Vindication and Deliverance
This Psalm can be broken up into 4 sections and I have given a word to describe a theme in each section. The words are “innocence” in v.1-5, “love” in v.6-8, “enemies” in v.9-12, and “deliverance” in v.13-15. I'll be going through each section and expounding on those words and themes.
Lets pray before we dig in.
INNOCENCE
In verses 1-5, the word that sums up this section is “Innocence”. David’s innocence before God.
And we see when David exclaims right away “Hear a just cause, O LORD” But he doesn’t just stop there he pleads his innocence throughout this first section, in fact in every verse in this first section, v.1-5, he says something to defend his innocence.
After telling God to “Hear a just cause” he continues at the end of v.1 stating that his lips are “free of deceit.” In v.2 he tells God “let your eyes behold the right!” In v.3 he says that God has tried him and tested him and then tells him “you will find nothing.” In v.4 David states he has “avoided the ways of the violent.” In v.5 he says that he has “held fast to [Gods] paths” and that his “feet have not slipped.”
And so we look at David here and it’s easy to think to yourself “Why is David not humbling himself. Why does it feel like he is trying to exalt himself before God. How could he claim this type of innocence?”
This is a similar situation to Psalm 7. And there are couple observations that Pastor Jonathan made in Psalm 7 that are relevant here in Psalm 17. The first is that this appeal of David’s innocence is particular not universal. What is meant by that is that is that David in this Psalm is talking about a specific situation. We don’t have all the details before us but with what we do have we see that David is in a conflict with another person or people.
David here is not claiming to be sinless but he is claiming to be innocent in this particular situation.
And the second point that we saw from Psalm 7 is that there is a difference between self-righteousness and personal integrity. Someone once said that there is a difference between Legalism and Discipline and how one of the crucial differences is in motivation. And this can be applied to the similar categories of Self-Righteousness and Personal Integrity as well.
Self-righteousness is self-centered in its motivation. It tries to earn salvation by performance, it tries to be acceptable to God by how we live. But personal integrity is God-centered in its motivation, it trusts in the finished work of Christ and yet still wants to please God like a son would want to please his loving father.
Self Righteousness tells lies about God. While personal integrity tells the truth about who God is.
Self-righteousness tries to make a name for oneself to receive the glory while personal integrity wants to make much of who God is so that he gets all the glory.
And so a crucial aspect in this is the idea of self-reflection and examining yourself. In 1 Corinthians 11 and 13 Paul talks about examining ourselves and testing ourselves. Jesus told his disciples that we are to judge ourselves and others based on the fruit of our lives. This idea of self-examination and self-reflection is crucial to the Christian life. But in all of these passages including Psalm 17 there is something we can’t miss. And that is that when we examine ourselves we are to use God’s standard found in his word to reveal the truth about ourselves.
Self-reflection by our standards will lead us astray. James talking about the “testing of our faith” warns us not to be unstable in our ways and be like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. And that's what our standards without God’s Word are. Unstable. A pastor once said that trying to build a foundation on the shifting emotions of sinful humanity is like trying to play Jenga with a rambunctious toddler on a waterbed.It’s not going to work out too well.
So when we look at Psalm 17 and we ask by what standard can David claim he is innocent, by what standard is David pursuing personal integrity? We see in v.4 and 5 that David says “by the word of your lips I have avoided the ways of the violent. My steps have held fast to your paths.” Not from the word of David’s lips, not by the way of David’s paths. But by the word of God’s lips by the way of God’s paths.
And that is why David can say in verse 2 that it is from God’s presence that vindication will come. David can’t vindicate himself, only God can do that and that is why even though David is confident in his innocence, he is still trusting in God and the Vindication that God brings.
Which leads us to the next section...
LOVE
v.6 he says “I call upon you, for you will answer me. O God”And God does answer. God has shown his faithfulness to his people by answering in the past and he will continue to show his faithfulness by answering in the future. It might not always be what we expect, it might not be in our timing but God will answer. God will answer, and we know this because he has already answered. David says in v.7 “wondrously show your steadfast love, O Savior of those who seek refuge from their adversaries at your right hand” And these words take us back to the exodus where God did show his love in a wondrous way when he protected and saved his people from Pharaoh and their bondage to Egypt. And specifically the words “wonders”, “right hand”, and “steadfast love” can be seen specifically in Exodus 15:11-13.
11 “Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders? 12 You stretched out your right hand; the earth swallowed them. 13 “You have led in your steadfast love the people whom you have redeemed; you have guided them by your strength to your holy abode.
God’s love is an acting love that shows itself in ways that can be seen by others so that we can worship him and go to him as our refuge, as the place where we are protected.
David continues in v.8 saying “Keep me as the apple of your eye: hide me in the shadow of your wings”
Being the apple of God’s eye is imagery means that God sees, he is not distant and oblivious, like so many people’s concepts of God but he is a God who sees and knows what's going on, and his attention is on us and he cares for us.
And being hidden in the shadow of his wings means that he gives us rest, he protects us, it is a place of safety. But realize God’s thoughts are higher than our thoughts and his ways are higher than our ways so when we go through certain circumstances and situations we might start believing that God doesn’t really see us or worse that he sees us but doesn’t really care for us.
But remember Israel’s exodus. How many times did it seem like there was a glimmer of hope but then some unexpected happened and things looked hopeless. There's so many examples but one is when they left Egypt and Pharaoh and his army decided to chase after the people of Israel and when the people of Israel got to the Red Sea. And things looked hopeless. People were wondering “why would God get us this far for this?”
But God provided a way and wondrously showed his love and parted the sea. Israel would not have initially chosen that journey with all the details and circumstances and close calls.
Through the midst of it all there were plenty of times where it seemed that God was not protecting them, that he didn’t have them as the apple of his eye or under the shadow of His wings. But he did. God always has a greater purpose that he is bringing about in our circumstance than what we can see. His ways are higher than our ways.
Corrie ten Boom once said “God never has problems. Only plans.”
God wondrously shows his love toward us even when we're in the midst of enemies.
ENEMIES
Which is our next section V.9-12 where we see David’s enemies. We don't know who exactly David’s enemies are here but the main point in this Psalm isn't who they are, but what they’re like. He uncovered a little bit in the first 5 verses by way of comparison to himself but here in v.9-12 we see why David was praying and the danger he is in. We see they're is a threat of violence, David’s life looks to be in danger, he is somehow surrounded by his enemies, so they’re is a level of urgency and desperation that David is feeling while he is praying. in v.10 he says of his enemies “They close their hearts to pity; with their mouths they speak arrogantly.” In v.11 you see this progression that their just getting closer and closer and then in v.12 David describes his enemy saying “He is like a lion eager to tear, as a young lion lurking in ambush.”
For us, we see a similar description for the enemy of our souls. In 1st Peter chapter 5 it says “8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9 Resist him, firm in your faith”
In Ephesian 5 “we do not wrestle against flesh and blood.” And so we have an enemy that doesn’t want us to live our God given purpose, we have an enemy that hates us and is trying to to cause us to not seek after God and a lot of times he uses circumstances or even people to get us off track.
It’s important to know that a lot of times spiritual attacks usually come in situations and interactions with those who are closest to us. If you are having conflict with your spouse, or difficulty with a friend, family member, or co-worker you have to remember they are not the enemy. You have a very real enemy that is trying to pit you against others. And this applies to all sorts of relationships.
Our enemy tries to deceive and destroy relationships through seeds of bitterness and mistrust and the ultimate relationship he tries to destroy is our relationship with God.
Another place where we see a similar description is in Genesis 4:7 with how God personifies sin. He describes it saying “sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.”
And so we see that sin is described as this evil within us that we must overcome or else it will overcome us and devour us.
The author of Hebrews in chapter 12 tries to encourage his readers by describing this battle saying “In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.”
We struggle, we resist, we fight. But like David from his physical enemies, our deliverance from sin and from evil spiritual forces is not ultimately on us. Which leads us to the last section of Psalm 17
DELIVERANCE
In verses 13-15, shows God’s Deliverance and how David is vindicated. We see David exclaiming to God, right when the enemy is about to attack, David says “Arise O LORD, subdue him! Deliver my soul from the wicked by your sword, from men by your hand, O Lord” David needs deliverance. He is crying out to the LORD knowing that he is the only one that can deliver him in this time of need. God is more powerful than anything and so he is the one who can be victorious. David is not putting his trust on anything else but laying himself on to the mercies of God, he needs God to fight for him.
This is the type of prayer right now that you might have prayed in a desperate time. This is one of those, God you need to do something, if you don’t act I will not survive, where you plead for God’s help.
When David mentions God’s sword and God’s hand it is an image of divine judgement.
But what we see is that these men have had a certain amount of prosperity.
Psalm 17:14 “from men of the world whose portion is in this life. You fill their womb with treasure; they are satisfied with children, and they leave their abundance to their infants.
As Jesus said in Matthew 5 God makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.
These enemies have been prospering by God’s hand, they are satisfied in who they are and what they have. And yet they are ungrateful for God’s blessings, like in Romans 1 they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, they became futile in their thinking and their hearts were darkened.
Paul speaking of this type of person in Romans 16:18 says “Such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites.” In Philippians 3:19 Paul says about this type of person, that their god is their belly, that they glory in their shame, with their minds set on earthly things and that their end is destruction.
Things that should have been a blessing are turned into a source of condemnation and judgement.
David’s enemies have received their portion in this life.
But in the spirit of Psalm 73 God is David’s portion. And not just in this life but forever.
David in v.15 after telling of the abundance that his enemies had and David tells the LORD “As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness; when I awake, I shall be satisfied with your likeness.”
*David sees his enemies and their satisfaction in what they have and who they are but David tells the LORD “As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness; when I awake, I shall be satisfied with your likeness.”
David in the beginning of the Psalm in v.2 asks God for the vindication that comes from his presence. For David’s enemies, God’s presence brought vengeance. But for David, God’s presence brought vindication.
And David knew that there will be a day that he will behold the face of God. That he will be satisfied in his presence.
Connecting Psalm 17 to Jesus
Jesus once said “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.”
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”
The face of Jesus Christ is the light of the knowledge of the glory of God. Jesus is the image of the invisible God, the radiance of the glory of God, the exact imprint of God’s nature.
In Psalm 17 David was innocent but Jesus was perfectly innocent to the core through his entire being, with no sin ever in his entire life.
In Psalm 17 David asked for God to wondrously show his steadfast love, but in Jesus, God ultimately showed his wondrous love by going to the cross and taking it upon himself to be the great Savior for humanity.
In Psalm 17 David had enemies. But because of our sin and rebellion we were actually enemies of God. And yet Jesus took our sin and took our consequences for being God’s enemies so that we would be reconciled to God.
In Psalm 17 David experienced the deliverance of God. But Jesus, on the cross refused to deliver himself, so that we might be delivered.
And yet he did deliver himself. After eternal justice was satisfied through his sacrifice, he took up his life again showing that he had power even over death.
So that we would have a great hope in life and in death,
That even in difficult times we can say,
“As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness; when I awake, I shall be satisfied with your likeness.”