Bible Commentary - Psalms 17

This psalm is quite simply a prayer.  In keeping with tradition, we should read the first verse first, and we will see that David is bringing some kind of request to God.

The conventional structure for prayers in the Psalms is to first state the nature of the problem, then to declare God’s faithfulness and salvation, and to close by offering thanksgiving in anticipation of God’s deliverance.  Some examples of this pattern are Psalm 3 and Psalm 10.  Though not every prayer follows this structure, it is common enough that I wanted to call it out.

Meanwhile, this psalm does not quite follow the conventional structure either, though it has some similarities.  In broad strokes, this psalm begins with David’s “standing” to pray.  Verses 3-5 describe the reasons why David thinks the LORD should answer his prayer, and it is because the LORD has “tested” David and David has held fast to do what is right and avoid “the paths of the violent”.  In effect David is saying that God should answer his prayer because he has maintained his righteousness.

David also says he does not have “deceitful lips” (v. 1).  Remember Psalm 12:2-4 that lament the flattering and deceitful words of the wicked?  Here David is tying that to prayer.  The same lips that speak deceitful words also speak prayers to God, and David is implying that God should not answer the prayers that come from those deceitful lips.  However, the prayers that come from truthful lips should be answered.

After justifying his standing to pray to God, David gives his problem statement in verses 8-12.  David’s core problem is that he is surrounded by deadly enemies, speaking proud words, determined to cast him down.

There are several statements of the prayer itself scattered throughout the psalm.  Verse 2 is a request for God’s judgment, verses 7-8 request for God to hide and protect David from his adversaries, and verse 13 requests God to arise and confront the “young lion” that is seeking to destroy David.  It’s three different prayers all in the same psalm, and largely directed towards the same “problem”, or adversity, that David is facing.

This psalm does not conclude with the usual doxology (declaration of praise).  Instead, it concludes by describing the “portion” of the wicked.  The “portion”, or destiny or inheritance or however you want to describe it, of the wicked is that they are satisfied to leave their wealth to their children.  This is the ordinary human dream.  Who doesn’t imagine having a pile of children and acquired wealth, eventually leaving said wealth to said children?  Well in contrast, verse 15 says that the “portion” of David is that he would behold the face of God “when I awake”.  It is not clear whether that means while David is still alive or when he “awakes” to a life after death.  Either way, the contrast with the “portion” of the wicked could not be stronger.

David is saying that the wicked dream of having a great life, family and money.  But David dreams of something even greater; David dreams of entering the presence of God and beholding God’s face.  Remember when Moses asked to see the glory of God in Exodus 33, and God exclaimed that “no man can see me and live” (Ex 33:20)?  David is saying that he can do the impossible: he can see the face of God and yet live.  That is how this psalm ends, and it’s well enough that it end here because this is a stunning claim.  Can we really behold the face of God while we live?  I don’t know either way, but the fact that it’s here in the Psalms seems to open up the possibility.

Either way, one thing is clear.  Verses 14-15 call us to dream bigger and seek more than perhaps we were seeking before.  We should not be content, like the wicked, to a good life.  We should seek more than children and an abundance of wealth to share with them.  We should not be men of this world, whose portion is the things of this world.  We should seek our portion in the presence of God; we should seek to behold the face of God, even while we live.

How do we seek the face of God?  This psalm gives us few answers.  Perhaps we simply focus on righteous living the way David described in verses 1-5.  More likely we have to read the bible broadly and seek God by following his commands and laws throughout the entire book.  We won’t find the answer in any one passage, any more than we could describe righteousness in any one phrase or sentence.  Righteousness is following the ways of God, and we do that by first understanding God’s ways and then secondly following them.  It defies summarization the same way that God himself defies summarization.

One thing is clear, however: it is a passion for God that empowers us to seek God and to find him in this way.  We find him because we seek him, and we seek him because of a desire deep inside.  It is a desire that refuses to give up in the midst of disappointment and discouragement.  We see this persistence in the prayers of David where he acknowledges the difficult circumstances that he faces, but he refuses to give up.  It is an iron will that is not motivated by material comforts, but only by a desire to see God.  If it were material comforts that he sought, it would be far too easy for David to give up and submit to death because material comfort simply isn’t worth the suffering that he endured during his struggles with Saul and the foreign kingdoms surrounding him.  Similarly, we will not find enough motivation to go through hardships if our dream is simply material comfort or the things of this world.  Life is too hard and filled with too much sorrow to find meaning in such things.