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Psalms 17

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Plea for a Just Hearing 1–5

1
Hear the right, O Jehovah, 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 look upon equity. ​
3
Thou 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. ​
4
As for the works of men, by the word of thy lips I have kept me from the ways of the violent.
5
My steps have held fast to thy paths, My feet have not slipped.

Confidence in God's Protection 6–9

6
I have called upon thee, for thou wilt answer me, O God: Incline thine ear unto me, and hear my speech.
7
Show thy marvellous lovingkindness, O thou that savest by thy right hand them that take refuge in thee From those that rise upagainst 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, My deadly enemies, that compass me about.

The Arrogance of the Adversaries 10–12

10
They are inclosed in their own fat: With their mouth they speak proudly. ​
11
They have now compassed us in our steps; They set their eyes to castusdown to the earth.
12
He is like a lion that is greedy of his prey, And as it were a young lion lurking in secret places. ​

Final Appeal and Eternal Hope 13–15

13
Arise, O Jehovah, Confront him, cast him down: Deliver my soul from the wicked by thy sword; ​
14
From 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. ​
15
As for me, I shall behold thy face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with beholding thy form. ​

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for Psalms 17

Verse 1

Hear the right, O LORD — 'The right' is tsedeq, righteousness: the cause itself is asked to be heard, and the psalm closes with the same word, 'behold thy face in righteousness' (v.15). Three verbs press the appeal: hear, 'attend' (as in Ps 142:6, 'Attend unto my cry') and 'give ear'. The prayer 'goeth not out of feigned lips' (mirmah, deceit).

Verse 2

Let my sentence come forth from thy presence — 'Sentence' is mishpat, judgment. It is asked to come from 'thy presence' (literally, thy face); the same word is the 'face' beheld in v.15. 'Equal' is meysharim, uprightness, the word of Ps 9:8, 'he shall minister judgment to the people in uprightness'. The eyes of the LORD 'behold' (chazah), as the psalmist will in v.15.

Verse 3

Thou hast proved mine heart — Three testings follow one another: 'proved' (bachan), 'visited' (paqad) and 'tried' (tsaraph), the last the refiner's word for metal in the fire, as in Ps 66:10, 'thou hast tried us, as silver is tried'. Ps 26:2 asks for it, 'Examine me, O LORD, and prove me; try my reins and my heart'. Job 23:10 ends 'I shall come forth as gold'.

Verse 7

Shew thy marvellous lovingkindness — Palah is to distinguish or set apart: the LORD 'hath set apart him that is godly for himself' (Ps 4:3), and said, 'I will sever in that day the land of Goshen' (Ex 8:22). The prayer asks for that distinction in chesed, covenant love. 'Put their trust' is chasah, to take refuge, the verb of Ps 36:7, 'under the shadow of thy wings', echoed in v.8.

Verse 8

Keep me as the apple of the eye — Ishon is the 'little man', the pupil, where a face is mirrored; the Hebrew adds 'daughter of the eye'. Deut 32:10 says the LORD 'kept him as the apple of his eye' of Israel in the wilderness. The 'shadow of thy wings' is the refuge of Ruth 2:12, 'under whose wings thou art come to trust', and of Christ's gathering in Matt 23:37.

Verse 10

inclosed in their own fat — Sagar is to shut up: their fat has closed them. Fat is used elsewhere for a heart gone dull: Ps 119:70, 'Their heart is as fat as grease; but I delight in thy law', and Deut 32:15, 'Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked… and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation'. With their mouth they 'speak proudly'; v.11 goes on to what their eyes and steps do.

Verse 12

a young lion lurking in secret places — 'Lurking' is yashab, to sit, and 'secret places' mistarim, both in Ps 10:8, 'He sitteth in the lurking places… in the secret places doth he murder the innocent'. Aryeh is the lion and kephir the young lion. Peter uses the picture of the adversary, 'as a roaring lion' (1 Pet 5:8).

Verse 13

Arise, O LORD, disappoint him — 'Arise' is the verb of the enemies' rising in v.7. 'Disappoint' is qadam, to go before, to confront: Ps 18:18 uses it of foes who 'prevented me in the day of my calamity'. In the KJV reading, 'which is thy sword' names the wicked as the LORD's instrument, as Assyria is 'the rod of mine anger' (Isa 10:5).

Verse 14

men of the world, which have their portion in this life — 'Portion' is cheleq, the share allotted; elsewhere the LORD himself is the portion: 'God is… my portion for ever' (Ps 73:26; cf. 16:5). These have 'hid treasure' and children, and are 'full' (saba'), the verb that is 'satisfied' in v.15. Luke 16:25 has a like division: 'thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things'.

Verse 15

when I awake, with thy likeness — 'Awake' (quwts) is the verb of waking from sleep (Ps 3:5) and of rising from the dust: 'many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake' (Dan 12:2; Isa 26:19). Temunah, 'likeness', is what Moses beheld, 'the similitude of the LORD' (Num 12:8). John says 'we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is' (1 John 3:2).