Psalm 17 Collection

Psalm 17 Collection

You will find nothing

It is God who is far above man; it is man who is far below God.

In Isaiah we hear these words:

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts" (Isaiah 55:8–9).

Indeed, our ways have gone astray (Isaiah 53:6) and none are found righteous (Romans 3:10–12). God's ways and thoughts are infinitely more holy and vast. He knows everything. He knows what we do, say, and think.

We could never trick him or commit something which he would know nothing about. This is frightening because we know for certain how far we have fallen from his righteous standard (Hebrews 4:13).

When we read a prayer like Psalm 17, it feels uncomfortable. How can a man claim innocence with such certainty? He can claim it, even in his own fallen state, because he knows his God. He knows that, even with a sinner asking for what is right to be done, his God will make the best choice. He himself will not dare to take a matter into his own hands, though he finds himself blameless.

In whatever situation he has found himself, he knows that what he is telling God is the truth. This is an important lesson in prayer: though we ourselves are sinful, we can understand and know the truth. We may not be innocent in every matter, but this doesn't mean that in every matter we must have guilt.

Jonathan Edwards once said:

"God hath made us capable of making a wise choice for ourselves, as to the life we shall choose to lead. He hath given man so much understanding, as to make him capable of determining which is best; to lead a life of self-denial, and enjoy eternal happiness, or to take our swing in sinful enjoyments, and burn in hell for ever. The question is of no difficult determination. —It is so far from being a matter too hard for our reason, that the reason of a child is sufficient to determine this matter. Therefore men in remaining undetermined in these matters, do not act as reasonable creatures, but make themselves like 'the horse and the mule, which have no understanding,' Psalm 32:9."¹

The Psalmist was no mule. He avoided the evil ways of the men around him. He knew and loved the law of God. He tried to find what was pleasing to the Lord. He was a sagacious man. But he also knew that he could never push against the word of God as it flowed through his heart and mind.

He says:

"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" (Psalm 17:3).

This is his defense.

In a way, he's saying, "Your law agrees with me, you have pressed my heart, and I am not guilty. If I were, I would know it because you would have shown me."

Many men and women bring their requests to God, yet they tell a story that doesn't align with the truth. They come before God with hatred toward their brother and expect God to come to their rescue. Indeed, this is what it means to transgress with one's mouth.

What if the word of God weighed down on them and tested them? Could their conscience honestly agree with their self-proclaimed innocence?

This is a great lesson and one that must be considered in times of prayer.

Can we say with Paul:

"I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me" (1 Corinthians 4:4).

Can we have a great deal of confidence as we come before God that he will indeed see our case and come to the same conclusion as we do? If God were to find a flaw in our story, would this be a surprise to us or would we shrink back in shame?

The Psalmist was bold in his request to God because he knew his God and he stood in the truth. Indeed, we have a more revealed truth. We have a surer foundation. We can be bold in our request like the Psalmist was, because of what we have through Christ.

We can be candid before our God because of the grace we have through Christ, who has brought justification and forgiveness through the cross. We can turn from evil and fight against temptation because of the Spirit that is now at work in us.

Indeed, if the Psalmist could appeal to God through his innocence, how much more can we appeal to God through Christ's innocence?

How great a gift we have that our sins are forgiven, that we have peace with God, and that God has cleared the guilty (Romans 4:5).

Wondrously show your steadfast love

On October 21st, my wife and I celebrated our ninth year of marriage.

As I think back on our vows, how much I didn't know, and how much I've learned, I smile. It was at that homemade altar, in her parents' backyard, surrounded by family, where I promised to take care of her and be faithful to her.

This was a big promise, and I don't think I fully understood how big it really was. This kind of promise asked for a love that would endure through every season, every hardship, every sickness, good, bad, or ugly. This kind of promise was lifelong, and, in the words of the Psalmist, it was steadfast.

In Hebrew, the words "steadfast love" are translated from the word chesed. Chesed is God's covenant loyalty. This means that this love is rooted in a promise. More than this, it's the love, rooted in faithfulness, that he promised when he brought his people out of Egypt and through the wilderness.

When the Psalmist writes this passage, he is pulling his hope from the exodus and from the Scriptures which he had at the time. In fact, this Psalm and many other

Psalms are drenched with imagery and wording from the time of Moses.

Here in verse 7, the Psalmist is asking God to keep his vows. He is certain that God cannot lie (Titus 1:2) and that he will remain faithful. He calls out to God:

"Wondrously show your steadfast love..."

He wants something extraordinary and special from God and something beyond what he could ever imagine. He wants something "wondrous." He wants God to hear his just cause (v. 1) and then move on the ground of his promise of steadfast love.

The Psalmist loves and leans on every word that God speaks, and like my marriage vows, God's promises are the center of everything in his life. If God could free people from slavery, feed them, rescue them from their enemies, and continue with them, then he can definitely be reliable to hear and answer the Psalmist. Indeed, he can answer you and me, and his answers are beyond what we could ever imagine (Ephesians 3:20).

The phrase "right hand" is from Exodus 15:6, when Moses says:

"Your right hand, O Lord, glorious in power, your right hand, O Lord, shatters the enemy."

This is from a song of Moses after the Lord delivered them out of Egypt. It is in his right hand where the Psalmist finds security and hope. He knows that the steadfast love of the Lord is a love that not only promises but moves. It's a love that is "glorious in power" and a love that "shatters the enemy."

It's the love of a Savior.

Indeed, this love is where the Psalmist goes in all of his distress. He knows that his God is a great Savior.

If only he could have met "the Son of David." The son who would come through his very lineage. The future King. The one who would sit at the right hand of his God. The one who would die on a cross and become the propitiation for the Psalmist's sins and ours. The Savior of the world.

The Lord has exhaustively kept his vows and has wondrously shown his love. He showed it through the Savior, Jesus Christ. He has answered the Psalmist's prayer and every prayer by giving his people eternal life. Through this hope of eternal life, all suffering and all hardships and all persecution are made right. It is through this Savior that any man who trusts in Christ can and will find refuge.

The apple of your eye

The phrase "apple of your eye" has been tossed around in the past by many people.

For some, it seems abstract and rather abstruse when they think about it. They think they understand what it means, but if you were to ask them, they'd probably say, "I'm not sure."

The phrase is actually an English idiom. This means that it is figurative and trying to express something. But in the literal translation, it says, "the little man of the eye." It's the pupil or the ball of the eye.² It's the place where you can see the little reflection of yourself.

When the Psalmist says, "Keep me as the apple of your eye," he's pointing to the fact that the eye is valuable and that it requires protection. He's simply asking God to protect him like a man would protect his eyes. This is also why the Psalmist intensifies his request by asking God to hide him in the shadow of his wings.

An eye is a very sensitive and personal piece of the body; it points to one's care for oneself. On the other hand, to be in the shadow of a wing speaks of the care for another. But not just any other; it speaks of the care of a mother bird and her young.

These two pictures, when put together, give us a beautiful and full picture.

The fact that the Psalmist makes such a request of God shows how much he knows God and how he views God. He not only leans on the great power of God, as he reads of in the stories of the wilderness (Deuteronomy 32:10), but he also embraces the fact that God is close. He knows that God's love isn't distant but personal and familial, and the only way he can describe it is from what he sees in nature.

Psalm 91:4 says:

"He will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness is a shield and buckler."

God's love is sure, it is faithful, and it is immutable. So, the Psalmist, in times of danger "from the wicked who do me violence," calls out again and again. And as his "deadly enemies" surround him, he asks God to, once again, surround and guard him all the more.

It's important to know that when you and I put our faith in Christ, when we seek his protection through his cross, when we throw ourselves on his mercy, in that moment, we will find extraordinary care, love, and joy in the shelter of his wings. We turn from our sin, we fight the good fight, yet we always trust our wonderful Savior to keep and guard us.

It was at Calvary when our Lord was pierced for our transgressions (Isaiah 53:5). It was on the cross where he absorbed the wrath of God. It was our Lord who, when he was reviled, did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly (1 Peter 2:23). It was our Lord who took on himself all that we deserved and imputed his perfect life to us.

He is a glorious Savior and one who, as the apple of his Father's eye, became one of us, so that we could live through him (Hebrews 2:10, 17–18; 4:15).

The beauty of autumn

It's been shown over and over again that the Psalmist relies on his God. We hear him cry out with great expectation (vv. 1–6), and we hear him lean on God for protection, which he knows flows from God's steadfast love (vv. 7–9).

Yet David is in some real danger.

Isaiah 57:20–21 says,

"But the wicked are like the tossing sea; for it cannot be quiet, and its waters toss up mire and dirt. There is no peace," says my God, "for the wicked."

There is no peace.

Wickedness asks for destruction, especially of that which tries to hinder it: righteousness.

God chose David to replace Saul as king. This happened because of what Saul had done. Saul was deeply angered at God's choice and was filled with jealousy. This led him to chase David with the intentions of killing him. He continually spoke arrogant words against the son of Jesse. He was a man who had closed his heart to God's rule and to any kind of pity towards David.

David, on the other hand, had multiple opportunities to end Saul's life. Yet he never took them. He continued to trust God with the results and consequences of Saul's actions.

David's confidence in God was one that is worth emulating, and the danger that he was continually facing was like a bright light that made this confidence and faith shine like the sun.

Many times, men and women love to follow God when things are going well and, in those moments, it feels like our faith is the strongest and most evident. Yet in moments of sickness and danger we find that faith is seen at its best.

Think of the autumn leaves. The colors we find most wonderful are actually hidden all summer long under the green chlorophyll. As the days draw closer to winter, as the darkness comes, and as the coldness fills the air, the chlorophyll begins to break down, and the vast colors begin to show. Indeed, the hard times of winter uncover the greatest beauty that would otherwise be hidden.

In the same way, when David is facing the fiercest of danger, his faith is showing colors that are beyond beautiful. And even in our day, men and women are still gazing upon the autumn leaves of his wonderful faith. The enemies of David were eager to crush the beauty; they were eager to tear him apart and ambush him, yet in so doing, they made the beauty shine all the more.

God has continued to work in this manner throughout history. Wicked men have come and gone, trying to stop the spread of the Gospel. They try to malign us, mistreat us, laugh, scoff, and even kill us. Yet, they are unaware that faith lives best in the harshest conditions. They think our green leaves are the biggest threat but just wait until winter.

War continually

In 1 John 2:15–17, we hear John say this,

"Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever."

When men love the world, they fight to have the world. To be in love with this world is to take on the position of self-protection and to be desire focused. If what you and I ultimately treasure are things that are temporal, even our own life, then life itself, becomes a competition and straining after the preservation of the things we love.

James says this is the reason for every fight: our warring desires (James 4:1). This sheds light on why there is so much violence in the world around us. Men and women want things, can't have them, hate those who do have them, so they hurt and kill to get what they want.

To love the world as our greatest treasure is to be at war continually.

As David is running from Saul, a man who thinks himself a victim and a man who wants to be king, he is constantly met with a man (Saul) who is fighting for his desires.

David calls the men chasing him, "men of the world" and "whose portion is in this life."

These men love the world and have set all their hope in the things that they can attain from it. Things like power, pleasure, wealth, beauty, and what the Psalmist says, a "womb full of treasure," their children and even their extending family line.

David is a threat to this. Indeed, they would want their children to be royalty. They want their sons to be kings. They worship and serve the creature rather than the creator and David says, "confront him, subdue him!" He wants to be delivered from this kind of "world obsessed" rage, because their values are not his values.

David loves God, not the world.

For David, he has his heart and mind set on the day he will see his treasure, God, face-to-face. He says, "I shall behold your face in righteousness; when I awake, I shall be satisfied with your likeness."

David can see how the world is a place that continually leads men to dissatisfaction. Men aimlessly devour each other for things that rot. He sees how easily they can turn on him and how fleeting their joy is in the things they fight for. Indeed, throughout this whole Psalm he is keeping his eyes fixed on where true joy and satisfaction comes from, his God.

We watch him cry out in faith for God to act on his behalf, he says he has a just cause.

He holds fast to the Lord's steadfast love and personal care. He can see what wickedness offers men, and through all of this, he gives us a clear message: God will get me through this and if I have him, I have all I need.

I pray that we agree with him.

Cling to Christ!

¹ Jonathan Edwards, Pastoral Sermons, 338.² ESV Expository Commentary, vol. 5, 144.