Psalms

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Psalm 17

1 A prayer of David. Lord, consider my just cause. Pay attention to my cry for help. Listen to the prayer I sincerely offer. 2 Make a just decision on my behalf. Decide what is right. 3 You have scrutinized my inner motives; you have examined me during the night. You have carefully evaluated me, but you find no sin. I am determined I will say nothing sinful. 4 As for the actions of people—just as you have commanded, I have not followed in the footsteps of violent men. 5 I carefully obey your commands; I do not deviate from them. 6 I call to you because you will answer me, O God. Listen to me! Hear what I say! 7 Accomplish awesome, faithful deeds, you who powerfully deliver those who look to you for protection from their enemies. 8 Protect me as you would protect the pupil of your eye. Hide me in the shadow of your wings.⁠ 9 Protect me from the wicked men who attack me, my enemies who crowd around me for the kill. 10 They are calloused; they speak arrogantly. 11 They attack me, now they surround me; they intend to throw me to the ground. 12 He is like a lion that wants to tear its prey to bits, like a young lion crouching in hidden places. 13 Rise up, Lord! Confront him. Knock him down. Use your sword to rescue me from the wicked man. 14 Lord, use your power to deliver me from these murderers, from the murderers of this world. They enjoy prosperity; you overwhelm them with the riches they desire. They have many children, and leave their wealth to their offspring. 15 As for me, because I am innocent I will see your face; when I awake you will reveal yourself to me.⁠

Texts in conversation

Compare Deuteronomy 32:10 and Psalm 17:8

Hebrew Bible

Summary

Psalm 17 echoes Deuteronomy 32, where Israel is guarded like the pupil of the eye and carried by an eagle’s wings. The psalmist adapts these symbols of protection into a personal prayer, asking to be kept as the apple of the eye and sheltered.

Passages

Deuteronomy 32:10

Hebrew Bible

8 When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance, when he divided up humankind, he set the boundaries of the peoples, according to the number of the heavenly assembly. 9 For the Lord’s allotment is his people, Jacob is his special possession. 10 The Lord found him in a desolate land, in an empty wasteland where animals howl. He continually guarded him and taught him; he continually protected him like the pupil of his eye. 11 Like an eagle that stirs up its nest, that hovers over its young, so the Lord spread out his wings and took him, he lifted him up on his pinions. 12 The Lord alone was guiding him, no foreign god was with him.

750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Deuteronomy

Psalm 17:8

Hebrew Bible

6 I call to you because you will answer me, O God. Listen to me! Hear what I say! 7 Accomplish awesome, faithful deeds, you who powerfully deliver those who look to you for protection from their enemies. 8 Protect me as you would protect the pupil of your eye. Hide me in the shadow of your wings. 9 Protect me from the wicked men who attack me, my enemies who crowd around me for the kill. 10 They are calloused; they speak arrogantly.

600–201 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Psalms

References

"... The third stanza consists of a renewed appeal, which builds in a staircase fashion upon the initial appeal — at first picking up the earlier appeal to be heard and then sharpening the appeal by asking for deeds of hesed. These acts of hesed that the psalmist requests are the paradigmatic actions of God, the gracious actions that only God can do and that reveal God’s faithful character. These acts include such things as rescue from crisis and healing of disease — as the psalmist expands here, you rescue those seeking shelter from those who rebel against your right hand. In the nation’s history, the exodus was the supreme act of hesed. In essence, the psalmist is begging God to be God — to be faithful, to show grace in deeds of mercy. The second section of appeal culminates with two elegant metaphorical petitions — Keep me as the apple of your eye, hide me in the shadow of your wings. In Deuteronomy 32:10-11, the nation of Israel is referred to “as the apple of God’s eye” and God is described as protecting Israel, as an eagle who “hovers over its young”. This parallel is striking. It shows that in this psalm of individual prayer, the supplicant is begging God to show an individual the same gracious attention as God has shown the nation. As Goldingay sums it up, the poet “asks that Israel’s story become the suppliant’s story, asks for a personal exodus deliverance as someone who relies on YHWH.” The phrase apple of your eye (see also Proverbs 7:2) indicates one who is specially treasured and cared for. In stanza 2, the psalmist had asserted, I have kept from the paths of the violent. The language is picked up again here, with the request to keep me as the apple ... The image of the shadow of your wings (compare Psalm 36:7; 57:1; 63:7; 91:1) indicates the sort of temporary shelter in which one can find safety in the midst of a sudden, intense crisis ..."

Nancy L. DeClaissé-Walford, The Book of Psalms (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans, 2014), 228–229.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

Psalms150 psalms

Compare Deuteronomy 32:10 and Psalm 17:8

Summary

Passages

Deuteronomy 32:10

Psalm 17:8

References

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