Old Testament Commentary - Psalms 17

by Don R. Hender

Scriptural Text [& Editorial]	Commentary & Explanation	Footnotes ~ References ~ JST
CHAPTER 17 David pleads with the Lord to hear his voice, and to preserve him from men of the world—The righteous shall see the Lord's face and awake with his righteousness.
A Prayer of David.
1 HEAR the right, O LORD, attend unto my cry, give ear unto my prayer, that goeth not out of feigned lips. 2 Let my sentence come forth from thy presence; let thine eyes behold the things that are equal. 3 Thou hast ^aproved mine heart; thou hast visited me in the night; thou has tried me, and shalt find nothing; I am purposed that my mouth shall not transgress.
4 Concerning the works of men, by the word of thy lips I have kept me from the paths of the destroyer. 5 ^aHold up my goings in thy paths, that my footsteps slip not. 6 I have called upon thee, for thou wilt hear me, O God: incline thine ear unto me, and ^ahear my speech.
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. 8 Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of thy wings,
9 From the wicked that oppress me, from my deadly enemies, who compass me about. 10 They are inclosed in their own fat: with their mouth they speak proudly. 11 They have now compassed us in our steps: they have set their eyes ^abowing down to the earth;
12 Like as a lion that is greedy of his prey, and as it were a young lion lurking in secret places. 13 Arise, O LORD, disappoint him, cast him down: deliver my soul from the wicked^a, ^awhich is thy sword:	13^a deliver my soul from the wicked Whether David is speaking of his days of mortality or of his perceived days in the spirit prison due to his transgressions against the Lord, it is interesting to consider that while David committed sin to the extent that he would lose his exhaltation, he will still be raise from that 'hell' of the wicked unto a lesser state of righteousness, glory and well being in one of the Lord's lesser kingdoms, persumably the telestial kingdom. And this because despite his great sins, David did not turn away from the Lord, but did turn unto the Lord for the Lord's forgiveness. Thus David is not a son of perdition and thus will be 'saved' by virtue of the atonement of Christ unto a kingdom of glory.
14 From men ^awhich are thy hand, O LORD, from men of the world, which have their ^bportion 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. 15 As for me, I will behold thy face in ^arighteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I ^bawake, with thy likeness.