Psalms 17:2-12

2 Let the verdict of my innocence come directly from you. Let your eyes observe what is fair.

3 You have probed my heart. You have confronted me at night. You have tested me like silver, but you found nothing wrong. I have determined that my mouth will not sin.

4 I have avoided cruelty because of your word. In spite of what others have done,

5 my steps have remained firmly in your paths. My feet have not slipped.

6 I have called on you because you answer me, O God. Turn your ear toward me. Hear what I have to say.

7 Reveal your miraculous deeds of mercy, O Savior of those who find refuge by your side from those who attack them.

8 Guard me as if I were the pupil in your eye. Hide me in the shadow of your wings.

9 Hide me from wicked people who violently attack me, from my deadly enemies who surround me.

10 They have shut out all feeling. Their mouths have spoken arrogantly.

11 They have tracked me down. They have surrounded me. They have focused their attention on throwing me to the ground.

12 Each one of them is like a lion eager to tear [its prey] apart and like a young lion crouching in hiding places.

Psalms 17:2-12 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 17

\\<>\\. This prayer was put up by David either in his own person, on his own account, praying to God for the vindication of his cause, and for salvation and deliverance from his enemies; or in the person of the Messiah, whose type he was, and of the whole church, so Jerom of old interpreted it; and the title of it in the Arabic version is, ``a prayer in the person of a perfect man, and of Christ himself, and of everyone that is redeemed by him;'' in which preservation and protection are prayed for, and hope of eternal life is expressed. It was written, according to Theodoret, when David suffered persecution from Saul.