1 {A Prayer of David.} Hear the right, O Jehovah, attend unto my cry; give ear unto my prayer, which is not out of feigned lips.
Attend unto my cry, for I am brought very low; deliver me from my persecutors, for they are stronger than I.
{To the chief Musician. On a stringed instrument. [A Psalm] of David.} Hear, O God, my cry; attend unto my prayer.
{An instruction of David; when he was in the cave: a prayer.} I cry unto Jehovah with my voice: with my voice unto Jehovah do I make supplication.
Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, we have boldness towards God,
This people honour me with the lips, but their heart is far away from me;
Incline thine ear, O my God, and hear; open thine eyes and behold our desolations, and the city that is called by thy name: for we do not present our supplications before thee because of our righteousnesses, but because of thy manifold mercies. Lord, hear! Lord, forgive! Lord, hearken and do! defer not, for thine own sake, O my God! for thy city and thy people are called by thy name.
And the Lord saith, Forasmuch as this people draw near with their mouth, and honour me with their lips, but their heart is removed far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment taught of men;
Jehovah is nigh unto all that call upon him, unto all that call upon him in truth.
I know that Jehovah will maintain the cause of the afflicted one, the right of the needy.
But God hath heard; he hath attended to the voice of my prayer.
Judge me, O God, and plead my cause against an ungodly nation; deliver me from the deceitful and unrighteous man.
At the hearing of the ear, they obey me: strangers come cringing unto me.
Jehovah shall minister judgment to the peoples. Judge me, Jehovah, according to my righteousness, and according to mine integrity which is in me.
Hearken unto the voice of my crying, my king and my God; for to thee will I pray.
Let thine ear now be attentive, and thine eyes open, to hear the prayer of thy servant, which I pray before thee at this time, day and night, for the children of Israel thy servants, confessing the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against thee: both I and my father's house have sinned.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Psalms 17
Commentary on Psalms 17 Matthew Henry Commentary
Psalm 17
David being in great distress and danger by the malice of his enemies, does, in this psalm, by prayer address himself to God, his tried refuge, and seeks shelter in him.
Some make him, in this, a type of Christ, who was perfectly innocent, and yet was hated and persecuted, but, like David, committed himself and his cause to him that judgeth righteously.
A prayer of David.
Psa 17:1-7
This psalm is a prayer. As there is a time to weep and a time to rejoice, so there is a time for praise and a time for prayer. David was now persecuted, probably by Saul, who hunted him like a partridge on the mountains; without were fightings, within were fears, and both urged him as a suppliant to the throne of mercy. He addresses himself to God in these verses both by way of appeal (Hear the right, O Lord! let my righteous cause have a hearing before thy tribunal, and give judgment upon it) and by way of petition (Give ear unto my prayer v. 1, and again v. 6, Incline thy ear unto me and hear my speech); not that God needs to be thus pressed with our importunity, but he gives us leave thus to express our earnest desire of his gracious answers to our prayers. These things he pleads with God for audience,
Psa 17:8-15
We may observe, in these verses,