The Song of the Innocent

Psalm 17 opens with a flurry of prayers, so it’s fitting that this psalm is labeled as a “prayer of David” rather than a “psalm of David” (there are only five psalms marked this way). David prays that God would see his innocence and vindicate him from those who falsely accuse him of wrongdoing. “Hear a just cause, O LORD; attend to my cry! Give ear to my prayer from lips free of deceit! From your presence let my vindication come! Let your eyes behold the right!” We meet David while he is on trial for something that he has not done, so from the witness stand he calls for a cross-examination with the most thorough scrutiny possible. David goes on to say that when God examines him, he’ll find nothing. “You have tried my heart, you have visited me by night, you have tested me, and you will find nothing.” David mentions that his heart is pure, even in the night when we tend to be the most honest and reflective (notice the connection to Psalm 16, where David thanked God for a heart that instructs him in the night). He says that his lips and his ways or actions are pure as well, so just like Psalm 15, David points to righteousness as the combination of the way we live, the way we act, and the way we speak. He’s not claiming to be perfect or without sin; rather, he is claiming his innocence against whatever false accusations are thrown at him. It would be a mistake to read this psalm thinking that David is demanding that God should listen to him because he has lived a good life. No, David is simply taking inventory of his life because his enemies have forced him to do so. David is confident that he has lived largely in line with what God has said. In fact, he attributes his innocent life to God’s word: “by the word of your lips I have avoided the ways of the violent.” This line reveals another unique feature of this psalm: David  consistently uses what are called anthropomorphisms, attributing physical features to the invisible God. As one commentator summarized, “God’s lips mean that he speaks to us, his ears mean that he hears us, his hands mean that he helps us, his eyes mean that he sees us, his wings mean that he covers us, and his face means that he looks at us.” The point is that for David, God is real and alive and active. In front of the judge who sees and hears all, David has nothing to hide.

David’s prayer for vindication ends in verse 5 with this line: “My steps have held fast to your paths; my feet have not slipped.” “Slipped” could also be translated “stumble, shaken, totter,” and this verb appears in Psalms 15, 16, and 17 to tie them together as a sort of examination of the righteous life lived with God. While the opening lines appealed to God as a judge, the next section changes into a plea to a friend and protector. He asks God again to listen to his prayer, and then he prays these remarkable words that form the heart of the psalm: “Wondrously show your steadfast love, O Savior of those who seek refuge from their adversaries at your right hand. Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings, from the wicked who do me violence, my deadly enemies who surround me.” In Genesis 18, God visits Abraham and Sarah to reiterate his promise that they will have a baby, even in their old age. Sarah laughs at God, to which God responds, “Is anything too hard (or too wonderful) for the LORD?” Wonderful deeds aren’t just nice things that God does for his people; they are miraculous interventions that inspire wonder and awe. So David prays for God to wondrously show his hesed, his steadfast and loyal love that never wavers or fades. He calls God his Savior, which in the psalms primarily means salvation from evil circumstances but can also include a spiritual dimension. The “apple of your eye” and the “shadow of your wings” are a lovely allusion to Deuteronomy 32, where Moses sings about God’s protection over his people in the wilderness. It’s a reminder that God doesn’t save us from our troubles begrudgingly. To be the pupil of God’s eye is to be his chosen beloved, his precious child, his treasure that is worth protecting. Yet being guarded by God doesn’t result from our righteousness but by wondrous grace and covenantal love. The impartial Judge now becomes a kind Savior. So far in Psalm 17, a pattern has emerged of a prayer followed by a problem, followed by a prayer, followed by a problem. David calls for God to answer him, because he has been falsely accused. He longs for God to hear him, because his enemies are violent and surrounding him. The question now is how God will respond and how David can finally find some peace in this conflict.

In the final part of the psalm, we learn more about these enemies who have been accusing David. Verse 10: “They close their hearts to pity; with their mouths they speak arrogantly. They have now surrounded our steps; they set their eyes to cast us to the ground. He is like a lion eager to tear, as a young lion lurking in ambush.” The image of a lion was used in Psalms 7 and 10, and in many ways, a lion is a perfect example of an apex predator who does what he wants and consumes his prey. These people who have set themselves against David are pitiless, arrogant, ruthless, and determined to bring him down. David lifts up his most urgent prayer yet: “Arise, O LORD! Confront him, subdue him!” Although it would be preferable for the wicked to repent, that avenue seems closed, so deliverance from these attackers requires God to intervene. This encounter of judgment is similar to other psalms; David wants God to stop these people in their tracks and put an end to their violence. But then verse 14 introduces a different, surprising kind of judgment: “You fill their womb with treasure; they are satisfied with children, and they leave their abundance to their infants.” The Hebrew here is very difficult, but the point seems to be that sometimes God heaps onto the wicked the very things that they love (wealth, offspring, legacy). Indeed, we see this often in real life when the evil and arrogant seem to get ahead and succeed by every worldly standard. Why would God do that? The answer comes with the powerful final line of verse 15: “As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness; when I awake, I shall be satisfied with your likeness.” The wicked earn their reward in this life, but to have everything but God is judgment enough. To get to the end of your life surrounded by good things but not the God who made those good things is an empty victory. By contrast, David proclaims that God is enough, that seeing God face to face in a right relationship with him is all that our souls need to be satisfied. The ending here is very similar to the ending of the previous psalm, where the faithful would exchange temporary pleasure in this world for the joy and peace of God’s presence. In the end, we want God to vindicate us when we’re innocent, but we don’t look for ultimate justice in this life. This is why David says “when I awake,” which is a subtle reference to waking up from the sleep of death to resurrection life. When we are falsely accused and encounter arrogant enemies, our one hope that keeps us going is to awake in the wonder of seeing God’s face. That is true legacy. That is true salvation.