Worthy.Bible » STRONG » Psalms » Chapter 17 » Verse 14

Psalms 17:14 King James Version with Strong's Concordance (STRONG)

14 From men H4962 which are thy hand, H3027 O LORD, H3068 from men H4962 of the world, H2465 which have their portion H2506 in this life, H2416 and whose belly H990 thou fillest H4390 with thy hid H6840 treasure: they are full H7646 of children, H1121 and leave H3240 the rest H3499 of their substance to their babes. H5768

Cross Reference

Luke 12:19-21 STRONG

And G2532 I will say G2046 to my G3450 soul, G5590 Soul, G5590 thou hast G2192 much G4183 goods G18 laid up G2749 for G1519 many G4183 years; G2094 take thine ease, G373 eat, G5315 drink, G4095 and be merry. G2165 But G1161 God G2316 said G2036 unto him, G846 Thou fool, G878 this G5026 night G3571 thy G4675 soul G5590 shall be required G523 of G575 thee: G4675 then G1161 whose G5101 shall those things be, G2071 which G3739 thou hast provided? G2090 So G3779 is he that layeth up treasure G2343 for himself, G1438 and G2532 is G4147 not G3361 rich G4147 toward G1519 God. G2316

Psalms 49:17-19 STRONG

For when he dieth H4194 he shall carry nothing away: H3947 his glory H3519 shall not descend H3381 after H310 him. Though while he lived H2416 he blessed H1288 his soul: H5315 and men will praise H3034 thee, when thou doest well H3190 to thyself. He shall go H935 to the generation H1755 of his fathers; H1 they shall never H3808 H5331 see H7200 light. H216

Job 27:14-17 STRONG

If his children H1121 be multiplied, H7235 it is for H3926 the sword: H2719 and his offspring H6631 shall not be satisfied H7646 with bread. H3899 Those that remain H8300 of him shall be buried H6912 in death: H4194 and his widows H490 shall not weep. H1058 Though he heap up H6651 silver H3701 as the dust, H6083 and prepare H3559 raiment H4403 as the clay; H2563 He may prepare H3559 it, but the just H6662 shall put it on, H3847 and the innocent H5355 shall divide H2505 the silver. H3701

1 John 4:4-5 STRONG

Ye G5210 are G2075 of G1537 God, G2316 little children, G5040 and G2532 have overcome G3528 them: G846 because G3754 greater G3187 is he that is G2076 in G1722 you, G5213 than G2228 he that is in G1722 the world. G2889 They G846 are G1526 of G1537 the world: G2889 therefore G1223 G5124 speak they G2980 of G1537 the world, G2889 and G2532 the world G2889 heareth G191 them. G846

Luke 16:27-28 STRONG

Then G1161 he said, G2036 I pray G2065 thee G4571 therefore, G3767 father, G3962 that G2443 thou wouldest send G3992 him G846 to G1519 my G3450 father's G3962 house: G3624 For G1063 I have G2192 five G4002 brethren; G80 that G3704 he may testify G1263 unto them, G846 lest G3363 they G846 also G2532 come G2064 into G1519 this G5126 place G5117 of torment. G931

Psalms 73:3-7 STRONG

For I was envious H7065 at the foolish, H1984 when I saw H7200 the prosperity H7965 of the wicked. H7563 For there are no bands H2784 in their death: H4194 but their strength H193 is firm. H1277 They are not in trouble H5999 as other men; H582 neither are they plagued H5060 like H5973 other men. H120 Therefore pride H1346 compasseth them about as a chain; H6059 violence H2555 covereth H5848 them as a garment. H7897 Their eyes H5869 stand out H3318 with fatness: H2459 they have more H5674 than heart H3824 could wish. H4906

Job 21:7-15 STRONG

Wherefore do the wicked H7563 live, H2421 become old, H6275 yea, are mighty H1396 in power? H2428 Their seed H2233 is established H3559 in their sight H6440 with them, and their offspring H6631 before their eyes. H5869 Their houses H1004 are safe H7965 from fear, H6343 neither is the rod H7626 of God H433 upon them. Their bull H7794 gendereth, H5674 and faileth H1602 not; their cow H6510 calveth, H6403 and casteth not her calf. H7921 They send forth H7971 their little ones H5759 like a flock, H6629 and their children H3206 dance. H7540 They take H5375 the timbrel H8596 and harp, H3658 and rejoice H8055 at the sound H6963 of the organ. H5748 They spend H3615 H1086 their days H3117 in wealth, H2896 and in a moment H7281 go down H2865 H5181 to the grave. H7585 Therefore they say H559 unto God, H410 Depart H5493 from us; for we desire H2654 not the knowledge H1847 of thy ways. H1870 What is the Almighty, H7706 that we should serve H5647 him? and what profit H3276 should we have, if we pray H6293 unto him?

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.

  • I. He appeals to God concerning his integrity (v. 1-4).
  • II. He prays to God still to be upheld in his integrity and preserved from the malice of his enemies (v. 5-8, 13).
  • III. He gives a character of his enemies, using that as a plea with God for his preservation (v. 9-12, 14).
  • IV. He comforts himself with the hopes of his future happiness (v. 15).

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,

  • 1. That he was sincere, and did not dissemble with God in his prayer: It goeth not out of feigned lips. He meant as he spoke, and the feelings of his mind agreed with the expressions of his mouth. Feigned prayers are fruitless; but, if our hearts lead our prayers, God will meet them with his favour.
  • 2. That he had been used to pray at other times, and it was not his distress and danger that now first brought him to his duty: "I have called upon thee formerly (v. 6); therefore, Lord, hear me now.' It will be a great comfort to us if trouble, when it comes, find the wheels of prayer a-going, for then we may come with the more boldness to the throne of grace. Tradesmen are willing to oblige those that have been long their customers.
  • 3. That he was encouraged by his faith to expect God would take notice of his prayers: "I know thou wilt hear me, and therefore, O God, incline thy ear to me.' Our believing dependence upon God is a good plea to enforce our desires towards him. Let us now see,
    • I. What his appeal is; and here observe,
      • 1. What the court is to the cognizance and determination of which he makes his appeal; it is the court of heaven. "Lord, do thou hear the right, for Saul is so passionate, so prejudiced, that he will not hear it. Lord, let my sentence come forth from thy presence, v. 2. Men sentence me to be pursued and cut off as an evil-doer. Lord, I appeal from them to thee.' This he did in a public remonstrance before Saul's face (1 Sa. 24:12, The Lord judge between me and thee), and he repeats it here in his private devotions. Note,
        • (1.) The equity and extent of God's government and judgment are a very great support to injured innocency. If we are blackened, and abused, and misrepresented, by unrighteous men, it is a comfort that we have a righteous God to go to, who will take our part, who is the patron of the oppressed, whose judgment is according to truth, by the discoveries of which every person and every cause will appear in a true light, stripped of all false colours, and by the decisions of which all unrighteous dooms will be reversed, and to every man will be rendered according to his work.
        • (2.) Sincerity dreads no scrutiny, no, not that of God himself, according to the tenour of the covenant of grace: Let thy eyes behold the things that are equal. God's omniscience is as much the joy of the upright as it is the terror of hypocrites, and is particularly comfortable to those who are falsely accused and in any wise have wrong done them.
      • 2. What the evidence is by which he hopes to make good his appeal; it is the trial God had made of him (v. 3): Thou hast proved my heart. God's sentence is therefore right, because he always proceeds upon his knowledge, which is more certain and infallible than that which men attain to by the closest views and the strictest investigations.
        • (1.) He knew God had tried him,
          • [1.] By his own conscience, which is God's deputy in the soul. The spirit of a man is the candle of the Lord, with this God had searched him, and visited him in the night, when he communed with his own heart upon his bed. He had submitted to the search, and had seriously reviewed the actions of his life, to discover what was amiss, but could find nothing of that which his enemies charged him with.
          • [2.] By providence. God had tried him by the fair opportunity he had, once and again, to kill Saul; he had tried him by the malice of Saul, the treachery of his friends, and the many provocations that were given him; so that, if he had been the man he was represented to be, it would have appeared; but, upon all these trials, there was nothing found against him, no proof at all of the things whereof they accused him.
        • (2.) God tried his heart, and could witness to the integrity of that; but, for the further proof of his integrity, he himself takes notice of two things concerning which his conscience bore him record:-
          • [1.] That he had a fixed resolution against all sins of the tongue: "I have purposed and fully determined, in the strength of God's grace, that my mouth shall not transgress.' He does not say, "I hope that it will not,' or, "I wish that it may not,' but, "I have fully purposed that it shall not:' with this bridle he kept his mouth, Ps. 39:1. Note, Constant resolution and watchfulness against sins of the tongue will be a good evidence of our integrity. If any offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, Jam. 3:2. He does not say, "My mouth never shall transgress' (for in many things we all offend), but, "I have purposed that it shall not;' and he that searches the heart knows whether the purpose be sincere.
          • [2.] That he had been as careful to refrain from sinful actions as from sinful words (v. 4): "Concerning the common works of men, the actions and affairs of human life, I have, by the direction of thy word, kept myself from the paths of the destroyer.' Some understand it particularly, that he had not been himself a destroyer of Saul, when it lay in his power, nor had he permitted others to be so, but said to Abishai, Destroy him not, 1 Sa. 26:9. But it may be taken more generally; he kept himself from all evil works, and endeavoured, according to the duty of his place, to keep others from them too. Note,
            • First, The ways of sin are paths of the destroyer, of the devil, whose name is Abaddon and Apollyon, a destroyer, who ruins souls by decoying them into the paths of sin.
            • Secondly, It concerns us all to keep out of the paths of the destroyer; for, if we walk in those ways that lead to destruction, we must thank ourselves if destruction and misery be our portion at last.
            • Thirdly, It is by the word of God, as our guide and rule, that we must keep out of the paths of the destroyer, by observing its directions and admonitions, Ps. 119:9.
            • Fourthly, If we carefully avoid all the paths of sin, it will be very comfortable in the reflection, when we are in trouble. If we keep ourselves, that the wicked one touch us not with his temptations (1 Jn. 5:18), we may hope he will not be able to touch us with his terrors.
    • II. What his petition is; it is, in short, this, That he might experience the good work of God in him, as an evidence of and qualification for the good will of God towards him: this is grace and peace from God the Father.
      • 1. He prays for the work of God's grace in him (v. 5): "Hold up my going in thy paths. Lord, I have, by thy grace, kept myself from the paths of the destroyer; by the same grace let me be kept in thy paths; let me not only be restrained from doing that which is evil, but quickened to abound always in that which is good. Let my goings be held in thy paths, that I may not turn back from them nor turn aside out of them; let them be held up in thy paths, that I may not stumble and fall into sin, that I may not trifle and neglect my duty. Lord, as thou hast kept me hitherto, so keep me still.' Those that are, through grace, going in God's paths, have need to pray, and do pray, that their goings may be held up in those paths; for we stand no longer than he is pleased to hold us, we go no further than he is pleased to lead us, bear us up, and carry us. David had been kept in the way of his duty hitherto, and yet he does not think that this would be his security for the future, and therefore prays, "Lord, still hold me up.' Those that would proceed and persevere in the way of God must, by faith and prayer, fetch in daily fresh supplies of grace and strength from him. David was sensible that his way was slippery, that he himself was weak, and not so well fixed and furnished as he should be, that there were those who watched for his halting and would improve the least slip against him, and therefore he prays, "Lord, hold me up, that my foot slip not, that I may never say nor do any thing that looks either dishonest or distrustful of thee and thy providence and promise.'
      • 2. He prays for the tokens of God's favour to him, v. 7. Observe here,
        • (1.) How he eyes God as the protector and Saviour of his people, so he calls him, and thence he takes his encouragement in prayer: O thou that savest by thy right hand (by thy own power, and needest not the agency of any other) those who put their trust in thee from those that rise up against them. It is the character of God's people that they trust in him; he is pleased to make them confidants, for his secret is with the righteous; and they make him their trust, for to him they commit themselves. Those that trust in God have many enemies, many that rise up against them and seek their ruin; but they have one friend that is able to deal with them all, and, if he be for them, no matter who is against them. He reckons it his honour to be their Saviour. His almighty power is engaged for them, and they have all found him ready to save them. The margin reads it, O thou that savest those who trust in thee from those that rise up against thy right hand. Those that are enemies to the saints are rebels against God and his right hand, and therefore, no doubt, he will, in due time, appear against them.
        • (2.) What he expects and desires from God: Show thy marvellous loving-kindness. The word signifies,
          • [1.] Distinguishing favours. "Set apart thy loving-kindnesses for me; put me not off with common mercies, but be gracious to me, as thou usest to do to those who love thy name.'
          • [2.] Wonderful favours. "O make thy loving-kindness admirable! Lord, testify thy favour to me in such a way that I and others may wonder at it.' God's loving-kindness is marvellous for the freeness and the fulness of it; in some instances it appears, in a special manner, marvellous (Ps. 118:23), and it will certainly appear so in the salvation of the saints, when Christ shall come to be glorified in the saints and to be admired in all those that believe.

Psa 17:8-15

We may observe, in these verses,

  • I. What David prays for. Being compassed about with enemies that sought his life, he prays to God to preserve him safely through all their attempts against him, to the crown to which he was anointed. This prayer is both a prediction of the preservation of Christ through all the hardships and difficulties of his humiliation, to the glories and joys of his exalted state, and a pattern to Christians to commit the keeping of their souls to God, trusting him to preserve them to his heavenly kingdom. He prays,
    • 1. That he himself might be protected (v. 8): "Keep me safe, hide me close, where I may not be found, where I may not be come at. Deliver my soul, not only my mortal life from death, but my immortal spirit from sin.' Those who put themselves under God's protection may in faith implore the benefit of it.
      • (1.) He prays that God would keep him,
        • [1.] With as much care as a man keeps the apple of his eye with, which nature has wonderfully fenced and teaches us to guard. If we keep God's law as the apple of our eye (Prov. 7:2), we may expect that God will so keep us; for it is said concerning his people that whoso touches them touches the apple of his eye, Zec. 2:8.
        • [2.] With as much tenderness as the hen gathers her young ones under her wings with; Christ uses the similitude, Mt. 23:37. "Hide me under the shadow of thy wings, where I may be both safe and warm.' Or, perhaps, it rather alludes to the wings of the cherubim shadowing the mercy-seat: "Let me be taken under the protection of that glorious grace which is peculiar to God's Israel.' What David here prays for was performed to the Son of David, our Lord Jesus, of whom it is said (Isa. 49:2) that God hid him in the shadow of his hand, hid him as a polished shaft in his quiver.
      • (2.) David further prays, "Lord, keep me from the wicked, from men of the world,'
        • [1.] "From being, and doing, like them, from walking in their counsel, and standing in their way, and eating of their dainties.'
        • [2.] "From being destroyed and run down by them. Let them not have their will against me; let them not triumph over me.'
    • 2. That all the designs of his enemies to bring his either into sin or into trouble might be defeated (v. 13): "Arise, O Lord! appear for me, disappoint him, and cast him down in his own eyes by the disappointment.' While Saul persecuted David, how often did he miss his prey, when he thought he had him sure! And how were Christ's enemies disappointed by his resurrection, who thought they had gained their point when they had put him to death!
  • II. What he pleads for the encouraging of his own faith in these petitions, and his hope of speeding. He pleads,
    • 1. The malice and wickedness of his enemies: "They are such as are not fit to be countenanced, such as, if I be not delivered from them by the special care of God himself, will be my ruin. Lord, see what wicked men those are that oppress me, and waste me, and run me down.'
      • (1.) "They are very spiteful and malicious; they are my deadly enemies, that thirst after my blood, my heart's blood-enemies against the soul,' so the word is. David's enemies did what they could to drive him to sin and drive him away from God; they bade him go serve other gods (1 Sa. 26:19), and therefore he had reason to pray against them. Note, Those are our worst enemies, and we ought so to account them, that are enemies to our souls.
      • (2.) "They are very secure and sensual, insolent and haughty (v. 10): They are enclosed in their own fat, wrap themselves, hug themselves, in their own honour, and power, and plenty, and then make light of God, and set his judgments at defiance, Ps. 73:7; Job 15:27. They wallow in pleasure, and promise themselves that to-morrow shall be as this day. And therefore with their mouth they speak proudly, glorying in themselves, blaspheming God, trampling upon his people, and insulting them.' See Rev. 13:5, 6. "Lord, are not such men as these fit to be mortified and humbled, and made to know themselves? Will it not be for thy glory to look upon these proud men and abase them?'
      • (3.) "They are restless and unwearied in their attempts against me: They compass me about, v. 9. They have now in a manner gained their point; they have surrounded us, they have compassed us in our steps, they track us wherever we go, follow us as close as the hound does the hare, and take all advantages against us, being both too many and too quick for us. And yet they pretend to look another way, and set their eyes bowing down to the earth, as if they were meditating, retired into themselves, and thinking of something else;' or (as some think), "They are watchful and intent upon it, to do us a mischief; they are down-looked, and never let slip any opportunity of compassing their design.'
      • (4.) "The ringleader of them (that was Saul) is in a special manner bloody and barbarous, politic and projecting (v. 12), like a lion that lives by prey and is therefore greedy of it.' It is as much the meat and drink of a wicked man to do mischief as it is of a good man to do good. He is like a young lion lurking in secret places, disguising his cruel designs. This is fitly applied to Saul, who sought David on the rocks of the wild goats (1 Sa. 24:2) and in the wilderness of Ziph (Ps. 26:2), where lions used to lurk for their prey.
    • 2. The power God had over them, to control and restrain them. He pleads,
      • (1.) "Lord, they are thy sword; and will any father suffer his sword to be drawn against his own children?' As this is a reason why we should patiently bear the injuries of men, that they are but the instruments of the trouble (it comes originally from God, to whose will we are bound to submit), so it is an encouragement to us to hope both that their wrath shall praise him and that the remainder thereof he will restrain, that they are God's sword, which he can manage as he pleases, which cannot move without him, and which he will sheathe when he has done his work with it.
      • (2.) "They are thy hand, by which thou dost chastise thy people and make them feel thy displeasure.' He therefore expects deliverance from God's hand because from God's hand the trouble came. Una eademque manus vulnus opemque tulit-The same hand wounds and heals. There is no flying from God's hand but by flying to it. It is very comfortable, when we are in fear of the power of man, to see it dependent upon and in subjection to the power of God; see Isa. 10:6, 7, 15.
    • 3. Their outward prosperity (v. 14): "Lord, appear against them, for,'
      • (1.) "They are entirely devoted to the world, and care not for thee and thy favour. They are men of the world, actuated by the spirit of the world, walking according to the course of this world, in love with the wealth and pleasure of this world, eager in the pursuits of it (making them their business) and at ease in the enjoyments of it-making them their bliss. They have their portion in this life; they look upon the good things of this world as the best things, and sufficient to make them happy, and they choose them accordingly, place their felicity in them, and aim at them as their chief good; they rest satisfied with them, their souls take their ease in them, and they look no further, nor are in any care to provide for another life. These things are their consolation (Lu. 6:24), their good things (Lu. 16:25), their reward (Mt. 6:5), the penny they agreed for, Mt. 20:13. Now, Lord, shall men of this character be supported and countenanced against those who honour thee by preferring thy favour before all the wealth in this world, and taking thee for their portion?' Ps. 16:5.
      • (2.) They have abundance of the world.
        • [1.] They have enlarged appetites, and a great deal wherewith to satisfy them: Their bellies thou fillest with thy hidden treasures. The things of this world are called treasures, because they are so accounted; otherwise, to a soul, and in comparison with eternal blessings, they are but trash. They are hidden in the several parts of the creation, and hidden in the sovereign disposals of Providence. They are God's hidden treasures, for the earth is his and the fulness thereof, though the men of the world think it is their own and forget God's property in it. Those that fare deliciously every day have their bellies filled with these hidden treasures; and they will but fill the belly (1 Co. 6:13); they will not fill the soul; they are not bread for that, nor can they satisfy, Isa. 55:2. They are husks, and ashes, and wind; and yet most men, having no care for their souls, but all for their bellies, take up with them.
        • [2.] They have numerous families, and a great deal to leave to them: They are full of children, and yet their pasture is not overstocked; they have enough for them all, and leave the rest of their substance to their babes, to their grand-children; and this is their heaven, it is their bliss, it is their all. "Lord,' said David, "deliver me from them; let me not have my portion with them. Deliver me from their designs against me; for, they having so much wealth and power, I am not able to deal with them unless the Lord be on my side.'
    • 4. He pleads his own dependence upon God as his portion and happiness. "They have their portion in this life, but as for me (v. 15) I am none of them, I have but little of the world. Nec habeo, nec careo, nec curo-I neither have, nor need, nor care for it. It is the vision and fruition of God that I place my happiness in; that is it I hope for, and comfort myself with the hopes of, and thereby distinguish myself from those who have their portion in this life.' Beholding God's face with satisfaction may be considered,
      • (1.) As our duty and comfort in this world. We must in righteousness (clothed with Christ's righteousness, having a good heart and a good life) by faith behold God's face and set him always before us, must entertain ourselves from day to day with the contemplation of the beauty of the Lord; and, when we awake every morning, we must be satisfied with his likeness set before us in his word, and with his likeness stamped upon us by his renewing grace. Our experience of God's favour to us, and our conformity to him, should yield us more satisfaction than those have whose belly is filled with the delights of sense.
      • (2.) As our recompence and happiness in the other world. With the prospect of that he concluded the foregoing psalm, and so this. That happiness is prepared and designed only for the righteous that are justified and sanctified. They shall be put in possession of it when they awake, when the soul awakes, at death, out of its slumber in the body, and when the body awakes, at the resurrection, out of its slumber in the grave. That blessedness will consist in three things:-
        • [1.] The immediate vision of God and his glory: I shall behold thy face, not, as in this world, through a glass darkly. The knowledge of God will there be perfected and the enlarged intellect filled with it.
        • [2.] The participation of his likeness. Our holiness will there be perfect. This results from the former (1 Jn. 3:2): When he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.
        • [3.] A complete and full satisfaction resulting from all this: I shall be satisfied, abundantly satisfied with it. There is no satisfaction for a soul but in God, and in his face and likeness, his good-will towards us and his good work in us; and even that satisfaction will not be perfect till we come to heaven.