A prayer of David.
17:1 LORD, consider my just cause!
Pay attention to my cry for help!
Listen to the prayer
I sincerely offer!
17:2 Make a just decision on my behalf!
Decide what is right!
- Your eyes to search me, v2
- Your lips to speak to me, v4
- Your paths to guide me, v5
- Your right hand to save me, v7
- Your wings to shelter me, v8
- Your face to shine on me, v15
- Your likeness to satisfy me, v15
(Pickering, Subjects for Speakers and Students, adapted)
17:3 You have scrutinized my inner motives;
you have examined me during the night.
You have carefully evaluated me, but you find no sin.
I am determined I will say nothing sinful.
17:4 As for the actions of people—
just as you have commanded,
I have not followed in the footsteps of violent men.
17:5 I carefully obey your commands;
I do not deviate from them.
17:6 I call to you for you will answer me, O God.
Listen to me!
Hear what I say!
17:7 Accomplish awesome, faithful deeds,
you who powerfully deliver those who look to you for protection from their enemies.
17:8 Protect me as you would protect the pupil of your eye!
Hide me in the shadow of your wings!
Note the lovely images of God’s care: ‘Your right hand’, ‘the apple of your eye’, ‘the shadow of your wings’.
The apple of your eye – lit. ‘the little image in the pupil of your eye’ (Deut. 32:10; Prov. 7:2)’ (Harper’s Bible Commentary)
17:9 Protect me from the wicked men who attack me,
my enemies who crowd around me for the kill.
17:10 They are calloused;
they speak arrogantly.
17:11 They attack me, now they surround me;
they intend to throw me to the ground.
17:12 He is like a lion that wants to tear its prey to bits,
like a young lion crouching in hidden places.
17:13 Rise up, LORD!
Confront him! Knock him down!
Use your sword to rescue me from the wicked man!
17:14 LORD, use your power to deliver me from these murderers,
from the murderers of this world!
They enjoy prosperity;
you overwhelm them with the riches they desire.
They have many children,
and leave their wealth to their offspring.
17:15 As for me, because I am innocent I will see your face;
when I awake you will reveal yourself to me.
And I – Emphatic, ‘As for me’. My foes will be brought down, but as for me, I behold my God. They will meet God in judgement, but I shall see his face. They will be destroyed, but I shall live in his presence.
I will see your face – This bold assertion is to be contrasted with those passages that indicate that no one may see God’s face and live, Gen 32:20; Exod. 33:20; Isa. 6:5. But Moses ‘knew God face to face’, Ex 34:10, and so shall we, 1 Jn 3:2; Rev 22:3f.
Christians understand that although ‘seeing God’s face’ was an ambiguous concept in OT times – both aweful and attractive – in Jesus behold the perfect image of God, John 10:30; 14:9; 2 Cor. 4:4,6; Col. 1:15. But the NT still regards the sight of God as a terrible prospect for the wicked (1 Pet 3:12, quoting Psa 34;16; Rev 6:16).
When I awake – cf. v3, ‘You…examine me at night’. Although the most obvious meaning suggests a hopeful new day after peaceful sleep, many commentators think that some intimation of resurrection may be implied here. The psalmist may well have glimpsed the blessedness of a life to come, in contrast to the lot of the wicked, ‘whose reward is in this life’, v14.
Asking, ‘how can we today experience the same satisfaction in seeing God’s face?’ Wilson (NIVAC) draws the following lessons from this psalm:-
- An integrated life. Can we claim, as the psalmist could, to be consistent Christians – day and night, at home, work and church? Do we practice what is right, not merely what is pragmatic or expedient? Are our lives distinctive, recognisably different from those around us? If our faith in God central, rather than peripheral?
- Grounded in the word. Do we believe that God’s word is both the criterion of examination, v2f, and the guide to holy living, v4f? What is our level of biblical illiteracy, and how determined are we to apply biblical standards in our behaviour and relationships?
- Out of this world. The psalm draws a contrast between those whose reward is here and now, in this life, and those whose satisfaction is beyond this present world. Ecclesiastes teaches the frustration and disillusion that comes from focusing exclusively on everything ‘under the sun’. Wealth, status and power promise much, but deliver little. Our ultimate satisfaction is to see God’s face, v15.