Psalm 17 In the Shadow of Your Wings

In the Shadow of Your Wings

Chair Bible pg. 454

Main Idea: The LORD God is the Savior of those who seek refuge in Him

Where do you go in time of need?

Where could I go...oh where could I go...seeking a refuge for my soul, where could I go, oh where could I go but to the Lord.

A Prayer of David. 1st Psalm explicitly called a prayer.

David would not have been a man after God’s own heart, if he had not been a man of prayer. (Spurgeon, pg. 215)

The contents of the prayer reveal…

David is being wrongly accused and dangerously pursued

As a result he is in anguish

David finds his refuge and joy in the LORD.

David pleads his case before the LORD

Notice the use of argument...language of a courtroom(emphatic language)...not that David is on trial, David is being wrongly accused and abused. Therefore, he is stating his case before the righteous judge. The concern for righteousness and justice dominates the Psalm.

1 Hear a just cause, O LORD; attend to my cry!

Give ear to my prayer from lips free of deceit!

Addressing the LORD Note the repetition…”hear” “attend” “give ear” God does not hear...for the simple reason that (we) neglect to plead. (Spurgeon, pg. 215)

The word “cry” occurs here for the first time in the Psalms...signifies intense language/expression joyful or sad.

“A cry is our earliest utterance, and in many ways the most natural of human sounds; if our prayer should, like the infant’s cry, be more natural than intelligent, and more earnest than elegant, it will be none the less eloquent with God.” (Spurgeon, pg. 215-216)

“Hear a just cause” appeal to righteousness or right “Right shall never be wronged by our righteous Judge.” (Spurgeon, pg. 215)

Give ear to my prayer from lips free of deceit! This makes us uncomfortable to read. Is he saying that he lives in sinless perfection. NO! He is saying in this instance he is innocent. As result, he states v. 2 without with integrity...

2 From your presence let my vindication come!

Let your eyes behold the right!

If David is praying hypocritically, he his asking for vindication on himself. The end of v. 2 should not be read as though we control what the LORD sees...we ask him to make things clear to us...read

Psalm 139:23–24 ESV

23 Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! 24 And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!

It is true that hypocrites may often appeal to the Searcher of hearts even when they are wrong; but they do it insincerely and profanely. If they really thought God was about to let men see them as he sees them, they would be filled with dismay. (Plumer, pg. 230)

It is true that hypocrites may often appeal to the Searcher of hearts even when they are wrong; but they do it insincerely and profanely. If they really thought God was about to let men see them as he sees them, they would be filled with dismay. (Plumer, pg. 230)

David is not a hypocrite...he continues...

3 You have tried my heart, you have visited me by night,

you have tested me, and you will find nothing;

I have purposed that my mouth will not transgress.

4 With regard to the works of man, by the word of your lips

I have avoided the ways of the violent.

5 My steps have held fast to your paths;

my feet have not slipped.

He is not claiming sinlessness but steadfastness; he is not boasting of his perfection but arguing for his consistency; he is saying he has been loyal, not impeccable. (Davis, pg. 71)

How has he kept his way pure? Answer is in v. 4 “by the word of your lips” v. 5 holding fast to your paths…

Who can say for certain that their feet have not slipped?

1 Peter 2:23–25 ESV

23 When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. 24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. 25 For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

Christ died so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness...

David seeks refuge in the LORD

6 I call upon you, for you will answer me, O God;

incline your ear to me; hear my words.

David prays confidently because he knows the the LORD God pays attention, hears and answers...How does he know this...the next request reveals how he knows

7 Wondrously show your steadfast love,

O Savior of those who seek refuge

from their adversaries at your right hand.

David’s prayer is an appeal to the character and nature of God, particularly his “steadfast love” hesed covenant keeping love from the covenant keeping God. “That marvelous grace which has redeemed us with the precious blood of God’s only begotten, is here invoked to come to the rescue, That grace is sometimes hidden; the text says, “Shew it.” O Lord, shew thy marvelous lovingkindness: shew it to my intellect, and remove my ignorance; shew it to my heart, and revive my gratitude; shew it to my faith, and renew my confidence; shew it to my experience, and deliver me from all my fears.” (Spurgeon, pg. 218) Hear the covenant keeping Savior call

Matthew 11:28 ESV

28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

John 6:37 ESV

37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.

Why will he not cast out? hesed…steadfast love

8 Keep me as the apple of your eye; (protecting pupil...shape of eye socket, protect your eye at all cost)

Deuteronomy 32:10 ESV

10 “He found him in a desert land, and in the howling waste of the wilderness; he encircled him, he cared for him, he kept him as the apple of his eye.

hide me in the shadow of your wings, (image of bird protecting babies under wing in the heat of the day)

9 from the wicked who do me violence,

my deadly enemies who surround me. “Deadly enemies” literally “my enemies in soul” surrounded and moving in for the kill.

Continues to describe his enemies who have him surrounded...

10 They close their hearts to pity; (no conscience or pity)

with their mouths they speak arrogantly.

11 They have now surrounded our steps; (taunting before destroying)

they set their eyes to cast us to the ground.

12 He is like a lion eager to tear,

as a young lion lurking in ambush.

1 Peter 5:8 ESV

8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

Transition...David not only seeks protection from those seeking to destroy him, he seeks deliverance...

David seeks deliverance from the LORD

13 Arise, O LORD! Confront him, subdue him!

Deliver my soul from the wicked by your sword,

14 from men by your hand, O Lord,

from men of the world whose portion is in this life.

Rise up O LORD, confront them ... This is the language of a person in battle, appealing to God as the divine warrior to intervene on his behalf and bring them down. (Lawson, pg. 92)

Exodus 15:1–3 ESV

1 Then Moses and the people of Israel sang this song to the Lord, saying, “I will sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea. 2 The Lord is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him. 3 The Lord is a man of war; the Lord is his name.

David is appealing to the LORD to act on his behalf and deliver him.

Truth about those who pursue him and want to destroy him.

from men of the world whose portion is in this life.

You fill their womb with treasure;

they are satisfied with children,

and they leave their abundance to their infants.

What wicked men possess of this world is all that ever they can hope for. (Spurgeon quoting Ezekiel Hopkins, pg. 229) Common grace is enough for them ignoring the greater need of their very souls. Further, they pass on the manner of living and focus of life to their children.

15 As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness;

when I awake, I shall be satisfied with your likeness.

Note the repetition in v. 14 and 15 “satisfied”... the same Hebrew verb as ‘have more than enough’ in the verse before. () (Kidner, pg. 89) The godless are satisfied all too easily and yet never satisfied. The righteous(those who are in Christ) are satisfied now and will be be fully satisfied.

Satisfied Now...David expects God to act now

Not yet(will be satisfied)...David knows that he will awaken one day in the all satisfying presence of God.

On February 14, 1747, Jerusha Edwards, daughter of Jonathan and Sarah Edwards, died at 17 years old after a week-long fever. She was a young women of deep devotion and godliness. She spent months nursing the family friend, missionary David Brainerd, until his death. After she died her parents had the end of verse 15 written on her gravestone: “I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness.’ (Summarized from Davis, pg. 79)

So What?

Is my current trust in the LORD as my saving refuge a reflection of what I know is yet to be?

This world is passing away; heaven is eternal. Persecution is a reminder of this truth. (Lawson, pg. 93)

Living for Christ now, in righteousness, in the face of difficulty, is evidence of the hope that is yet to be. We live in the real now with real needs, yet we long for what is yet to be.

Now and the Not yet… SONG

Life here is grand with friends I love so dear

Comfort I get from God's own word

Yet when I face that chilling hand of death

Won't you tell me

Where could I go but to the Lord

Where could I go but to the Lord

Where could I go oh where could I go

Seeking the refuge for my soul

Needing a friend to save me in the end

Won't you tell me

Where could I go but to the Lord