Psalm 17 The Wonder of Your Great Love

Intro

A few weeks back we looked at Psalm 16 which was titled a Michtam of David and we learned that a Michtam isn’t easily defined but it is most likely a song or perhaps even a poem of sorts that begins with something dreadful but finds that God can and will bring victory to those who believe on Him. David was facing a challenge and was in need of God’s provision and strength to get him through.

Interestingly David labeled that a Michtam where as in multiple other places the words that David speaks are labeled as prayers as we will see today. We are going to move forward one chapter to chapter 17 and here we will see that David is again in some trouble and He is calling upon his Lord to help him make it through.

What exactly is the trouble David is facing isn’t made extremely clear but Davids life was rarely without drama, stress, and often violence so we don’t have to look far before we would find an example in Davids life in need of Prayer. For reference let’s look at one of those occasions in 1 Sam. 23:19-29.

Here David is seemingly minding his own business trying to stay out of the way of Saul and these Ziphites give Davids location to Saul so that Saul will give chase. David has to continue hiding and running, and hiding some more. Staying just a step ahead of Sual and just when it looked like David was finally caught in Saul’s trap God intervenes with a messenger to tell Saul that the Philistines are attacking. So with a situation just like this in mind let’s read and dive into Psalm 17.

Plea for Hearing (1-6)

In our first stanza of this Prayer we see the bookends of vs. 1 and vs. 6. In verse 1 David asks for God to hear his cause, to care about his circumstances, and to listen because David feels that he has been wrongly treated by his enemies. As sons and daughters of the Living God this is our right. We have the right to go to God and ask for His assistance in righting the wrongs that are being done to us.

When we contrast that to vs 6 at the end of the stanza we see a confidence that has come over David. David trusts that God will hear His prayer and He will listen to the circumstances that David is bringing to God.

Now as we dig into the requests made by David we see that David is trying to give reasons to God that God should listen to his pleas. Starting there at the end of verse 1 David states that this prayer is coming from a man who is not lying. David’s plight is not made up, he is not faking his need. This continues in vs 2 when David states that the Lord looks to help upright or righteous events. This continues in vs. 3 when he speaks about God testing him and finding nothing wrong. I find it interesting that David has such confidence in his innocents and more than that it seems that David is even confident that God will find nothing wrong in his Heart or in his words. I would find it very hard to pray in this way. One commentary suggested that this is not David declaring himself to be fully righteous but in being habitually faithful to the Lord and avoiding sinful behavior. (CSB Study notes).

The Believers Bible Commentary paraphrased vs. 3-5 like this.

Believer’s Bible Commentary Psalm 17: The Perennial Puzzle

“If You test my heart, if You check me out in the darkness as well as in the light—no matter how thoroughly you examine me—you will find that the opposition has no valid reason for harassing me the way they do. Honestly—I am telling the truth. As far as the usual wickedness of men is concerned, I have been able to steer clear of violence by staying close to Your word, the Bible. Not by depending on my own strength but by Your commands and promises, I have walked in paths of obedience to You. My footsteps haven’t slipped; I haven’t resorted to violence against my enemies when I had plenty of chance to do so.

The idea is that at least where this specific situation is concerned David feels that he is free from guilt and that because of that God should vindicate him, provide him with a solution, and keep him from slipping into further troubles.

Plea for Mercy (7-12)

Now we will move on into the second stanza where David has two motivations. David spends vs. 7-8 thanking God for His lovingkindness, God’s salvation, God’s specific and purposeful watch care, and for providing for David’s protection. These are very specific actions taken by God in order to provide love and care for David and more specifically for anyone who puts their trust in God.

What we receive when God is our Father is the kindliness of a father who loves His children. There is a gentleness and understood protection that can only be found in putting our faith in a father who has our best interests at heart. When we know that no matter what the outcome is God will make sure that we are cared for that can take a whole lot of the stress out of the situation. However, that will only be the case if you truly believe that God has your best interest at heart. If you don’t then you will question God’s goodness and you won’t put your trust in Him.

David continues this line of thought by stating that God is going to make him the apple of his eye. This means that God is placing his watch care on His children. The apple of the eye is the pupil and if you are standing close to someone else and they are looking directly at you you can see yourself mirrored in their pupil. They aren’t giving you partial attention they have to be looking directly at you meaning that you are their only attention. David believes and trusts that God has David at the center of His attention. God is giving his full attention to David and his needs and David recognizes that fact and finds comfort in knowing that God is also protecting Him.

There is a beauty found here in these words of David declaring God’s provision. This is what we need in our times of stress and fear. We need to remind ourselves of the provision, watch care, and protection of God, and if you will find your hope in God you will seek to find your hope elsewhere less often. The more we put our trust in God and find that He is faithful the more likely we are to put our trust in God the next time.

Verses 9-12 changes directions for David and here we see him write against the wicked. Here David points out those who have oppressed him are wicked and enemies. I think vs. 10 is quite interesting the NKJV says that these wicked enemies have, “closed up their fat hearts;” This is kind of a funny saying and I had to wonder what it meant. The word “fat” is a noun referring to fat or the best. It indicates the best or fatty portions of an offering that was to be reserved only for the Lord. So what sounds like a put down from David calling his enemies fat is actually a statement about where their hearts lay. They aren’t just evil to those around them but they are stealing even from the Lord, by taking what should be the Lords and using it themselves.

The application that we have for our own lives is to point out evil as evil. We cannot sugarcoat evil and we should recognize the devastating effects of that evil on our lives. David knew that his enemies were seeking to devour him as a lion is eager to devour it’s prey and therefore he was wary of their ways. We need to know that the danger of sin is there and that it does not bring us any goodness it is a lion that will always seek to maim and destroy.

Plea for Deliverance (13-15)

Now let’s move onto the last stanza vs. 13-15. Here David, who has just defined his enemies as also being God’s enemies is now asking for God to defeat them.

This is interesting because we see David feeling sorry for his enemies. They have their treasure already there is nothing more for them to look forward to. Much like the prodigal son who asked for his inheritance early his inheritance is now gone and spent there is nothing left for him to look forward to. David recognized that his enemies are receiving their portion in this life in the here and now and it is superficial and temporary. The best that they can look forward to is leaving a legacy on to their children. But David also understands that to put his trust in God the treasure is not in the here and now but in a future with God.

Application

Throughout the first stanza we see David make claims at his innocence and he does this because he believes that God should provide the protection he needs because of this innocence. In a way David is confessing his sin so that he can come to God with a clear conscience. Why is confession of all known sin necessary for intimate fellowship with the Lord?

David has confidence that God will protect him but how can he have this kind of confidence? Why can we claim divine protection from evil opposition?

According to Psalm 17 what kind of protection does God provide?

How can we use this Psalm as a model for our times of distress and fear?

What truths stand out to you?