1 A prayer of David. Hear, O Jehovah, righteousness; attend unto my cry; give ear unto my prayer [which is] not from lips of deceit.
2 My judgment goeth forth from thy presence; thine eyes behold that which is right.
3 Thou hast proved my heart, thou hast visited [me] by night; thou hast refined me; thou shalt find nothing; I have purposed, my mouth shall not transgress.
4 As to the works of man, by the words of thy lips I have watched the paths of the violent,
5 To hold fast my feet in thy paths; my footsteps were not moved.
6 I have called upon thee, for thou answerest me, O God; incline thine ear unto me, hear my speech.
7 Distinguish thy mercies, [O thou] who by thy right hand savest those who trust from those rising up against them.
8 Keep me as the apple of the eye; under the shadow of thy wings thou wilt hide me,
9 From the face of the wicked who have oppressed me: mine enemies in soul will surround me.
10 Their fat they have closed; [with] their mouth they have spoken in pride.
11 [In] our steps they have now surrounded us; their eyes they set to stretch out over the earth.
12 His likeness [is] as a lion; he longeth to tear in pieces, and as a young lion sitting in secret places.
13 Arise, O Jehovah, go before his face, cause him to bow down; deliver my soul from the wicked [man], thy sword:
14 From men, thy hand, O Jehovah, from men of the world: their portion is in this life and [with] thy treasure thou fillest their belly; they are satisfied with sons, and they leave their abundance to their children.
15 As for me, in righteousness I shall behold thy face; I shall be satisfied in awaking [with] thy likeness.
Notes on Psalm 17
Here consequently Christ takes His place with the godly in contrast with the wicked and oppressive. It is rather righteousness before God and from Him, than grace in dependence on Him, and being with Him. It is not so exclusively Christ as in Psalm 16.
It will be observed, that though right is appealed to, there is no vengeance any more than self-seeking, but reliance on Jehovah. As regards the saints; it answers to Romans 8:2-9,2For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. 3For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: 4That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. 5For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. 6For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. 7Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. 8So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. 9But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. (Romans 8:2‑9) as the preceding psalm to Romans 5:22By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. (Romans 5:2). The one is more inward, the other rather display; but both are entire trust in God. Hence deliverance is looked for here, not in Psalm 16.