Psalm 17

A prayer for vindication (vs. 1-4)—This entire psalm is a prayer. David is not boasting of his righteousness, but he does know when he has been righteous. Thus his cause is “just” (v. 1, NKJV), or “right” (KJV, ASV). His prayer is “not from deceitful lips.” He asks for “vindication” and that the Lord would “look on the things that are upright” (v. 2). He even believes that the Lord has tested him and “found nothing” (blameworthy). God, of course, does test His people; sometimes we pass and sometimes we fail, but we do need to understand that He is trying to build our character, and that usually happens more through trials than through ease. Following the “word of Your lips,” will enable us to keep away “from the paths of the destroyer” (v. 4). The word of God will protect us from sin if we will only “hide it in our hearts” (Ps. 119:11).

Praying for God’s help (vs. 5-8)—Yet, even though David is sure that he has acted wisely and justly, he is still aware of his deep need for God. In these verses there are a series of requests: “Uphold my steps in your path” (v. 5); “incline your ear to me” (v. 6); "show your marvelous lovingkindness” (v. 7); “keep me as the apple of your eye” (v. 8); and “hide me under the shadow of your wings” (v. 8). It doesn’t matter how faithful we have been to the Lord, without Him we can do nothing (John 15:3); “our sufficiency is from God” (II Cor. 3:5).

David’s enemies (vs. 9-12)—And anytime we strive to be truly faithful to Jehovah, there are those who will oppose us. Such is the case here with David. He makes his requests of verses 5-8 because of “the wicked who oppress me” (v. 9). They are “deadly enemies,” and David indeed had some during his life. We don’t know the circumstances behind this psalm, but it could have been written at many difference occasions in his life. Verses 10-12 provide a description of these wicked: they have closed up their “fat” hearts (v. 10, NKJV, or “are inclosed in their own fat,” KJV, ASV); they speak “proudly” (v. 10). They have “surrounded us” (the righteous? David moves from the singular to the plural in verse 11), and they lurk, like a lion for his prey, “crouching down to the earth” (vs. 12, 11). Evil men lie awake at night, thinking of the wickedness they can do in the morning (Micah 2:1). “The sons of this world are more shrewd in their generation than the sons of light” (Luke 10:8). Denying God and finding excuses for sin is more difficult than accepting Him and justifying righteous conduct. It takes more time to conceive sin than to simply obey what God has commanded.

“Arise, O Lord” (vs. 13-15)—The psalm closes with a request that the Lord act against the wicked. “Confront him, cast him down, deliver my life from the wicked with Your sword” (v. 13), from those “who have their portion in this life” (v. 14)—in other words, who live for worldly things and not to serve God. But as for David, “I will see Your face in righteousness, I shall be satisfied when I awake in Your likeness” (v. 15). Given his comparison with the world in verse 14, David might be talking about seeing God after death in heaven. Or it might be that, through a righteous life, we can “see” the glory of God and thus know Him and the kind of being He is, and find satisfaction and peace through that means.