1/4/2012 10:12:44 AM
SPIRITUAL DIARY
My Worship Time Focus: A prayer of David
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Psalm 17
Message of the verses: “1 ¶ «A Prayer of David.» Hear a just cause, O LORD, give heed to my cry; Give ear to my prayer, which is not from deceitful lips. 2 Let my judgment come forth from Your presence; Let Your eyes look with equity. 3 You have tried my heart; You have visited me by night; You have tested me and You find nothing; I have purposed that my mouth will not transgress. 4 As for the deeds of men, by the word of Your lips I have kept from the paths of the violent. 5 My steps have held fast to Your paths. My feet have not slipped. 6 I have called upon You, for You will answer me, O God; Incline Your ear to me, hear my speech. 7 Wondrously show Your lovingkindness, O Savior of those who take refuge at Your right hand From those who rise up against them.
“8 ¶ Keep me as the apple of the eye; Hide me in the shadow of Your wings 9 From the wicked who despoil me, My deadly enemies who surround me. 10 They have closed their unfeeling heart, With their mouth they speak proudly. 11 They have now surrounded us in our steps; They set their eyes to cast us down to the ground. 12 He is like a lion that is eager to tear, And as a young lion lurking in hiding places. 13 Arise, O LORD, confront him, bring him low; Deliver my soul from the wicked with Your sword, 14 From men with Your hand, O LORD, From men of the world, whose portion is in this life, And whose belly You fill with Your treasure; They are satisfied with children, And leave their abundance to their babes. 15 As for me, I shall behold Your face in righteousness; I will be satisfied with Your likeness when I awake.”
From the introduction of the commentary on this psalm Dr. Wiersbe reports that this is one of five psalms that are “prayer psalms,” (17, 86, 90,142), and three of them were written by David. We see that David is in some kind of trouble in Psalm 17 and thus he is crying out to the Lord for help and vindication. Dr. Wiersbe writes at the end of his introduction these words: “In this prayer, David deals with three pressing concerns and makes three major requests to the Lord. Each section opens with David addressing the Lord.”
Vindication—“Examine Me” (vv. 1-5): “1 ¶ «A Prayer of David.» Hear a just cause, O LORD, give heed to my cry; Give ear to my prayer, which is not from deceitful lips. 2 Let my judgment come forth from Your presence; Let Your eyes look with equity. 3 You have tried my heart; You have visited me by night; You have tested me and You find nothing; I have purposed that my mouth will not transgress. 4 As for the deeds of men, by the word of Your lips I have kept from the paths of the violent. 5 My steps have held fast to Your paths. My feet have not slipped.”
We know that David was a sinner, for he even writes in Psalm 51 that he was conceived in sin, and this does not mean that there was sinfulness going on with his parents, but that everyone born is conceived in sin because of the sin nature that is passed on by the man. However David knew that he was blameless before God and this is not a statement in which he was bragging about this, but a humble statement knowing that God had tested him and he came out as gold. Paul writes a similar statement in Acts 23:1 “Paul, looking intently at the Council, said, ‘Brethren, I have lived my life with a perfectly good conscience before God up to this day.’”
We have written earlier about times in David’s life while he was being chased by Saul that he had two opportunities to kill Saul, yet David knew that Saul was the Lord’s anointed and therefore it would be a great sin if he killed Saul so he did not, and this shows that David was blameless before the Lord concerning Saul and this psalm is probably written about those days when David was on the run hiding out from Saul. Saul and his men were spreading lies about David and so David asks vindication before the Lord for David and the Lord knew that David was blameless.
Protection—“Keep Me” (vv. 6-12): “6 I have called upon You, for You will answer me, O God; Incline Your ear to me, hear my speech. 7 Wondrously show Your lovingkindness, O Savior of those who take refuge at Your right hand From those who rise up against them. 8 Keep me as the apple of the eye; Hide me in the shadow of Your wings 9 From the wicked who despoil me, My deadly enemies who surround me. 10 They have closed their unfeeling heart, With their mouth they speak proudly. 11 They have now surrounded us in our steps; They set their eyes to cast us down to the ground. 12 He is like a lion that is eager to tear, And as a young lion lurking in hiding places.”
David uses the word “El” when calling upon the Lord for God is “the Mighty God,” and David knew that even though God had given him gifts to be a masterful military tactician, he also knew that he could not win a battle without help from the Lord. There are similarities in the prayer that David is praying to when Moses was praying to God found in Exodus 15:1-19 and perhaps David had read this prayer of Moses and that is why he is praying like he is now because he knew that if God could lead His children out of Egypt he could get David out of the fix he was in.
Two images are found in verse “eye” and “wing” and these remind God how precious that David is to Him. We know from other passages that Israel is the “apple of God’s eye.” “10 "He found him in a desert land, And in the howling waste of a wilderness; He encircled him, He cared for him, He guarded him as the pupil of His eye.” (Deu. 32:10) As for the wings image David may have been thinking of the wings of the cherubim that is in the Holy of Holies which is in the tabernacle. David may have been asking the Lord to make his hiding place like the Holy of Holies, the place of God’s throne and God’s glory protected by the angels of God.
It is because of the heavenly intercession of Jesus Christ, that the people of the Lord can enter into the Holy of Holies and have fellowship with the Lord. (Heb. 10:1-25)
David speaks of his enemies in verses 10-12 and David’s enemies were people who cared little about spiritual things as they were spiritually insensitive to what was right and it did not upset them when they did wrong. Paul writes about this in his letter to the Romans, “and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.” (Rom. 1:32)
Salvation—“Rescue Me” (vv. 13-15): 13 Arise, O LORD, confront him, bring him low; Deliver my soul from the wicked with Your sword, 14 From men with Your hand, O LORD, From men of the world, whose portion is in this life, And whose belly You fill with Your treasure; They are satisfied with children, And leave their abundance to their babes. 15 As for me, I shall behold Your face in righteousness; I will be satisfied with Your likeness when I awake.”
“13 Up, GOD: beard them! break them! By your sword, free me from their clutches; 14 Barehanded, GOD, break these mortals, these flat-earth people who can’t think beyond today. I’d like to see their bellies swollen with famine food, The weeds they’ve sown harvested and baked into famine bread, With second helpings for their children and crusts for their babies to chew on. 15 And me? I plan on looking you full in the face. When I get up, I’ll see your full stature and live heaven on earth.” (Message)
I have inserted this portion of the psalm from the “Message” in order to get a flavor of what David was saying about these men. We see a contrast between men of God and men of the world in this section.
Spiritual meaning for my life today: The thing that spoke to me from this psalm was the way that David had spoken to the Lord with confidence that He knew that he was blameless before the Lord, not sinless, but blameless. I desire to be blameless before the Lord too.
My Steps of Faith for Today:
1. To be blameless before the Lord. To listen to the still small voice of the Holy Spirit guiding me into the paths or righteousness.
2. To continue to learn contentment.
1/4/2012 11:14:55 AM
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