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Annotations & References
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Psalms 17
Psalms
Chapter 17
17
1Hear the right, O Jehovah, attend unto my cry; Give ear unto my prayer, that goeth not out of feigned lips.
2Let my sentence come forth from thy presence; Let thine eyes look upon equity.
3Thou hast proved my heart; thou hast visited me in the night; Thou hast tried me, and findest nothing; I am purposed that my mouth shall not transgress.
4As for the works of men, by the word of thy lips I have kept me from the ways of the violent.
5My steps have held fast to thy paths, My feet have not slipped.
6I have called upon thee, for thou wilt answer me, O God: Incline thine ear unto me, and hear my speech.
7Show thy marvellous lovingkindness, O thou that savest by thy right hand them that take refuge in thee From those that rise upagainst them.
8Keep me as the apple of the eye; Hide me under the shadow of thy wings,
9From the wicked that oppress me, My deadly enemies, that compass me about.
10They are inclosed in their own fat: With their mouth they speak proudly.
11They have now compassed us in our steps; They set their eyes to castusdown to the earth.
12He is like a lion that is greedy of his prey, And as it were a young lion lurking in secret places.
13Arise, O Jehovah, Confront him, cast him down: Deliver my soul from the wicked by thy sword;
14From men by thy hand, O Jehovah, From men of the world, whose portion is inthislife, And whose belly thou fillest with thy treasure: They are satisfied with children, And leave the rest of their substance to their babes.
15As for me, I shall behold thy face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with beholding thy form.
What is Psalms 17 about?
Returning to the plea of a man wronged, David offers the seventeenth psalm as a prayer, asking the LORD to hear the right and to judge his cause, for his lips are free of deceit. He appeals to God who has tried his heart and found nothing, asks to be kept as the apple of the eye and hidden under the shadow of His wings from the wicked who compass him about like a lion greedy for prey. He commits his deadly enemies to God's own hand and sword, contrasting the worldly whose portion is in this life with his own hope. The psalm ends looking past present danger to a satisfaction that comes only in beholding God's face and awaking in His likeness.
Matthew Henry on Psalms 17