1 A Prayer of David. Hear, O Jehovah, righteousness, attend my cry, Give ear `to' my prayer, without lips of deceit.
Attend Thou unto my loud cry, For I have become very low, Deliver Thou me from my pursuers, For they have been stronger than I.
To the Overseer, on stringed instruments. -- By David. Hear, O God, my loud cry, attend to my prayer.
An Instruction of David, a Prayer when he is in the cave. My voice `is' unto Jehovah, I cry, My voice `is' unto Jehovah, I entreat grace.
Beloved, if our heart may not condemn us, we have boldness toward God,
This people doth draw nigh to Me with their mouth, and with the lips it doth honour Me, but their heart is far off from Me;
`Incline, O my God, Thine ear, and hear, open Thine eyes and see our desolations, and the city on which Thy name is called; for not for our righteous acts are we causing our supplications to fall before Thee, but for Thy mercies that `are' many. O lord, hear, O Lord, forgive; O Lord, attend and do; do not delay, for Thine own sake, O my God, for Thy name is called on Thy city, and on Thy people.'
And the Lord saith: Because drawn near hath this people, with its mouth, And with its lips they have honoured Me, And its heart it hath put far off from Me, And their fear of Me is -- A precept of men is taught!
Near `is' Jehovah to all those calling Him, To all who call Him in truth.
I have known that Jehovah doth execute The judgment of the afflicted, The judgment 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 a nation not pious, From a man of deceit and perverseness Thou dost deliver me,
At the hearing of the ear they hearken to me, Sons of a stranger feign obedience to me,
Jehovah doth judge the peoples; Judge me, O Jehovah, According to my righteousness, And according to mine integrity on me,
Be attentive to the voice of my cry, My king and my God, For unto Thee I pray habitually.
let Thine ear be, I pray Thee, attentive, and Thine eyes open, to hearken unto the prayer of Thy servant, that I am praying before Thee to-day, by day and by night, concerning the sons of Israel Thy servants, and confessing concerning the sins of the sons of Israel, that we have sinned against Thee; yea, I and the house of my father 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,