“Track 17: Help! (Psalm 17)" | 7/14/24
Psalm 17 | 7/14/24 | Will DuVal
But this will be MY last sermon in the Psalms for a while anyway (I hope to return to the Psalms, perhaps even again next summer; we’ll see). But for that reason I thought I’d begin this morning with just a brief recap of the last 11 weeks and 16 chapters we’ve looked at thus far.
Our series TITLE is “The Soundtrack of Faith”, because Psalms is the Bible’s songbook. And it is an eclectic album to be sure! As we’ve seen, the TONE of these psalms sometimes swings abruptly and dramatically from the fearful to the faithful, from the victorious to the vindictive, from the glad to the sad, as we turn from one chapter to the next. The psalms truly cover the whole RANGE of human emotion and experience. In the 11 tracks we’ve listened to so far, we’ve heard:
Psalm 1’s upbeat message of “blessed”-ness: “Blessed - HAPPY - is the man, who walks not in the counsel of the wicked… but whose delight is in the law of the Lord”.
We’ve heard Psalm 2’s messianic note of triumph: “the nations are [his] heritage… Serve the Lord with fear… Kiss the Son”.
We considered the instruction we find in Psalms 3 & 4 for dealing with the attacks of the enemy: ADMIT our distress, BESEECH the Lord, CONFIDENTLY trust in Him, and then DECLARE his praises.
And speaking of trusting in the Lord, Psalm 5 clarified what, specifically, God calls us to trust IN: his LISTENING, his LAW, his LEADING, his Law-ENFORCEMENT (or justice), and his LIFE-PRESERVING, of all who take refuge in Him.
But then the mood shifted suddenly in Psalm 6 to the SORROWFUL, with our first real psalm of LAMENT: “I am languishing… My soul is greatly troubled… How LONG, O Lord?” It’s a refrain repeated in Psalm 13: “How long… Will you forget me… How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I… have sorrow in my heart all the day?” And we recognized that the psalms invite us to be REAL and RAW in approaching the Lord with our honest fears and doubts, our hurts and even CRITICISMS.
Psalm 7 was a confident petition for God’s vindication: “The Lord judges the peoples… let the evil of the wicked come to an end, and may you establish the righteous”.
Psalm 8 was a cosmic shout of praise for God’s GLORY as revealed in his CREATION: “O Lord… how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens”.
Psalms 9 & 10 were an indignant call for JUSTICE: “Arise, O Lord! …let the nations be judged before you! …forget not the afflicted… But break the arm of the wicked”
Psalms 11-12 advised us how to live as God’s children in a fallen, wicked world: first- recognize we are outmatched (“On every side the wicked prowl… vileness is exalted among men”); but second- recognize that EVIL is no match for GOD (“the Lord… rains coals on the wicked… You, O Lord, will guard [the righteous]... forever.”); so third- we entrust ourselves to GOD (“In the Lord I take refuge”)
Psalms 14 & 15 contrasted the FOOL - who wants NO God, so he can indulge in his sin - with the RIGHTEOUS - who wants to KNOW God, and dwell in his holy presence. And we concluded - as we have with ALL these psalms - that the ONLY way sinners like you and me and King David, who are by NATURE “Psalm 14 FOOLS”, have any PRAYER of becoming Psalm 15 SAINTS - godly & blameless - is if we are GIVEN a righteousness that is not our OWN. We must trust in CHRIST and receive HIS righteousness which covers and pays for OUR sins.
Finally, last Sunday in Psalm 16 we discovered how to be HAPPY: by trusting God, Loving the Church, avoiding SIN, practicing GRATITUDE, taking INSTRUCTION, PURSUING the Lord, remembering our HOPE, and ABIDING in CHRIST.
Which brings us to chapter 17 for this morning. And if the psalms as a whole capture the entire spectrum of human emotion, Psalm 17 is sort of a microcosm of the book. Desperation, vindication, self-assuredness, God-reliance, righteous anger, peaceful contentment… King David experiences and expresses ALL of them and MORE in just 15 short verses here. But more than anything, Psalm 17 is a cry for help! That’s why I’ve titled it after the classic hit Beatles song; as I studied the psalm this week, I found myself again and again singing those famous lyrics:
“(Help) I need somebody
(Help) not just anybody
(Help) you know I need someone…
Help me if you can, I'm feeling down
And I do appreciate you being 'round
Help me get my feet back on the ground
Won't you please, please help me”
John and Paul must have been channeling King David and Psalm 17 here, as we’ll see.
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I invite you to STAND with me… Psalms 17:
“A Prayer of David.
17:1 Hear a just cause, O Lord; attend to my cry!
Give ear to my prayer from lips free of deceit!
2 From your presence let my vindication come!
Let your eyes behold the right!3 You have tried my heart, you have visited me by night,
you have tested me, and you will find nothing;
I have purposed that my mouth will not transgress.
4 With regard to the works of man, by the word of your lips
I have avoided the ways of the violent.
5 My steps have held fast to your paths;
my feet have not slipped.6 I call upon you, for you will answer me, O God;
incline your ear to me; hear my words.
7 Wondrously show your steadfast love,
O Savior of those who seek refuge
from their adversaries at your right hand.8 Keep me as the apple of your eye;
hide me in the shadow of your wings,
9 from the wicked who do me violence,
my deadly enemies who surround me.10 They close their hearts to pity;
with their mouths they speak arrogantly.
11 They have now surrounded our steps;
they set their eyes to cast us to the ground.
12 He is like a lion eager to tear,
as a young lion lurking in ambush.13 Arise, O Lord! Confront him, subdue him!
Deliver my soul from the wicked by your sword,
14 from men by your hand, O Lord,
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.15 As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness;
when I awake, I shall be satisfied with your likeness.”[This is the word of the Lord… Seated…]
This is the first psalm that is titled a “PRAYER”; a “prayer” of David. As we’ve seen, EVERY psalm is really a prayer, but only FIVE of them are explicitly labeled as such. And David’s prayer HERE, in Psalm 17, is a prayer for HELP! Just look at his language, how many IMPERATIVE verbs he uses here to call God to ACTION:
“Hear!”, “Attend”, “Give ear”, “Vindicate me”, “Behold me”, “Incline your ear”, “HEAR (again)”, “SHOW”, “KEEP me”, “HIDE me”, “ARISE!”, “CONFRONT!”, “SUBDUE!”, “DELIVER!” – 14 verbs of COMMAND; this is a BOLD prayer from King David; almost like he’s bossing God AROUND!But did you know God LOVES that kind of prayer? At least when we’re begging God… for GOD; not just God’s STUFF. David doesn’t demand: “God give me… STUFF”, “Show me… material BLESSINGS”, “Deliver me… some GIFTS”, as if God is Santa Claus.
No, he prays: “God, give me… YOUR EAR”; “Show me… YOUR LOVE”; “Deliver me… FROM EVIL”, unto YOU; “God: I’m begging for YOU!
And friends- God LOVES it when we ask for, even demand what he’s already PROMISED us, as His beloved children - his ear, his protection, his love. 1 John 5:14 declares: “this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to [God’s] will he hears us. And… we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.”
And here in Psalm 17, David asks for THREE things. He reassures himself, and us in the process, that God ANSWERS our prayers for HELP in 3 ways:
#1- God HEARS the HOLY. (1-6)
That is David’s driving petition in the opening 2 verses: asking God to HEAR him:
“Hear a just cause, O Lord; attend to my cry”; “Give ear to my prayer”, and God, PROVE that you’re actually listening by “VINDICATING me”!
Then in vv3-5, David explains why God SHOULD listen to him: because David is RIGHTEOUS:
“You’ve TRIED my heart, Lord… you’ve tested me… and you will find NOTHING” - no reason to IGNORE my pleas for help.
David says, “I’ve vowed not to TRANSGRESS, not to SIN”, “I have AVOIDED the ways of the WICKED”, RATHER, I live “by the word of YOUR lips,” God; “My steps have held fast to your paths; and my feet have not slipped.”
THAT is why David can have CONFIDENCE in v6 that WHEN he calls upon the Lord, “you WILL answer me”; you WILL “incline your ear to hear me”.
Because he knows that God HEARS the HOLY. That is a promise God makes clear all throughout His word:
Psalm 34:17 “When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them”
So too Proverbs 15:29 - “The Lord… hears the prayer of the righteous.”
And 1 Peter 3:12 - “the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer.”
However, we need to know that the CONVERSE is ALSO true, namely, that God does NOT listen to the prayers of the WICKED:
The REST of Proverbs 15:29 that I quoted above goes like THIS: “The Lord hears the prayer of the righteous… but he is far from the wicked”Likewise, 1 Peter 3:12B reads: “God’s ears are open to [the righteous]. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.””
Because as Isaiah 59:2 explains: “your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.”
Psalm 66:18 reveals: “If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened” to me.
Because John 9:31 - “We know that God does not listen to sinners”.
The apostle Peter offers us an interesting, specific, and perhaps CONVICTING reason for many unheard prayers in ch3 of his first letter when he exhorts “Husbands” to “HONOR your wives” “so that your prayers may not be hindered.” (3:7)
In OTHER words, men - if it feels like your prayers have just been hitting the CEILING lately, falling on deaf ears, the FIRST question to ask yourself is: “Have I been honoring my WIFE lately?” Cuz if NOT, then it’s no wonder your prayers have been “HINDERED”. And then from THERE, you can just broaden your self-examination out: is there ANY unconfessed, unrepentant sin in my life; and ladies: you can of course ask yourselves the same questions - “Do I honor my HUSBAND?” “Am I guilty of ANY hidden SIN that may be hindering my prayers?” Because we KNOW that God doesn’t listen to those who “cherish iniquity in their HEARTS”.
Now, I wanna press the APPLICATION of this biblical truth even FURTHER. Actually, here’s what we’ll do: I wanna walk you through all THREE of God’s offers of help here, and then towards the end I will show you how EACH applied to your life BEFORE Christ, how each applied to CHRIST’S life, and finally how each of these divine aids applies to your life NOW, if you are IN Christ. So we’ll move on to help #2 now, but you may wanna save some room under #1 cuz we’re coming back…
Divine Aid #2- God PROTECTS the PERSECUTED. (7-14a)
If vv1-6 emphasized God’s HEARING of those who are HOLY, then vv7-14 now emphasize God’s PROTECTION of those who are righteously persecuted.
And I clarify that we must “righteously” persecuted, because David draws a clear CONTRAST here between HIMSELF (the one requesting God’s protection), and “THE WICKED”. The ones he needs protection FROM: v9, “the wicked… my deadly enemies”; those who “close their hearts to pity; and with their mouths speak arrogantly.” David repeats his cry in v13 again: “Deliver my soul from the wicked”.
God does NOT promise protection UNIVERSALLY to EVERYONE, and CERTAINLY not to those who are THEMSELVES, WICKED. As we speak, there are EVIL men - terrorists - hiding, huddled in bunkers somewhere in Gaza, praying to Allah for PROTECTION from what THEY might deem to be “persecution”, but what YAHWEH, the TRUE God calls “JUSTICE”. Of course, there are also civilians sheltering alongside them who are ALSO praying no doubt for protection, but many of whom, whether they’ve ever fired a rocket or NOT, many of them HATE the Jews, and the GOD of the Jews, and if they were CHEERING on October 7th, then the same holds true for them too: what they are now facing is NOT persecution, but JUSTICE.
But we must also acknowledge that there surely ARE at least SOME on BOTH sides of the current war in Palestine - just to round out ONE possible real-world application of this truth - there are SOME who can rightly be considered “innocent” in this conflict, who therefore really ARE being “persecuted”, and TO whom, therefore, God’s offer of divine PROTECTION here in Psalm 17 is being EXTENDED.
But ONLY if they are SEEKING that protection in THE LORD. v7 tells us: He is the “Savior of those who seek REFUGE… at HIS [GOD’S] right hand”. THAT is who God’s protection is FOR. It’s for HIS OWN, those who belong to GOD. David prays “Wondrously SHOW” - or some of your Bibles may have the better, alternate rendering: “Distinguish me BY”; that’s a more literal translation of the Hebrew verb here, “palah”; it means to be separated or distinct from - “DISTINGUISH me”, God, by your “steadfast love”, or your “loving kindness”, your CHESED. Very important Hebrew word, found 247 times in the OT, over HALF of which are found - 127x - in the book of Psalms.
We’ve even got a young lady here in our KIDS ministry, by the name of CHESED - probably the coolest name; we thought WE were being biblical with “Elijah” and “David Boaz”, but the Fletchers definitely got us BEAT with Chesed.
Chesed really means COVENANTAL love, PROMISE love. It refers to the SPECIAL love that God has for his OWN, for children of the COVENANT. You ask, “But doesn’t God love ALL of us EQUALLY?”
And the clear answer biblically is: “No, no he doesn’t.”
God declares, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.” (Mal 1:3; Rom 9:13). Why?
Because Jacob was the son of the COVENANT. In the OT, God set his SPECIAL, covenantal love on his people ISRAEL. And TODAY, under the NEW covenant, God does the SAME for those who are in CHRIST. We are now God’s covenant children, if we have been ADOPTED into God’s family, by grace through faith in CHRIST.
So that is the SECOND qualifier David puts here on who is eligible for God’s protection here: you must be suffering RIGHTEOUSLY - 1 Peter 3:14 clarifies: “if you suffer for righteousness' sake, you will be blessed”; Jesus himself promised “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake” (Matt 5:10); God’s not offering protection here to folks who are simply suffering the CONSEQUENCES of having been JERKS to others - but if you are being persecuted for RIGHTEOUSNESS’ sake, AND if you belong to THE LORD, you’ve been “set apart” by his COVENANTAL love for you, in Christ… you seek your refuge in HIM… then God promises you PROTECTION this morning.
To “KEEP” you as “the APPLE of [his] eye.”
That’s another unfortunate translation that has of course gained a lot of traction over the years; even secular folks are familiar with this phrase “the apple of my eye”. The Hebrew word more literally means “PUPIL”. Which makes a lot more sense, since eyes don’t HAVE “apples” (try explaining THAT idiom to your 4-year old!). But it makes PERFECT sense if God “keeps” us - “protects” us - as if we were his PUPILS; the most SENSITIVE, IMPORTANT part of one of the most sensitive, important BODY parts - your EYE. I play a lot of beach volleyball; I am USED to getting HIT with the ball - HARD! - I play with guys who hit HARD! But you know the easiest way to ruin your day playing beach volleyball? Get just one tiny grain of SAND in your EYE. Game over! I have literally had to walk off the COURT before - quit playing - cuz I got a single grain of sand stuck in my contact lens that I couldn’t manage to get out. You better protect your eyes - ESPECIALLY your pupils. That is the kind of SPECIAL, delicate care with which GOD protects his CHILDREN.
He HIDES us “in the shadow of [His] wings”. That’s another beautiful, TENDER image, isn’t it? BOTH of these images hearken back to Deuteronomy 32, where Moses reminded Israel of their history and their IDENTITY as God’s people, declaring: “the Lord's portion is his people, [ISRAEL]... God found [us] in a desert land… he encircled [us], he cared for [us], [God] kept [us] as the apple [or PUPIL] of his eye.” Then Moses says, “Like an eagle that… flutters over its young, spreading out its wings, catching them, bearing them on its pinions”, so God has born us UP. → God is like an EAGLE, that spreads its WINGS over TOP of its young during the STORM, and then swoops down and catches us ON his wings when we try and leave the nest on our own and realize halfway to the ground that we don’t possess the STRENGTH to FLY without him - that we DESPERATELY depend on the Lord to “bear us up on HIS wings”.
Now, you might look back at v8 of Psalm 17 and notice: “But wait - this is just a PETITION. “God, KEEP me like your pupil… HIDE me under your wings…); that is a PRAYER of David; NOT a PROMISE of God.”
But this is where we can look ELSEWHERE in God’s word and find confirmation that God does indeed PROMISE to answer this prayer affirmatively when his people cry out:
Psalm 46: “God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble.” (v1)
Psalm 91: “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will abide… under his wings you will find refuge” (vv1,4)
Psalm 121: “My help comes from the LORD… He will not let your foot be moved… The LORD will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life.”
2 Thessalonians 3:3 “the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one.”
2 Timothy 4:18 “The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom.”
And those last couple verses from the NT in particular raise a question (and sort of ANSWER it too), regarding the PRACTICAL implications of God’s promise of protection:
DOES GOD PROMISE… if we belong to HIM… to protect us from EVERY form of hardship in this life? What does it mean practically to be “KEPT” as the “pupil of God’s eye”, to be “HIDDEN” in the shadow of his wings - does it mean we are perfectly insulated from all pain and SUFFERING here on earth?
No, it doesn’t. If that’s what God meant by promising to “keep” and “protect” us, then we would HAVE to conclude that he was LYING and the Bible was “fake news”. Cuz you don’t have to look AROUND this place very long to find LOTS of examples - some of you here this MORNING - who CLEARLY belong to the Lord, and yet CLEARLY endure great suffering, perhaps even persecution, sometimes our affliction is a direct RESULT OF belonging to the Lord. As a matter of fact - and speaking of promises - that was a (pretty unpopular) one that JESUS made: “If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you.” (Jn 15:20) So God must obviously have something ELSE in mind when he vows to PROTECT us here. Jesus hints at it pretty strongly LATER in that same passage in John’s Gospel, when he declares: “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” (Jn 16:33) TWO big takeaways there:
First: Jesus doesn’t promise to protect us FROM the storms of life, rather, he offers us peace WITHIN them. He says, “Oh, you’re GONNA have tribulations. But in ME, you can find PEACE amidst the storm.”
And SECOND: the protection Jesus OFFERS us has less to do with enduring THIS world, and MORE to do with OVERCOMING it. God’s protecting, preserving, guarding, “keeping” GRACE has a much more ETERNAL prize in view.
See, we’re so short-sighted that we often get more absorbed in the temporal dangers of THIS world - we’ll apply and RE-apply the SUN-screen because worry so much about protection from the sun and SKIN cancer… but how often do we FAIL to apply and re-apply God’s WORD to our HEARTS, His promised protection against the SOUL-cancer of SIN?
Any of y’all know any “preppers”? The folks you’re gonna call when the power grid DOES go down, when the A.I. DOES decide to kill us all, when the zombie apocalypse DOES commence… I know people - reasonable people - who have spent THOUSANDS of dollars trying to PROTECT themselves from outlandish, UNLIKELY scenarios they could but WON’T face in THIS world. Meanwhile, many of them - not to mention most of the people I KNOW who are not sitting in this ROOM - they go to just as GREAT of lengths trying to AVOID prepping for the only “doomsday” that is a 100% CERTAINTY in their life - the day when they will stand before the LORD and have to give an ACCOUNT of their LIFE. And friends: there is only ONE “protection plan” offered - his name is JESUS - and BILLIONS of people are IGNORING him.
And billions MORE haven’t even HEARD of him. The greatest “ADVERSARY” we have - let’s bring it back to Psalm 17 now - our “deadly enemy”, the “lurking LION” eager to ambush and devour US, is SATAN. The Bible calls him the “PRINCE of this world” and it says he has “BLINDED the eyes of unbelievers” so that they don’t even REALIZE how GRIEVOUS and DAMNING their SIN is before a perfectly HOLY God - I was at the BANK this week, chatting with the teller; she said, “Oh, you’re a pastor?” I said, “Yeah, how about YOU; are YOU at a church here in town?” She said, “No, I was raised Catholic. But I’m just raising MY kids to be good people, you know; that’s all that REALLY matters…”
BLINDED! To the fact that her “good deeds” are like soiled UNDERWEAR before a holy God, Isaiah 64:6 says.
So what is our only HOPE? For PROTECTION? From God’s righteous WRATH against our SIN?
Not OUR righteousness, but CHRIST’S!
HE must “Arise… Confront… SUBDUE” Sin and Hell and Death FOR us! CHRIST must “DELIVER our SOULS”, as David pleads here in v13.
Friends: he CAN, and he WILL; Jesus promises eternal SPIRITUAL protection - the most important KIND of protection! - to all who will turn from their sin and trust in Him by faith.
Remember I told you we’d circle BACK to point #1? Here’s the thing: if God TRULY only hears the HOLY, then where do you think that leaves YOU AND ME?? I can tell you where GOD says it leaves us, according to HIS word: “NONE is righteous, no not ONE.
8.1 BILLION people down here, and not a ONE of them is “HOLY”, not on our OWN merit.
But that’s just the thing: JESUS - the ONLY person who has EVER lived a truly HOLY life - who DESERVED to be heard by God his heavenly Father… who DESERVED God’s protection from his UN-deserved persecution (you and I deserve the afflictions of this world, because we’re SINFUL; we deserve WORSE! We deserve ETERNAL affliction, separated from God in HELL!)... and yet JESUS, in all of his HOLINESS, willingly endured God’s deliberate DEAFNESS - God CLOSED his ear to JESUS’ prayer “Father let this cup pass from me” - and Jesus willingly endured God’s privation of all protection, choosing INSTEAD to suffer and DIE on the CROSS - the death that WE deserved - to take our sins upon HIMSELF that he might PAY for them once and for ALL, and now COUNT us consecrated and holy; Jesus JUDGES us as JUSTIFIED, he finds us FORGIVEN, he RECKONS us as “righteous”... not because we WERE, but because HE is, and in his great LOVE and MERCY, Jesus TRADED his sinlessness for our sin-FUL-ness that we might be RECONCILED to God through HIM. THIS is the GOSPEL, the glorious good news of our SALVATION!
Jesus did it, that our prayers might now be HEARD by a holy God, because Jesus has washed us and MADE us holy.
That we might now enjoy God’s PROTECTION, because Jesus has MADE us God’s children - the Bible says we were “by nature children of WRATH”, but God ADOPTED us when Jesus PURCHASED us with his BLOOD. And now when God looks at us, it is through the lens of his special, covenantal CHESED LOVE.
What a GLORIOUS promise!… for THOSE who are IN CHRIST.
Is that YOU this morning?
As we wrap up, let me offer you a TEST for discerning whether or not you truly belong to the Lord; actually, I’ll let DAVID. Here’s the closing question he puts to us: “Does God SATISFY you?”
David actually just states it as a declaration of faith, and God’s third and final expression of divine HELP we are offered:
#3- God SATISFIES the SAINTS. (14b-15)
Look at how David describes the DIFFERENCE between the wicked and those who belong to the Lord here at the end of ch17: the WICKED are “men of the world whose portion is in this life.”
Those who are living ONLY for THIS world; who say, “God, we’d rather have your GIFTS than have YOU, the GIVER.”
And God is SO gracious, so generous, he even OBLIGES.
“You fill their womb with treasure;they are satisfied with children,
and they leave their abundance to their infants.”
BUT, David says, “as for ME”, I don’t NEED all the “STUFF” to make ME satisfied; “I shall be satisfied - O God - with your likeness”; with YOU!
David says, “What I want more than ANYTHING - anything that THIS world has to offer - is simply to “behold your face in righteousness”; God, I just want to be in your PRESENCE. Cuz David knows, “Better is just ONE DAY in YOUR courts, O God, than THOUSANDS elsewhere.”
Lord, give me your presence and your presence ALONE, and I will be SATISFIED.
And here’s the thing - don’t forget the theme of the whole psalm - “HELP!”: “beholding God’s face” HELPS us as well. How?
God puts all the cares and worries and fears and dangers of THIS world in their proper perspective, doesn’t He? He doesn’t always ELIMINATE them, but they suddenly don’t seem so insurmountable, compared to the GLORY and POWER of the LORD.
“Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.”
Let’s pray…