Holy Bible

Hear the right, O Lord, attend unto my cry,...that goeth not out of feigned lips. Psalm 17:1 Conscious sincerity Joseph Parker, D. D. The Psalmist is quite sure that he himself is sincere. The verses which follow seem to be a kind of anticipation of the Pharisee's self-satisfied prayer; but they are nothing of the kind. The reference is not to sinlessness, but to sincerity. The Psalmist does not say, I am a pure man, without a stain upon the heart or hand. He says, I am a sincere man, the general purpose I have had in view is a purpose marked by honesty. He does not represent himself as pure snow in the face of heaven, but as a man whose supreme motive has been a motive of honesty and general truthfulness. Sincerity can appeal to the right. We draw our prayer out of our own character. This suppliant is so sure of his own honesty that he says, Let the whole case be settled honestly. At other times, when he knows there is not a clean spot upon his whole constitution — one sound healthy spot — he falls right down before God and weeps out his soul ill penitence....We should be sure of our motive before we invoke the doing of right. It is better for us to invoke the exercise of mercy. Most men will get more from pity than they ever can get from righteousness. ( Joseph Parker, D. D. ) Prayer out of feigned lips Peter Bales. It is observable that the eagle soareth on high, little intending to fly to heaven, but to gain her prey; and so it is that many do carry a great deal of seeming devotion in lifting up their eyes towards heaven; but they do it only to accomplish with more ease, safety, and applause their wicked designs here on earth; such as without are Catos, within Neros; hear them, no man better; search and try them, no man worse; they have Jacob's voice, but Esau's hands; they profess like saints, but practise like Satans; they have their long prayers, but short prayings; they are like apothecaries gallipots — having without the title of some excellent preservative, but within they are full of deadly poison; counterfeit holiness is their cloak for all manner of villanies, and the midwife to bring forth all their devilish designs. ( Peter Bales. ) Justice, mercy, and perfection Homilist. I. A CRY FOR JUSTICE (vers. 1-7). Things in the mind of David. — 1. A sense of truthfulness. He was conscious that there was no discrepancy between his speech and his spirit. The man, unless he feels that he is sincere, will never dare to appeal to heaven for justice. Virtuous sincerity requires that there should be not only an exact correspondence between the speech and spirit, but also between the spirit and eternal realities. 2. A desire for the Divine verdict. "Let my sentence come forth from Thy presence." The human soul everywhere holds that there is justice at the head of the universe, and that it will sooner or later vindicate the right. 3. A consciousness of a Divine searching. "Thou hast proved mine heart." A man may be deeply conscious of his imperfection before God, analyst conscious of his innocence of the charges brought against him by man. 4. A determination to be blameless in his speech. "I am purposed that my mouth shall not transgress." What he means is, I will utter nothing wrong concerning mine enemies, nothing that can justify their harsh and cruel conduct. 5. An assurance of Divine protection. He was protected from ruin. Protected by God. And protected in connection with his own agency. God's agency in connection with man's deliverance neither supersedes the necessity nor interferes with the freedom of human effort. 6. A dread of falling from rectitude. "Hold up my goings in Thy paths". This means — I am right as far as mine enemies are concerned at present. I am conscious of no wrong. I am anxious to retain my blamelessness. To retain my blamelessness I need Divine help. 7. A confidence that God will attend to his prayer. The meaning is — I have invoked Thee heretofore, and do so still, because I know that Thou wilt hear. II. HERE IS A CRY FOR MERCY. "Show Thy marvellous loving kindness." A prayer for protection from enemies. Note the character in which he appeals to God for protection. He appeals to Him as a mighty Saviour. The manner in which he desired protection. The enemies from whom he sought protection. The cry for mercy is as deep and universal as that for justice. III. HERE IS A CRY FOR PERFECTION. Three facts deduce from the words. 1. That the death of a good man is an awaking from sleep. There is much spiritual torpor and spiritual dreaming even in the best. 2. In this awaking at death there will be the complete assimilation of the soul to God. 3. In this assimilation will consist the everlasting satisfaction of our nature. There is no satisfaction without this. The spiritual powers will not work harmoniously under the dominion of any other disposition. The conscience will frown upon any other state of mind. The Great One will not bless with His friendship any other state of mind in His creatures. Likeness to God is likeness to His controlling disposition. His controlling disposition is disinterested love, and this is that well which springs up to everlasting life. ( Homilist. ) Thou hast visited me in the night. Psalm 17:3 God's visitations in the night T. Gasquoine, B. A. God has two daily messengers of His love for men, bringing to them His gifts of love — Day and Night. Let us think of His visitations to us by night, when we are still and when He would have us reflect. The Psalm is evidently an evening Psalm. I. HOW WELL IT IS THAT THE DAY SHOULD CLOSE WITH REFLECTION, that God should visit us thus. Rest alone would be a visitation from God, His gift. But sleep is the better when we pass to it from prayer. If a knock comes to the door at night when all is quiet how it startles us. In the day we should not notice it, but at night we needs must. And Christ may say, "I came in the day but was not heard; behold, I now stand at the door and knock." It is well to reflect at the close of each day on each day. In the bustle of business we do not understand the meaning of our life. Perhaps we never shall till the bustle of all life's days is done and we stand on "the safe and quiet shore of eternity." There are, too, our own ways that need to be understood. Conscience needs to be quickened, and one day it will be. Just as the manipulations of the photographer in the dark chamber bring forth a picture which has been burnt into the plate by rays o flight before, that when completed it may be brought to light again, and men may see what manner of men they were; so in the dark chambers of the dead, in the hidden spirit world, there shall be a quickening of conscience. And God has given to us the darkness of night in which, away from busy life, we may bring forth the pictures of the day that are imprinted on conscience. Cultivate this photography of life. II. AND THERE IS THE NIGHT OF TROUBLE. God visits those who trust Him then. Let there be also in this night reflection, review. Memory is given us that we may not depend for happiness on the present. And review in this night your conduct in your joys. Ah, who is worthy of their joy? Be willing then to bear the night. "God's blessings come in the night," so says a German proverb. There is no night in which God is not near us. No, not the last eventide, the darkest of all In Christ we need not foal ( T. Gasquoine, B. A. ) The religious aspects of night Canon Liddon. There is no necessary contrast between what are called the scientific and the religious aspects of nature. Science keeps its eye upon the facts of nature, carefully verifies and measures them, and seeks to discover their exact relations to each other. Religion, too, is interested in nature, and behind each natural fact sees chiefly Him to whom both effect and cause are traceable. Religion is more necessary to us men than science, and therefore God has taught us religion first of all. The succession of day and night will illustrate what I am saying. We know the physical causes of night, but it has another and a higher meaning, and this is hinted at in our text. The religious aspects of night are many. It strikes us first of all — I. AS AN INTERRUPTION. It breaks in upon and suspends all human occupation. At the very least eight hours in the twenty-four, a quarter of a century in the life of a man of seventy-five, are withdrawn from the demands of labour, And as each day the shadow of night creeping around the world advances, millions of human workers hail the approaching pause in toil which is thus mercifully imposed upon them. Man might have been so fashioned as not to need this, but this enforced suspension of activity cannot but suggest a meaning. It suggests not merely the limited stock of strength at our disposal which needs thus often to be refreshed and replenished, but it also reminds us that we have a higher life than that of the activity of the day, and which shall last when all belonging to this shall have passed away. II. NIGHT SUGGESTS DANGER. The daylight is of itself protection. When it is withdrawn much becomes possible which it forbids. Night is the opportunity of wild beasts and of evil men. They ply their trade during its dark and silent hours. And thus St. Paul describes the workers of darkness as "unfruitful." Our Lord compares the unexpectedness of His second coming "as a thief in the night." If, indeed, St. Paul were to visit London on the afternoon of a bank holiday, it is to be feared that he would have to reconsider his remark that "they that be drunken are drunken in the night." Still, on the whole, the night is the season of peril and disaster. We yet need to pray God that He would "protect us from all perils and dangers of this night." For notwithstanding brilliantly lighted streets and well organised police there are yet special perils — such as those of fire in our large and lofty houses, from which the tenants of rude huts and shepherds cabins would find ready escape. It is with civilised as with savage man, God is, in the last resort, our only Protector. III. NIGHT IS A TIME DURING WHICH GOD OFTEN SPEAKS TO THE SOUL OF MAN. No believer in God's existence can reasonably deny that He can communicate with the mind of man. We think sleeplessness a great misfortune, but it may be a great blessing. For never does God speak more solemnly, more persuasively to the human soul, than in the waking hours of night. Then conscience has a chance; we listen and hear no other voice. Conscience revives the past, and the eye of sense rests upon no object which can compete with and efface the awful impression. Then religion asserts its empire, and we acknowledge to ourselves with sorrow how much we have forgotten or despised that had the first of all claims upon us. See the many references in the Psalms to these holy uses of the night. One practical lesson, at least, we may remember as bearing upon this subject — the duty of storing the mind while we are yet comparatively young and strong with that which in the hours of sleeplessness and pain will enable us to rise up to God. A mind thus well stored need never fear that the waking hours of night are lost. ( Canon Liddon. ) I am purposed that my mouth shall not transgress. Restraining the tongue Homilist. Such was the pious resolution of the Psalmist when the tongues of his enemies were transgressing both against him and his God. Silence would produce the better effect, both on his own mind and on his enemies. I. THE EVIL WHICH THE PSALMIST DREADED. Transgressing with his tongue. The tongue, indeed, is only the channel through which the depravity of the heart proceeds, but it is a channel of remarkable facility. It is liable to transgress — 1. Against God. By murmuring at the providence of God. 2. Against mankind. There are cruel expressions of malice and revenge sometimes uttered by one man against another to ruin his character. There are those who injure religion and their character by a propensity to speak with levity or bitterness. There are those who transgress by flattery-an evil more injurious than the keenest reproach sometimes. II. THE BEST MEANS OF AVOIDING THIS EVIL. "If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man." What does this purpose imply? 1. A serious regard to Divine inspection and authority. 2. Attention to the state of the heart. 3. We should aim to cultivate religious knowledge, and promote, at every proper opportunity, religious conversation. The most likely way to preserve the tongue from evil is to employ it in what is valuable and useful Prepared by the secret exercises of piety and devotion, we shall enjoy the full delights of domestic and social life without injury and without remorse. ( Homilist. ) The mouth kept front transgression A friend of Archbishop Leighton said that, in free and frequent intercourse with him for twenty-two years, "I never knew him say an idle word, or a word that had not a direct tendency to edification; and I never once saw him in any other temper but that I wished to be in at the last moment of my life." Concerning the works of men, by the word of Thy lips I have kept me from the paths of the destroyer. Psalm 17:4 Young men warned against unsound principles Thomas Dale, M. A. Many are the nets that are spread for the souls of men, especially of young men. By means of evil associations and unsound or unscriptural principles. Of these latter we will speak now. They may be classified under three heads. I. THE PRINCIPLE OF EXPEDIENCY OR COMPROMISE. Things are done to serve a present purpose without regard to their being right or wrong, or whether Christian rectitude approve or condemn. II. SELF-INDULGENCE, OR ANIMAL GRATIFICATION. Here he is in danger of being misled both by his equals and by himself. It is said that appetites were given, not to be crushed but gratified; that religious requirements and natural tendencies, emanating both from God, can never be incompatible with each other, and that asceticism and austerity are signs, not of a true but of a false religion. But in this case, as in every other, be who proves too much proves nothing. The natural appetites were designed not merely for gratification, but for moral discipline. They are not to be gratified alone, but subordinated, and due subordination is not asceticism, nor proper control of the affections, austerity. Religious requirements harmonise with natural tendencies, in that they impose a restriction at the very point where satisfaction terminates and excess begins: they apply reasonable and salutary restraints. Regard first the culture of the soul and you will never compromise the welfare of the body; preserve only what is due to God and you will be in little danger of withholding what is due to man. III. THE PRINCIPLE OF FALSE APPEARANCES OR FALSE ASSUMPTIONS. For it adopts a fallacious standard, superseding God's Word by popular opinion. It is peculiarly necessary to guard against this in an age where names, self-assumed, are a prolific source of deception, and evil often puts on and parades the semblance of good. It is the way of the world, that lives without and forgets Him. It is the way of those who are often men of high honour, but of low principle; of strict uprightness, but of lax morality; men of reputable conduct, but of no religion. And especially avoid that "path of the destroyer" amidst the works of men, and of which Solomon says, "Let not thine heart decline to her ways." The number and effrontery of those who yield to this temptation make it peculiarly subtle and fatal. The young man, new to the world, sees what others do, and that they are not the worse thought of for it, nor think at all worse of themselves; he hears some avowing it and others vindicating it — how shall he escape? Only "by the word of Thy lips": that word "hid in the heart," and its principles known and embraced. So shall you be enabled to stand in the evil day. ( Thomas Dale, M. A. ) Hold up my goings in Thy paths, that my footsteps slip not. Psalm 17:5 Slippery places J. H. Evans, M. A. The blessing of sanctified affliction is that we are made to see our weakness. David here seems as a little child, ready to fall, stretching out its hand and crying to its Father, "Hold up my goings," etc. I. THE BELIEVER'S POSITION IS OFTEN A VERY SLIPPERY ONE. Christ told us, "in the world ye shall have tribulation," and this is part of it. We are sent into the world to glorify God's holy law. And this we do by a life of simple faith in Jesus. II. IT IS SO EVEN IN THE PATHS OF GOD. Even in His very paths. Liberty may degenerate into licence; holy caution into legalism; activity into neglect of communion with God, and that into neglect of service. Reliance in Christ to forgetfulness of the Spirit of Christ; and even joy in affliction to an overlooking of our sin, which is the cause of it. III. THE PETITION. "Hold up my goings," etc. 1. It is the very picture of helplessness. "I can do nothing, cannot stir a step, without Thee." Oh! to be brought here. The omnipotence of weakness. 2. It is the language of faith. In ver. 6 he says, "I know that Thou wilt hear me." How simple but how strong this faith. 3. There is also the testimony of an upright conscience. 4. The memory of God's past dealings with him. ( J. H. Evans, M. A. ) The Christian praying to be upheld C. Bradley, M. A. We cannot ascertain at what period of his life David wrote this prayer. It was probably before his lamentable fall If so, we are ready to say he must have forgotten it after he had written it, for otherwise his fall could not have happened. But let us make this prayer our own. I. TRUE RELIGION IS A WALKING OR GOING ON IS GOD'S PATHS. Think of a country with many tracks in. it perhaps, but without any marked roads or paths; a country like one immense down or waste, where in the main men go hither and thither just as they will. Now this is how most men regard the world and their own condition in it. But God appears and marks out certain ways or paths in this world, and bids us inquire for them and keep to them. And this is true religion — obedience to this Divine call. It is a ceasing to live at random, to live as God dictates. II. THE PRAYER WE HAVE TO CONSIDER. It Implies — 1. A lively apprehension of the evil consequences of falling. An ordinary man does not care, he knows nothing of the malignity of sin. If for a moment sin has disturbed him by reason of some unusual transgression, the effect has been very shallow, very transient. Not so is it with the traveller in God's ways. He knows how evil and bitter a thing sin is. 2. A consciousness of his proneness to fall. Liability is not a word strong enough. All, even the holiest creatures, are liable to fall — witness Adam and the once holy angels — and even in the holiest places. But in us there is a direct tendency to fall. 3. A belief in the ability and willingness of God to thus hold us up. "Thou wilt hear me, O God," so he says in the next verse. There is such a thing as dwelling, if not too frequently, yet too exclusively on our weakness and danger. This is better than ignorance of them, and much better than knowing them, to be careless about them; but it comes far short of the perfection or completeness of true religion. That sees not alone the evil in us, but also the fulness of help for us which there is in God. Let us think much of the helping hand of God. III. THE MANNER IN WHICH WE MAY EXPECT SUCH A PRAYER AS THIS TO BE ANSWERED. 1. By mercifully removing occasions of falling out of our way. 2. By calling the sustaining graces of His servants into exercise. This a more honourable way for us. 3. By sending such afflictions as are calculated to keep them from falling. 4. By keeping alive a spirit of prayer within us for His upholding. As long as God keeps you prayerful, humbly and earnestly prayerful, be the ground what it may that you go over, you are safe. ( C. Bradley, M. A. ) The religious course of life sustained W. Jay. Religion is intercourse maintained between God and us. What condescension on the part of God. They lose much who are strangers to Him. Let us observe David, and learn to pray as he prayed. I. SEE HIS COURSE. "My goings." Religion does not allow a man to sit still. All religion is vain unless he is, so to speak, set a-going — unless he says, "I will walk in Thy truth." His goings are in God's paths. 1. Those of His commands. 2. Of His ordinances. 3. Of His dispensations. II. HIS CONCERN RESPECTING THIS COURSE. "Hold up my goings," etc. It is the language — 1. Of conviction. He know the injury that would result from a fall or even a slip in religion. 2. Of apprehension, for he knew his footsteps were prone to slide. 3. And of weakness; he knew he could not keep himself. 4. Of confidence, for he was sure that God could and would hold him up. ( W. Jay. ) How to walk without slipping W. Grant. In considering the feelings that breathe in this prayer we note that they express — I. A VEHEMENT DESIRE TO WALK IN GOD'S WAYS. There is a sense in which all men desire to walk in God's ways. For they know the consequences of disobedience, how it provokes His anger and involves punishment. They dislike obedience, but they desire its rewards. Like a hireling, they labour at their task, but only for its promised hire. Could they only be assured that they could get the wages without the work they would gladly leave it alone. But those who have been pardoned through the blood of Jesus, though they have no fear of punishment, yet desire to walk in all the commandments of the Lord, doing what is well-pleasing in His sight. II. A DISTRESSING SENSE OF WEAKNESS IS DISCOVERED AND BEMOANED IN HIMSELF. It is "when he would do good," i.e. when he desires, and in proportion as he desires, to do good that he is conscious of the evil present with him. If he does not much desire to walk in God's ways he will not be much distressed at his failures. But if his desire be vehement it is far otherwise with him. III. THE CRY. OF ONE WHO BELIEVES THAT THE LORD IS ABLE AND WILLING TO HOLD HIM UP. It is the cry of faith, not alone of desire. And the lesson of the whole is, that would we be upheld, our cry must be of vehement desire, of deep sense of need, and of firm faith. ( W. Grant. ) Keep me as the apple of the eye. Psalm 17:8 The plea for Divine protection David Caldwell, A. M. The world is no friend to righteousness; its spirit cannot endure the restraints that holiness imposes upon its workings. Hence the world's hostility to all those who live truly godly lives. To understand the full force of keeping one as the apple of the eye it is necessary to consider first, how the whole eye is protected, sheltered by bones and sinews, opening and closing doors, light-softening and dust-excluding curtains, and then, that the pupil of the eye, located farther in, is protected by guardians equally wonderful and peculiarly its own. There is no other part of the human body so wonderfully protected, and no other part that, when endangered, we so instinctively try to shelter from harm. And so God guards His people as tenderly as we guard the pupil of our eye; yea, as tenderly as He guards the pupil of His own eye. ( David Caldwell, A. M. ) The eye, a similitude The man knows something of himself who sincerely offers this plaintive petition, "Keep me. Is there not a sorrowful confession implied? But it implies knowledge of God too. What He is and will do. The keeping desired is that with which men guard the eye. It means, therefore — I. KEEP ME WITH MANY GUARDS AND PROTECTIONS. The eye is kept by eye bones, eyelashes, eyelids, which serve as outworks, fences and barricades to protect the pupil of the eye, God has bestowed extraordinary pains upon all that concerns the eye. Sentries keep ward lest it should be imperilled. Whenever it is threatened, with agility so brisk that it seems almost involuntary, the arm is lifted up and the hand is raised to screen it. All the members of the body may be regarded as a patrol for the wardship of the eye. So should we pray to be kept with many protections — providence, grace ordinances, the Holy Spirit, the angels. II. WITH CONSTANCY, UNINTERMITTING CONTINUANCE. The eye is always guarded. Without our thinking of it. If a grain of dust enter, forthwith a watery burnout is exuded to carry it away or to dissolve it. The pain is a mercy, for it makes you restless until you get relief. When you fall asleep the curtains fall, the blinds, as it were, drop down, and the windows are shut up securely with lash and lid. So, and in yet other ways, doth the parable of the eye suggest the prayer of the text. Evermore, O Lord, watch over me. Remark here, that at no season is a Christian more in danger than when he has just been in communion with God. The footpads in olden time did not meddle with the farmers as they went to market; it was when they were coming home, and bringing back their money bags full. Our ships of war attacked the Spanish galleons not on their way to but from America, when they knew them to be laden to the Water's edge with silver and gold. You need keeping, then, always. III. FROM LITTLE EVILS, THE DUST AND GRIT OF THIS WORLD. Your eye needs not to be guarded so much from beams as motes. Be this your prayer, "Keep me from what the world calls little sins." To one, a Puritan, who was offered great preferment if he would but comply with the government demands, it was said, "Others have made long gashes in their consciences: could not you make a little nick in yours?" But those "little nicks" swiftly run to the rending of the conscience from top to bottom. There was an officer who kept in his house a tame leopard which had been born in the house. It had grown up as harmless as a domestic cat. But one day when its master was asleep it gently licked his hand. The creature's tongue passed over a slight but recent wound. A little blood oozed out. The taste roused the demon spirit of the beast at once, and had it not been promptly shot its master's life would have been its victim. When the thief cannot break in at the door himself he puts a boy through the window, and then the great door is speedily opened. IV. SENSITIVE, TENDER IN HEART, AS THE APPLE OF THE EYE. God has made it thus sensitive for its own protection. The conscience should be a real indicator: if in good keeping it would be a wonderful tell-tale. It will startle you from your lethargy, it will arouse you as with an alarm. V. AS THE EYE OUGHT TO BE KEPT. It should be "single," clear, far-seeing. As an ornament, for the beauty of the countenance is in the eye. So should we "adorn the doctrine" and the Church of God. Useful, a genuine Christian will pray to be useful, not like a glass eye, a mere counterfeit. And then, though the remark may seem strange and quaint, I would entreat the Lord to keep me in the head. Solomon has made the shrewd remark, "The wise man's eyes are in his head, but the fool walketh in darkness." I would give this a spiritual turn, and ask to be kept in Christ Jesus. Of what use were the eye of a man if not in the head? And what we, apart from Christ? There are some to whom this prayer is, nothing, for they are not Christ's. Let your prayer be, "Lord, save me, or I perish. Once saved, you may pray to be kept. ( C. H. Spurgeon . ) Two Bible emblems F. W. Brown. God's Word and works, the two great sources of our knowledge of God. When we want to get clear and vivid conception of any truth we employ analogy and institute comparison, and say it is "as" or "like" some object in nature. Text an illustration of this. It means — I. THAT THE ROYAL PSALMIST PRAYS TO BE DIVINELY PROTECTED. He did not possess all our modern knowledge of the anatomy of the eye, but he must have known much or he could not have penned this prayer. Of all the organs of the body the eye is the most delicate and precious, and is protected by the most wonderful and elaborate contrivances. The eyes are the sentinels of the body, and keep constant guard over it. They are the windows through which the soul looks out upon all things within its range. They are closely connected with the brain, and by a mysterious telegraphy of nerves convey to the brain knowledge of what is passing in the outer world. The eyes are like citizens within the entrenchments of a fortified town, surrounded by outworks, fences, and barricades. And the arms are like two warders to defend them. Note some of their protections. A protruding socket, like a wall around it: with overhanging brow to carry off drops of perspiration; with eyelashes to guard against dust and insects; with lids that automatically close at the approach of danger; with glands which secrete tears that clean and lubricate the ball of the eye; with beds, cushion like for their softness, upon which they repose and revolve with safety. All these and many more show how carefully God keeps the apple of the eye, and help us to see how David desired that God would keep him. II. AND HE WOULD BE DIVINELY PRESERVED. "Hide me under the shadow of Thy wings." This emblem, like the former, is exceedingly suggestive. There may be reference to the wings of the cherubim which were the symbol of God's presence in the tabernacle of old. David had ardent love for the house of God, he even envied the sparrows that built their nests near God's altar. In the time of trouble he would be hidden in God's pavilion, in the secret place of the tabernacle; and there, hiding as under the wings of the cherubim, he would find a shelter and a home. ( F. W. Brown. ) They are enclosed in their own fat. Psalm 17:10 A figure for self-complacency David Caldwell, A. M. To be enclosed in one's own fat means, to be wrapped up in pride and self-complacency, the effect upon weak and ignoble minds of worldly prosperity. It is said that the purely fatty part of the human body, having no nerves of sensation, can be cut and pierced without experiencing any feeling of pain. Hence, in Scripture phraseology, to say that one's heart is fat is equivalent to saying that it is hard and insensible, void of moral and sympathetic feeling, and not to be affected by any appeal made to its pity or sense of right. It indicates a haughtiness and insolence of bearing towards others that is hard to be borne by them. Alas! how a little worldly elevation sometimes changes the best character into the worst! How it renders the man proud who before was humble; the heart hard that before was tender! To be delivered from the tender mercies of mindless wealth, of heartless prosperity, is a prayer that others besides David have breathed into the ear of Divine mercy. It was not the poor, but the proud, the prosperous, the high in station and authority, that chased the Son of God to the Cross, and reviled Him there. ( David Caldwell, A. M. ) Which have their portion in this life. Psalm 17:14, 15 The uncertainty of worldly prosperity Alfred Barry, D. D. Like many other passages (such as Job 21:7-13 ; Psalm 73:12 ), these verses clearly show how little "the old Fathers looked," or indeed could have looked, "only for transitory promises." While they held, and rightly held, that under the general law of God's providence happiness should follow obedience to the will of Him who made and guides all things, they yet recognised the disturbing influence of evil in the world, through which the unrighteous prosper, having to the full the only portion they care for (comp. Matthew 6:2-5 ; Luke 16:25 ), leaving wealth and fame to their children. At times this was to them a sore trial of faith ( Psalm 73:3 ), sorer than to us who have the clear vision of the future life. But they felt that far above this outward prosperity was that which the worldly cannot have, the communion with God, in itself the eternal life of the soul. The sense of ver. 15 cannot be doubtful. David knows that now "he shall behold the presence of God in righteousness," and in it have the higher spiritual life. Therefore (as in Psalm 16:9, 10 ) he draws the inference which our Lord Himself justifies, that death cannot break the tie of this communion; therefore that he shall awake in the image of God, and, so awaking, shall be "satisfied with it," possessing it in the fulness which on earth he can only desire and long for (comp. 1 John 3:1, 2 ). All other explanations than this sin against the whole spirit of the passage, and could never have been thought of except to support the false conclusion that, because the knowledge of a future life in heaven was. not unchequed, by doubt in the .saints of old, therefore it had no flashes of brightness and reality. ( Alfred Barry, D. D. ) The worldly man's portion J. Burns, D. D. The world is at total enmi

Benson Commentary Psalm 17:1 A Prayer of David. Hear the right, O LORD, attend unto my cry, give ear unto my prayer, that goeth not out of feigned lips. Psalm 17:1 . Hear the right, O Lord — Hebrew, ??? , tzedek, righteousness, that is, my righteous cause, or me, who, notwithstanding all their accusations, and slanders, am righteous in my conduct toward them and all men. Attend unto my cry — My fervent prayer, attended with strong cries. That goeth not out of feigned lips — Hebrew, ????? ???? , shipthee mirmah, lips of deceit, or of guile, which speak one thing when the heart knows and designs another. This profession of his sincerity in his words fitly makes way for his solemn appeal to God, in the following verses. Psalm 17:2 Let my sentence come forth from thy presence; let thine eyes behold the things that are equal. Psalm 17:2 . Let my sentence — Hebrew, ??????? , mishpati, my judgment, that is, judgment in my cause, or on my behalf: come forth from thy presence — From thee, and from thy tribunal, to which I bring my cause. Do not suspend or delay it, but speedily examine my cause, and give sentence in it. Behold the things that are equal — Or right: for though I need and desire thy mercy and favour in many other respects, yet I beg only the interposition of thy justice in this cause between me and them. Psalm 17:3 Thou hast proved mine heart; thou hast visited me in the night; thou hast tried me, and shalt find nothing; I am purposed that my mouth shall not transgress. Psalm 17:3 . Thou hast proved mine heart — Or searched, or tried it, by many temptations and afflictions; by which the sincerity or hypocrisy of men’s hearts is discovered, and especially is manifest to thy all-seeing eye. Thou hast visited me in the night — Thou hast been present with me in my greatest privacies; to discover whether, in my retirement from the eyes of men, in the night season, when secrecy and solitude prompt the hypocrite to sin, I was forming any evil designs, or indulging any mischievous imaginations. Thou hast tried me — Accurately and severely, as goldsmiths do metals. And shalt find nothing — Nothing of unrighteousness in me. In the Hebrew it is only, Thou shalt not find; namely, that whereof my enemies accuse me, whether hypocrisy toward thee, or evil designs against Saul, covered with fair pretences. I am purposed — I have resolved upon deliberation, as the word here used implies; that my mouth shall not transgress — I am so far from taking any measures, or practising any thing against Saul’s life, as they charge me, that I will not wrong him so much as in word. Or, more generally, and without any particular reference to Saul, “I am so far from doing any wicked thing, that I will keep a strict watch even over my words; and though mine enemies persecute me ever so much by their evil deeds, I am resolved they shall not tempt me to speak evil.” Observe, reader, he does not say, I hope my mouth shall not transgress, or I wish it may not, but I am fully purposed that it shall not. With this bridle he kept it, Psalm 39:2 . Constant resolution and watchfulness against the sins of the tongue will be a good evidence of our integrity. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, James 3:2 . Psalm 17:4 Concerning the works of men, by the word of thy lips I have kept me from the paths of the destroyer. Psalm 17:4 . Concerning the works of men — That is, the works which men generally practise: observing how unreasonable, wicked, and pernicious they are, not only to others, but also to themselves, I have been resolved to take more care in the ordering of my actions. This he says, to show that he had been as careful to abstain from sinful actions as from sinful words, and in all respects to do his duty to God and man. By the word of thy lips — By the help of thy blessed word, and the excellent precepts, promises, and threatenings thereof, which, by deep and frequent meditation, I have hid and fixed in my heart, as the rule of my actions, the guide of my life, and the best antidote against sin and temptation, Psalm 119:9 ; Psalm 119:11 . I have kept me from the paths — Hebrew, ?????? ????? , shamarti arechoth, I have watched, or observed, that is, in order to avoid, the paths, or ways of the destroyer. The ways of sin are the ways of the destroyer, that is, of the devil, whose name is Abaddon, and Apollyon, or destroyer, and who ruins souls by decoying them into these ways. Now, if we would shun them, we must attend to the word of God as our rule and guide, and in order thereto, must understand, believe, and hide it in our heart. “If the word be not in our heart at all, or if it be not there in such a manner as to be ready at all times for use and application, we shall be in danger, at every turn, of going astray.” — Horne. Psalm 17:5 Hold up my goings in thy paths, that my footsteps slip not. Psalm 17:5 . Hold up my goings, &c. — As by thy word and grace thou hast hitherto kept me from the paths of evil men, and led me into thy paths, so I pray thee enable me, by the same means, to persevere therein, and in an abhorrence of all wicked courses. Let me not only be restrained from doing that which is evil, but quickened to abound always in that which is good. Let my goings be so held in thy paths that I may not turn back from them, nor turn aside out of them; and let them be held up, that I may not stumble and fall into sin, that I may not become indolent, and neglect my duty. Observe, reader, we stand no longer than he is pleased to uphold us, we go no farther than he is pleased to lead us. Those, therefore, that would proceed on and persevere in the ways of God, must by faith and prayer fetch in daily supplies of grace and strength from him. That my footsteps slip not — That I may not fall into the sin of revenging myself on Saul, to which I may be more and more tempted, nor into any other sin, whereby thou mayest be provoked, or men may be offended, and religion disgraced. David was sensible that his way was slippery, that he himself was weak, and not so well fixed and established as he ought to be, and that there were those that watched for his halting, and would improve the least slip he might make against him, and therefore he prays in this manner to be upheld and preserved. Let us go and do likewise. Psalm 17:6 I have called upon thee, for thou wilt hear me, O God: incline thine ear unto me, and hear my speech. Psalm 17:6 . I have called upon thee — It hath been, still is, and shall be, my constant course, to apply myself to thee for assistance and deliverance. For thou wilt hear, O God — Though thou mayest delay for a season, I am well assured that thou wilt hear and answer me. Psalm 17:7 Shew thy marvellous lovingkindness, O thou that savest by thy right hand them which put their trust in thee from those that rise up against them . Psalm 17:7 . Show thy marvellous loving-kindness — Namely, in preserving and delivering me: which, if thou dost, I must ever acknowledge it to be an act of kindness, or free grace and mercy, yea, and of marvellous kindness, because of my extreme and pressing dangers, out of which nothing but a miracle of divine mercy and power can save me; O thou that savest by thy right hand — By thy great power, and needest not the agency of any other; them which put their trust in thee — Or, in it, namely, thy right hand, as was now expressed; from those that rise up against them — Hebrew, ????????? , me-mithkomemim, from, or, because of, those that exalt themselves, not only against me, but also against thee, who hast engaged and declared thyself for me. But the latter clause of this verse is differently translated in the margin, and, as many eminent interpreters, both ancient and modern, think, more agreeably to the Hebrew text. The reader, therefore, will please to attend to it, and to observe, that rising up against God’s right hand, a sin which, according to that translation, David charges upon his enemies, signifies opposing God’s power, or counsels, whether respecting the exaltation of David, and the Messiah his seed, or any other of his dispensations. Psalm 17:8 Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of thy wings, Psalm 17:8-9 . Keep me as the apple of the eye — Which thou hast marvellously fenced on every side, and which men use their utmost care and diligence to preserve. Hide me under the shadow of thy wings — Protect me from my enemies, visible and invisible, as a hen protects her chickens from birds of prey. There seems also to be an allusion to the wings of the cherubim, overshadowing the mercy-seat. From the wicked — Or, Because of the wicked. From my deadly enemies — Hebrew, Mine enemies in, for, or, against my soul, or, life, whom nothing but my blood or life will satisfy. Who compass me about — And thereby show both their extreme malice and my danger. Psalm 17:9 From the wicked that oppress me, from my deadly enemies, who compass me about. Psalm 17:10 They are inclosed in their own fat: with their mouth they speak proudly. Psalm 17:10 . They are enclosed in their own fat — They live in great splendour and prosperity, while I am exercised with many sore troubles. A similar phrase occurs Job 15:27 ; Psalm 73:1 . Dr. Dodd considers it as “a poetical, or proverbial speech, to signify haughtiness, as caused by wealth or great prosperity; together with that indulgence of the sensual appetites, and disregard to the duties of religion, which are a consequence of such haughtiness.” Jeshurun waxed fat, that is, rich and prosperous; and the consequence was, that he kicked, grew refractory, proud, and insolent, and would not submit to the yoke of God’s law, but lifted up the heel against him. The psalmist adds here, They speak proudly — Boasting of their own power, and of the great things they had done, or would do. “Pride,” says Dr. Horne, “is the child of plenty, begotten by self- indulgence, which hardens the hearts of men against the fear of God and the love of their neighbours; rendering them insensible of the judgments of the former and the miseries of the latter. Let every man take care,” adds he, “that by pampering the flesh, he do not raise up an enemy of this stamp against himself.” Psalm 17:11 They have now compassed us in our steps: they have set their eyes bowing down to the earth; Psalm 17:11-12 . They have compassed us in our steps — In all our ways. We go from place to place: we flee for safety to rocks, caves, and woods; but whithersoever we go they are at hand, and ready to surround us. See an instance of this 1 Samuel 23:26 . They have set their eyes — Namely, upon or against us. They have discovered us, and keep their eyes fixed upon us, that we may not escape, or as intending to shoot at us with their arrows. Bowing down to the earth — Couching and casting themselves down upon the earth, that they may not be discovered, and so may watch the fittest opportunity to surprise us. Which sense is favoured by the next verse, and by comparing Psalm 10:10 . The Hebrew, however, ?????? ???? , lintoth baaretz, may be rendered, to cast us down to the earth, that is, They have fixed their eyes upon us, in order that they may watch their opportunity to lay us prostrate on the ground, and destroy us. Like a lion, greedy of his prey — Which is hungry, and therefore cruel. “The similitude of a lion, either roaming abroad in quest of his prey, or couching in secret, ready to spring upon it, the moment it comes within his reach, is often employed by David, to describe the power and malice of his enemies. Christians cannot forget that they likewise have an adversary of the same nature and character; one ever seeking whom, and contriving how, he may devour.” — Horne. Psalm 17:12 Like as a lion that is greedy of his prey, and as it were a young lion lurking in secret places. Psalm 17:13 Arise, O LORD, disappoint him, cast him down: deliver my soul from the wicked, which is thy sword: Psalm 17:13 . Arise, O Lord, disappoint him — Hebrew, ???? ???? , kadmah panaiv, prevent his face; that is, Go forth against him, and meet and face him in battle, as enemies are wont to do. Or, prevent the execution of his mischievous designs against me: stop him in his attempt, and give him the first blow. The wicked, which is thy sword — Or thy hand, as it follows, Psalm 17:14 , that is, thy instrument to execute vengeance upon thine enemies, or to chastise and exercise thy people; for which latter reason the Assyrian is termed God’s rod, Isaiah 10:5 , as being raised up and appointed for the correction of God’s people, Habakkuk 1:12 . The sense therefore is, Do not punish me by this rod: let me fall into thy hands, and not into the hands of wicked men, 2 Samuel 24:14 . The words, however, may be rendered, Let thy sword deliver me from the wicked: thy hand, O Lord, from men: Psalm 17:14 , from those men, who are of this world: the sword and hand of Jehovah being frequently used to denote his power and vengeance. Psalm 17:14 From men which are thy hand, O LORD, from men of the world, which have their portion in this life, and whose belly thou fillest with thy hid treasure : they are full of children, and leave the rest of their substance to their babes. Psalm 17:14 . From men which are thy hand — Wherewith thou dost correct me. From men of the world — Who prosper in, and set their hearts upon, this vain and transitory world, and neither have, nor choose, nor desire, any other portion or felicity: who are actuated by the spirit of the world, walk according to the course of this world, are in love with the wealth and pleasure of this world, eager in the pursuits of it, making them their business; and at ease in the enjoyments of it, making them their happiness: such as, in our Lord’s language, have their reward here, and are to expect none hereafter. The Hebrew ???? ???? , methim mecheled, means, properly, mortals of the world, a world cessans, instabilis, et transiens, perishing, unstable, and transient, as Buxtorff interprets the word — who, though dying men, in a world continually changing, and at last passing away, are content to have their portion in it; looking upon the reputed good things of it as the best things, and sufficient to make them happy; choosing them accordingly, placing their felicity in enjoying them, aiming at them as their chief good, and, if they attain them, resting satisfied therewith, and neither looking farther, nor taking care to provide for another world. Now, Lord, shall men of this character, men so unreasonable, so unwise, so sottish; men so earthly, so sensual, so grovelling, so like the beasts that perish; shall men of this sort be supported and countenanced against those that honour thee, by preferring thy favour, and the enjoyment of thee, before all the wealth, and honour, and pleasures of this world? Whose belly thou fillest — That is, whose mind or appetite thou satisfiest, with thy hid treasure, that is, not only with common mercies, such as food and raiment, but with the choicest of earthly things, such as men are wont to hide or keep in their treasures; with wealth, and glory, and all the delights and comforts of the present life: “whom thou permittest to enjoy thy temporal blessings in abundance, as if it were to convince us in what estimation we ought to hold the world when we see the largest shares of it dealt out to the most worthless of the sons of Adam.” They are full of children — While many of thy faithful servants are barren, these are blessed with a numerous posterity. Or, as ?????? ???? jisbegnu banim, may be rendered, their children are filled up, or satisfied, namely, as well as themselves. There is abundantly enough, both for them and for their children, and even for their children’s children, for they leave the residue of their substance to their babes — “After living in plenty, perhaps to a good old age, they leave behind them a numerous and flourishing posterity, who inherit their estates, and go on, as their fathers did before them, without piety to God, or charity to the poor. From these men and their ways we have all reason to say with David, Good Lord, deliver us.” — Horne. Psalm 17:15 As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness. Psalm 17:15 . As for me — I do not envy their felicity, but my hopes and happiness are of another nature. I will (or, shall ) behold thy face — I do not place my portion in earthly and temporal pleasures, as they do, but in beholding God’s face: that is, in the enjoyment of God’s presence and favour; which is, indeed, enjoyed in part in this life, but not fully, and to entire satisfaction, of which David here speaks, as appears from the last clause of this verse; the sight of God, and of his face, being frequently spoken of, both in the Old and the New Testament, as a privilege denied even to the saints in this life, and peculiar to the next life: in righteousness — In holiness, internal as well as external, without which no man shall see the Lord, Hebrews 12.; only the pure in heart being admitted to this high honour and unspeakable happiness, Matthew 5:8 . He therefore that has this hope in him, must purify himself as he is pure, 1 John 3:3 . But the meaning probably is rather, through righteousness, for, grace reigns through righteousness unto eternal life. That Isaiah , 1 st, Through righteousness imputed, or justification, Romans 4:2-8 . This was experienced by David, as he testifies, Psalm 32:5 ; Psalm 103:3 ; and he sets forth the blessedness of it in the beginning of the former of these Psalms, as well as in many other places. Hereby he was entitled to this happiness, for, being justified by grace, and acquitted from condemnation, he was made an heir of it, Titus 3:7 . 2d, Through righteousness implanted in him, or through the regeneration and sanctification of his nature, or the Spirit of God, and his various graces dwelling in his soul, and especially shedding abroad in his heart the love of God and all mankind. Hereby he had a meetness for the enjoyment of this felicity, Colossians 1:12 . And 3d, Through practical righteousness, flowing from both the former, Titus 3:8 ; Ephesians 2:10 ; Luke 1:6 . To the absolute necessity of which, our Lord, St. John, and all the apostles bear continual testimony. See Matthew 7:21 ; 1 John 3:4-8 ; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 . In this way he was led to that vision of God to which he had a title, through his justification, and for which he was prepared by his sanctification. Remember, reader, it is only by faith in him who is the Lord our righteousness that thou canst be made a partaker of righteousness in these three absolutely necessary and closely connected branches of it. O seek this without delay, and with thy whole heart! I shall be satisfied — However distressed and exercised with trials and troubles I may be now, the time is coming when I shall be abundantly satisfied, namely, with beholding God’s face and enjoying his glorious presence, which to me is more desirable, and will be infinitely more satisfactory, and full of consolation, than all the possessions of this world. When I awake with thy likeness — When I arise from the dead, receive a body conformed to Christ’s glorious body; and as I have borne the image of the earthly Adam, shall also bear that of the heavenly; when the image of God shall be completely and indelibly stamped on my glorified soul; and I shall be made fully like him, and therefore shall see him as he is, Php 3:21 ; 1 Corinthians 15:49 ; Revelation 22:4 ; 1 John 3:2 . Benson Commentary on the Old and New Testaments Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com . Used by Permission.

Expositor's Bible Commentary Psalm 17:1 A Prayer of David. Hear the right, O LORD, attend unto my cry, give ear unto my prayer, that goeth not out of feigned lips. Psalm 17:1-15 THE investigations as to authorship and date yield the usual conflicting results. Davidic, say one school; undoubtedly post-exilic, say another, without venturing on closer definition; late in the Persian period, says Cheyne. Perhaps we may content ourselves with the modest judgment of Baethgen in his last book (" Handcommentar ," 1892, p. 45): "The date of composition cannot be decided by internal indications." The background is the familiar one of causeless foes round an innocent sufferer, who flings himself into God’s arms for safety, and in prayer enters into peace and hope. He is, no doubt, a representative of the Ecclesia pressa ; but he is so just because his cry is intensely personal. The experience of one is the type for all, and a poet’s prerogative is to cast his most thoroughly individual emotions into words that fit the universal heart. The psalm is called a "prayer," a title given to only four other psalms, none of which are in the First Book. It has three movements, marked by the repetition of the name of God, which does not appear elsewhere, except in the doubtful Psalm 17:14 . These three are Psalm 17:1-5 , in which the cry for help is founded on a strong profession of innocence; Psalm 17:6-12 , in which it is based on a vivid description of the enemies; and Psalm 17:13-15 , in which it soars into the pure air of mystic devotion, and thence looks down on the transient prosperity of the foe and upwards, in a rapture of hope, to the face of God. The petition proper, in Psalm 17:1-2 , and its ground, are both strongly marked by conscious innocence, and therefore sound strange to our ears, trained as we have been by the New Testament to deeper insight into sin, This sufferer asks God to "hear righteousness," i.e. , his righteous cause. He pleads the bona fides of his prayer, the fervour of which is marked by its designation as "my cry," the high-pitched note usually the expression of joy, but here of sore need and strong desire. Boldly he asks for his "sentence from Thy face," and the ground of, that petition is that "Thine eyes behold rightly." Was there, then, no inner baseness that should have toned down such confidence? Was this prayer not much the same as the Pharisee’s in Christ’s parable? The answer is partly found in the considerations that the innocence professed is specially in regard to the occasions of the psalmist’s present distress, and that the acquittal by deliverance which he asks is God’s testimony that as to these he was slandered and clear. But, further, the strong professions of heart cleanness and outward obedience which follow are not so much denials of any sin as avowals of sincere devotion and honest submission of life to God’s law. They are "the answer of a good conscience towards God," expressed, indeed, more absolutely than befits Christian consciousness, but having noticing in common with Pharisaic self-complacency. The modern type of religion which recoils from such professions, and contents itself with always confessing sins which it has given up hope of overcoming, would be all the better for listening to the psalmist and aiming a little more vigorously and hopefully at being able to say, "I know nothing against myself." There is no danger in such a saying, if it be accompanied by "Yet am I not hereby justified" and by "Who can understand his errors? Cleanse Thou me from secret faults." The general drift of Psalm 17:3-5 is clear, but the precise meaning and connection are extremely obscure. Probably the text is faulty. It has been twisted in all sorts of ways, the Masoretic accents have been disregarded, the division of verses set aside, and still no proposed rendering of parts of Psalm 17:3-4 is wholly satisfactory. The psalmist deals with heart, lips, feet-that is, thoughts, words, and deeds-and declares the innocence of all. But difficulties begin when we look closer. The first question is as to the meaning and connection of the word rendered in the A.V. and R.V., "I am purposed." It may be a first person singular or an infinitive used as a noun or even a noun, meaning, in both the latter cases, substantially the same, i.e. my thinking or my thoughts. It is connected by the accents with what follows; but in that case the preceding verb "find" is left without an object, and hence many renderings attach the word to the preceding clause, and so get "Thou shalt find no [evil] thoughts in me." This division of the clauses leaves the words rendered, by A.V. and R.V., "My mouth shall not transgress," standing alone. There is no other instance of the verb standing by itself with that meaning, nor is "mouth" clearly the subject. It may as well be the object, and the clause be, "[It] shall not pass my mouth." If that is the meaning, we have to look to the preceding word as defining what it is that is thus to be kept unuttered, and so detach it from the verb "find," as the accents do. The knot has been untied in two ways: "My [evil] purpose shall not pass," etc., or, taking the word as a verb and regarding the clause as hypothetical, Should I think evil, it shall not pass, etc. Either of these renderings has the advantage of retaining the recognised meaning of the verb and of avoiding neglect of the accent. Such a rendering has been objected to as inconsistent with the previous clause, but the psalmist may be looking back to it, feeling that his partial self-knowledge makes it a bold statement, and thus far limiting it, that if any evil thought is found in his heart, it is sternly repressed in silence. Obscurity continues in Psalm 17:4 . The usual rendering, "As for [or, During] the works of men, by the word of Thy mouth I have kept me," etc., is against the accents, which make the principal division of the verse fall after "lips"; but no satisfactory sense results if the accentuation is followed unless we suppose a verb implied, such as e.g. , stand fast or the like, so getting the profession of steadfastness in the words of God’s lips, in face of men’s self-willed doings. But this is precarious, and probably the ordinary way of cutting the knot by neglecting the accents is best. In any case the avowal of innocence passes here from thoughts and words to acts. The contrast of the psalmist’s closed mouth and God’s lips is significant, even if unintended. Only he who silences much that rises in his heart can hear God speaking. "I kept me from," is a very unusual meaning for the word employed, which generally signifies to guard or watch, but here seems to mean to take heed so as to avoid. Possibly the preposition from, denoted by a single letter, has fallen out before "paths." This negative avoidance precedes positive walking in God’s ways, since the poet’s position is amidst evil men. Goodness has to learn to say No to men, if it is ever to say Yes to God. The foot has to be forcibly plucked and vigilantly kept from foul ways before it can be planted firmly in "Thy paths." By holding fast to courses appointed by God stability is ensured. Thus the closing clause of this first part is rather an acknowledgment of the happy result of devoted cleaving to God than an assertion of self-secured steadfastness. "My feet do not slip," not so much because they are strong as because the road is good, and the Guide’s word and hand ready. The second part repeats the prayer for help, but bases it on the double ground of God’s character and acts and of the suppliant’s desperate straits; and of these two the former comes first in the prayer, though the latter has impelled to the prayer. Faith may be helped to self-consciousness by the sense of danger, but when awakened it grasps God’s hand first and then faces its foes. In this part of the psalm the petitions, the aspects of the Divine character and working, and the grim picture of dangers are all noteworthy. The petitions by their number and variety reveal the pressure of trouble, each new prick of fear or pain forcing a new cry and each cry recording a fresh act of faith tightening its grasp. The "I" in Psalm 17:6 is emphatic, and may be taken as gathering up the psalmist’s preceding declarations and humbly laying them before God as a plea: "I, who thus cleave to Thy ways, call upon Thee. and my prayer is that of faith, which is sure of answer." But that confidence does not make petition superfluous, but rather encourages it. The assurance that "Thou wilt answer" is the reason for the prayer, "Incline Thine ear." Naturally at such a moment the name of God springs to the psalmist’s lips, but significantly it is not the name found in the other two parts of the psalm. There He is invoked as "Jehovah," here as "God." The variation is not merely rhetorical, but the name which connotes power is appropriate in a prayer for deliverance from peril so extreme. "Magnify [or make wonderful] Thy lovingkindnesses" is a petition containing at once a glimpse of the psalmist’s danger, for escape from which nothing short of a wonder of power will avail, and an appeal to God’s delight in magnifying His name by the display of His mercy. The prayer sounds arrogant, as if the petitioner thought himself important enough to have miracles wrought for him; but it is really most humble, for the very wonder of the lovingkindness besought is that it should be exercised for such a one. God wins honour by saving a poor man who cries to Him; and it is with deep insight into the heart of God that this man presents himself as offering an occasion, in which God must delight, to flash the glory of His loving power before dull eyes. The petitions grow in boldness as they go on, and culminate in two which occur in similar contiguity in the great Song of Moses in Deuteronomy 32:1-52 : "Keep me as the pupil of Thy eye." What closeness of union with God that lovely figure implies, and what sedulous guardianship it implores! "In the shadow of Thy wings hide me." What tenderness of fostering protection that ascribes to God, and what warmth and security it asks for man! The combination and order of these two petitions may teach us that, if we are to be "kept," we must be hidden; that if these frail lives of ours are to be dear to God as the apple of His eye, they must be passed nestling close by His side. Deep, secret communion with Him is the condition of His protection of us, as another psalm, using the same image, has it: "He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty." The aspects of the Divine character, which the psalmist employs to move God’s heart and to encourage his own, are contained first in the name "God," and next in the reference to His habitual dealings with trusting souls, in Psalm 17:7 . From of old it has been His way to be the Saviour of such as take refuge in Him from their enemies, and His right hand has shielded them. That past is a prophecy which the psalmist grasps in faith. He has in view instances enough to warrant an induction absolutely certain. He knows the law of the Divine dealings, and is sure that anything may happen rather than that it shall fail. Was he wrong in thus characterising God? Much in his experience and in ours looks as if he were; but they who most truly understand what help or salvation truly is will most joyously dwell in the sunny clearness of this confidence, which will not be clouded for them, though their own and others’ trust is not answered by what sense calls deliverance. The eye which steadily looks on God can look calmly at dangers. It is with no failure of faith that the poet’s thoughts turn to his enemies. Fears that have become prayers are already more than half conquered. The psalmist would move God to help, not himself to despair, by recounting his perils. The enemy "spoil" him or lay him waste, the word used for the ravages of invaders. They are "enemies in soul"- i.e. , deadly-or perhaps "against [my] soul" or life. They are pitiless and proud, closing their hearts, which prosperity has made "fat" or arrogant, against the entrance of compassion, and indulging in gasconading boasts of their own power and contemptuous, scoffs at his weakness. They ring him round, watching his steps. The text has a sudden change here from singular to plural, and back again to singular, reading "our steps," and "They have compassed me, " which the Hebrew margin alters to "us." The wavering between the singular and plural is accounted for by the upholders of the Davidic authorship by a reference to him and his followers, and by the advocates of the theory that the speaker is the personified Israel by supposing that the mask falls for a moment, and the "me," which always means "us," gives place to the collective. Psalm 17:11 b is ambiguous in consequence of the absence of an object to the second verb. To "set the eyes" is to watch fixedly and eagerly; and the purpose of the gaze is in the next clause stated by an infinitive with a preposition, not by a participle, as in the A.V. The verb is sometimes transitive and sometimes intransitive, but the former is the better meaning here, and the omitted object is most naturally "us" or "me." The sense, then, will be that the enemies eagerly watch for an opportunity to cast down the psalmist, so as to lay him low on the earth. The intransitive meaning "to bow down" is taken by some commentators. If that is adopted (as it is by Hupfeld and others), the reference is to "our steps" in the previous clause, and the sense of the whole is that eager eyes watch for these "bowing to the ground," that is stumbling. But such a rendering is harsh, since steps are always on the ground. Baethgen ("Handcommentar"), on the strength of Numbers 21:22 , the only place where the verb occurs with the same preposition as here, and which he takes as meaning "to turn aside to field or vineyard- i.e. , to plunder them"-would translate. "They direct their eves to burst into the land," and supposes the reference to be to some impending invasion. A similar variation in number to that in Psalm 17:11 occurs in Psalm 17:12 , where the enemies are concentrated into one. The allusion is supposed to be to some one conspicuous leader- e.g. , Saul-but probably the change is merely an illustration of the carelessness as to such grammatical accuracy characteristic of emotional Hebrew poetry. The familiar metaphor of the lurking lion may have been led up to in the poet’s imagination by the preceding picture of the steadfast gaze of the enemy, like the glare of the green eyeballs flashing from the covert of a jungle. The third part ( Psalm 17:13-15 ) renews the cry for deliverance, and unites the points of view of the preceding parts in inverted order, describing first the enemies and then the psalmist, but with these significant differences, the fruits of his communion with God, that now the former are painted, not in their fierceness, but in their transitory, attachments and low delights, and that the latter does not bemoan his own helplessness nor build on his own integrity, but feeds his soul on his confidence of the vision of God and the satisfaction which it will bring. The smoke clouds that rolled in the former parts have caught fire and one clear shoot of flame aspires heavenward. He who makes his needs known to God gains for immediate answer "the peace of God which passeth understanding," and can wait God’s time for the rest. The crouching lion is still ready to spring; but the psalmist hides himself behind God, whom he asks to face the brute and make him grovel at his feet "Make him bow down," the same word used for a lion couchant in Genesis 49:9 and Numbers 24:9 . The rendering of Psalm 17:13 b, "the wicked, who is Thy sword," introduces an irrelevant thought; and it is better to regard the sword as God’s weapon that slays the crouching wild beast. The excessive length of Psalm 17:14 and the entirely pleonastic "from men (by) Thy hand, O Lord," suggest textual corruption. The thought runs more smoothly, though not altogether clearly, if these words are omitted. There remains a penetrating characterisation of the enemy in the sensuous limitations and mistaken aims of his godless being, which may be satiated with low delights, but never satisfied, and has to leave them all at last. He is no longer dreaded, but pitied. His prayer has cleared the psalmist’s eyes and lifted him high enough to see his foes as they are. They are "men of the world," belonging, by the set of their lives, to a transitory order of things - an anticipation of New Testament language about "the children of this world." "Their portion is in [this] life," while the psalmist’s is God. { Psalm 16:5 } They have chosen to have their good things in their lifetime. Hopes, desires, aims, tastes, are all confined within the narrow bounds of time and sense, than which there can be no greater folly. Such limitation will often seem to succeed, for low aims are easily reached; and God sometimes lets men have their fill of the goods at which their perverted choice clutches. But even so the choice is madness and misery, for the man, gorged with worldly good, has yet to leave it, however unwilling to loosen his hold. He cannot use his goods; and it is no comfort to him, sent away naked into darkness of death, that his descendants revel in what was his. How different the contrasted conditions of the hunted psalmist and his enemies look when the light of such thoughts streams on them! The helpless victim towers above his persecutors, for his desires go up to Him who abides and saturates with His blessed fulness the heart that aspires to Him. Terrors vanish; foes are forgotten; every other wish is swallowed up in one, which is a confidence as well as a desire. The psalmist neither grudges, nor is perplexed by, the prosperity of the wicked. The mysteries of men’s earthly lot puzzle those who stand at a lower elevation; but they do not disturb the soul on these supreme heights of mystic devotion, where God is seen to be the only good, and the hungry heart is filled with Him. Assuredly the psalmist’s closing expectation embodies the one contrast worth notice: that between the present gross and partial satisfactions of sense-bound lives and the calm, permanent, full delights of communion with God. But does he limit his hopes to such "hours of high communion with the living God" as may be ours, even while the foe rings us round and earth holds us down? Possibly so, but it is difficult to find a worthy meaning for "when I awake" unless it be from the sleep of death. Possibly, too, the allusion to the men of the world as "leaving their substance" makes the reference to a future beatific vision more likely. Death is to them the stripping off of their chosen portion; it is to him whose portion is God the fuller possession of all that he loves and desires. Cheyne (" Orig. of Psalt. ," p. 407) regards the awaking as that from the sleep of the intermediate state by "the passing of the soul into a resurrection body." He is led to the recognition of the doctrine of the resurrection here by his theory of the late date of the psalm and the influence of Zoroastrianism on it. But it is not necessary to suppose an allusion to the resurrection. Rather the psalmist’s confidence is the offspring of his profound consciousness of present communion, and we see here the very process by which a devout man, in the absence of a clear revelation of the future, reached up to a conclusion to which he was led by his experience of the inmost reality of friendship with God. The impotence of death on the relation of the devout soul to God is a postulate of faith, whether formulated as an article of faith or not. Probably the psalmist had no clear conception of a future life; but certainly he had a distinct assurance of it, because he felt that the very "sweetness" of present fellowship with God "yielded proof that it was born for immortality." The Expositor's Bible Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com . Used by Permission.