up to. In Psa 17:10-12, he holds up to God by what his enemies are led and how they proceed. Their hearts are “unfeeling”, literally “fat” (Psa 17:10; cf. Isa 6:10), making them inaccessible to reasonable arguments for repentance. “Their fat” points to their prosperity, well-being, abundance. They revel in prosperity that they would not want to miss for anything in the world.

In doing so, they have at the same time put a barrier around their hearts, so that it is closed off to any call to turn their backs on their sinful way of life (cf. Psa 119:70; Deu 32:15). That they have closed their hearts with fat also means that they have no compassion for others.

Because of their fat inner being, “they speak proudly” with their mouths. They attribute their prosperity and well-being to their own efforts. The arrogance spells out. There is no thought of God in them, Who nevertheless “causes His sun to rise on [the] evil and [the] good, and sends rain on [the] righteous and [the] unrighteous” (Mt 5:45). Because there is no thought of God, there is also no care for others.

Instead of taking care of others they are out to plunder others (Psa 17:11). Those who are arrogant cannot be trusted. Their actions reveal the fatness around their hearts. They surround “us in our steps”, which are the steps of the righteous. Here David speaks in the plural. What happens to him happens to all who belong to him. Thus the Lord Jesus said that just as His enemies persecuted Him, they will also persecute those who belong to Him (Jn 15:20).

The wicked lurk on the righteous. They ‘stalk’ him. They make themselves small and lie down on the ground to jump and rob the unsuspecting passerby from that position. The wicked “is like a lion that is eager to tear” (Psa 17:12). The lion is a symbol of brute force with a devouring voracity. “As a young lion lurking in hiding places” to pounce on its prey, the wicked lies in ambush to pounce on and tear apart the righteous.

Prayer for Deliverance From the Wicked

With Psa 17:13 begins the third and final section of the psalm, which consists of Psa 17:13-15. In this section it is about the salvation of the oppressed righteous that results from the destruction of the enemy by the LORD. This section also begins with a prayer.

The description of the wicked once again impressed David as to his mortal enmity. He cries out to the LORD to arise, go to the wicked, and bring him low (Psa 17:13). When the LORD arises, it causes terror among His opponents (Isa 2:19). He then exalts Himself in His full, impressive magnitude, so to speak. Then He goes to the wicked, who is paralyzed with dismay, and strikes him down. Bring him low means that He brings him down from his pretended high position by killing him.

When the LORD kills the wicked with His sword, the righteous will be delivered from him. The sword of God, “Your sword”, is His Word (Eph 6:17). He kills His opponents with the sword that comes from His mouth (Rev 2:16 ; Rev 19:15). This is a different use of God’s Word than the use David made of it, for he used it to stay on his guard against going astray (Psa 17:4).

He asks the LORD not only for deliverance from the wicked, but for deliverance “from men … from men of the world, whose portion is in [this] life” (Psa 17:14). For this he appeals to “Your hand”, that is, he wants God to intervene in the lives of these men.

These men, these kind of men – they are emphatically mentioned twice – are characterized by the fact that they live for the here and now. They have their portion in this life. They live by the motto, “let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die” (Isa 22:13; 1Cor 15:32). It is the spirit of Esau who squandered the future blessing of the firstborn right for an instant bite of good food (Gen 25:29-34; Heb 12:16).

This category of people is always referred to in the book of Revelation as “those who dwell on the earth” (Rev 3:10 ; Rev 6:10 ; Rev 8:13 ; Rev 11:10 ; Rev 13:8 ; 14 ; Rev 14:6 ; Rev 17:8). Their portion is in the greatest possible contrast to David’s portion, who says that the LORD is his portion (Psa 16:5). That is an eternal portion, while the portion of the men of the world is limited to this life, the short life on earth here and now.

They can fill their bellies with the good things of life. That they are able to do so, they owe to God. He gives it to them from His sources (Acts 14:17), but these are hidden from them because they banish Him from their thinking. They even get so much that they can also satisfy their children. What those children have left over from that, they leave to their children.

It all seems wonderful; the blessing passes from one generation to the next. At the same time there is great drama in it. They can leave it to their children, but that is because they themselves can take nothing of it with them when they die. Then begins for them the endless eternity of doom and gloom.