An Appeal In Hope.

AN APPEAL IN HOPE.

Psalm 17:1-7, Psalm 17:15.

PSALM 17:1. How can a man, born dead in trespasses and sins, plead with the LORD to “hear the right?” Well, it is as Abraham said, ‘Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?’ (Genesis 18:25). When we use this Psalm, we are not appealing to our own self-righteousness, but to ‘the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ’ (cf. Romans 3:22-23).

“My cry” comes first, and then “my prayer.” The parent hears the cry of the child, and will respond to them, even before those cries have been articulated into a known language. The LORD knows the sorrows of His people, and hears their cry (cf. Exodus 3:7). The Lord hears and answers the prayers of His righteous people (cf. 1 Peter 3:12).

PSALM 17:2. The Psalmist makes his appeal to the highest court of all, and is bold to call upon God to vindicate him. This is faith indeed: ‘if I have done any wrong, then let me hear sentence from the mouth of God.’ We can be so bold, because we know that God holds the scales of justice, and that the blood and righteousness of our Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ, far outweighs all of our sins (cf. Romans 3:25).

PSALM 17:3. It is the LORD who searches the heart (cf. Jeremiah 17:10). We can make our plea with Peter, ‘Thou knowest all things, thou knowest that I love thee’ (John 21:17). If we have the love of God in our hearts, then the judge Himself will be our vindicator (cf. Job 23:10).

PSALM 17:4. The desire of the believer is that we should keep ourselves away from “the works of (carnal) men.” The grace of God within us enables us to accomplish this by applying “the word of His lips” (Scripture) to keep us from “the paths of the destroyer.”

PSALM 17:5. Having forsaken the paths of evil, we can call upon God to uphold us in His paths. The Lord keeps our feet from slipping, and shall at last ‘present us faultless before the presence of His glory’ (cf. Jude 1:24-25).

PSALM 17:6. Experience tells us that God will hear our prayers. It is this confidence which seals our appeal: “incline thine ear unto me, and hear my speech.” Persevering prayer produces results (cf. James 5:16).

PSALM 17:7. “Show” what I know you to have: “thy loving kindness.” It is an appeal for the LORD to show anew His covenant grace wherewith He first loved us. The LORD continually extends to us the right hand of refuge.

PSALM 17:15. “As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness.” This looks beyond the present crisis and need, through the availability of God’s righteousness, to the ultimate hope of the resurrection.

This is as bold as Job’s vision of his own resurrection - ‘though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God’ (cf. Job 19:26).

This anticipates John’s hope (and ours) - ‘it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is’ (cf. 1 John 3:2).

In the meantime, with Paul - ‘we all with open (unveiled) face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, as by the Spirit of the Lord’ (cf. 2 Corinthians 3:18).