Psalm 17
Theme
A Prayer for Vindication and Protection
Outline
1-7, Hear and Answer 8-12, Keep and Protect Me 13-15, Rise Up and Deliver Me
Key Verse
(17:8-9) Keep me as the apple of Your eye; hide me under the shadow of Your wings, from the wicked who oppress me, from my deadly enemies who surround me. (17:1) Hear a just cause, O LORD, attend to my cry; give ear to my prayer which is not from deceitful lips.
Notes
Contain themes of betrayal, suffering, and vindication which foreshadow Christ. In Ps 17:1–7 David cries out to the Lord, pleading with the Lord to hear his just complaint (17:1–2), insisting that he has been blameless (17:3–5), and expressing confidence that God will hear and save (17:6–7). In 17:8–12 David calls on the Lord to protect him from his enemy, describing his vulnerability against the violent (17:8–9), the merciless prowling of the wicked (17:10–11), and likening the wicked to a lion (17:12). In 17:13–15 David beseeches the Lord to rise up and deliver him, making the request (17:13), and then contrasting the way the wicked live for this world with the way that he hopes to be vindicated at the resurrection (17:14–15).