Psalm 17 – Psalms for Troubled Times, Episode 8

Hi! Welcome to Psalms for Troubled Times, Episode 8. Today, I’m going to look at Psalms 17. If you don’t know me, my name is Annette Bell; I’m the host of Overcoming the Tribulation, which is mostly focused on preparing our hearts for the return of Christ. If you haven’t already subscribed, I invite you to hit the subscribe button, and then click the notification bell if you want notifications when I post a video. Thank you.

Okay, so I’m going to read Psalm 17. I’m reading out of NIV84.

Psalms 17: A prayer of David. Hear, O LORD, my righteous plea; listen to my cry. Give ear to my prayer–it does not rise from deceitful lips. May my vindication come from You. May Your eyes see what is right. Though you probe my heart and examine me at night, though You test me, You will find nothing; I have resolved that my mouth will not sin. As for the deeds of men, by the word of Your lips, I’ve kept myself from the ways of the violent. My steps have held to Your paths; my feet have not slipped. I call on You, Oh God, for You will answer me; give ear to me and hear my prayer. Show the wonder of Your great love, You who save by Your right hand those who take refuge in You from their foes. Keep me as the apple of Your eye; hide me in the shadow of Your wings from the wicked who assail me, from my mortal enemies who surround me. They close up their calloused hearts, and their mouths speak with arrogance. They have tracked me down, they now surround me, with eyes alert, to throw me to the ground. They are like a lion hungry for prey, like a great lion crouching in cover. Rise up, O LORD, confront them, bring them down; rescue me from the wicked by Your sword. O LORD, by Your hand save me from such men, from men of this world whose reward is in this life. You still the hunger of those You cherish; their sons have plenty, and they store up their wealth for their children. And I–in righteousness I will see Your face; when I awake, I will be satisfied with seeing Your likeness.

There are five phrases in this prayer that stuck out to me that I wanted to look at in more detail.

The first is: “Hear my righteous plea.” The first few verses of this Psalm, David is talking about how he’s very careful to walk in the ways of the LORD, and he wants the LORD to hear him. It reminded me of the righteous man Lot. It says in 2 Peter 2:7-9: And if He rescued Lot, a righteous man who was distressed by the filthy lives of lawless men–for that righteous man living among them day after day was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard–if this is so, then the LORD knows how to rescue godly men from trials, and to hold the unrighteous for the day of judgment–while continuing their punishment.

The second is: “Hide me under the shadow of Your wings.” This gives an image of a hen with her chicks, who protects them in times of threat, and even fights for them. The LORD is a refuge for the oppressed.

David prays:  “Bring them down; rescue me from the wicked.” The LORD will rescue us from the wicked, but it might not be in the timing that we want. There’s a parable in Luke 18, the parable of the unjust judge and the persistent widow. And God is kind of comparing Himself to the unjust judge in that it takes longer for the widow to get justice than she wants. But He’s saying He’s so much better at providing justice, and He does care. It’s verse 7 and 8. “And will not God bring about justice for His chosen ones, who cry out to Him day and night? Will He keep putting them off? I tell you, He will see that they get justice–and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?” His question implies that many people will be offended and will stop following Him because He doesn’t do things in the timing that they want. And I pray that God would help us to be patient with the justice of God to be seen to us in the ways that we desire. Amen.

The next one is about hunger: “You still the hunger of those You cherish.” The way the world is a little unstable right now, some people are getting concerned about, how are we going to pay for things, how are we going to eat? And the LORD wants us to trust Him for that, too. It says in Matthew 6:31-33: “So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or, ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your Heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”

David’s psalms often end with encouraging faith-filled words, and this psalm is no exception. I love these words. “And I–in righteousness, I will see Your face.” It reminded me of Job. Job was going through a really difficult time with his health and all the things that he had lost, and he said this (Job 19:25-27): “I know that my Redeemer lives, and in the end He will stand upon the earth. After my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God. I myself will see Him with my own eyes–I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!” The righteousness that enables him, the Redeemer that he is talking about, is the Lord Jesus Christ. And the righteousness that he is speaking of, that David speaks of specifically in this verse, “In righteousness I will see you”–that is the righteousness that comes by faith in the Son of God. It is not a righteousness by anything that we do. I just did a video recently that’s called “Why Did Jesus Have to Die?” And I went in detail as to some of the passages that describe how we are utterly incapable of being reconciled to God because of anything in us–like, any of our works. We have no righteousness. But God has righteousness, and He can impute it to us through the blood of Jesus Christ. It’s exciting that He does that, that He offers it to us.

I hope something in this video encouraged you. If you liked it, please hit the like button, and I welcome your comments and shares with others on social media.

God bless you. Have a great day.