PSALMS 15

 
     We will begin by giving this chapter in metre to show how easily
we could sing it.

                   THE PSALMS OF DAVID IN METRE

                           Chapter 17

verse 1  "Lord, hear the right, attend my cry, And to my prayer give
          heed. That doth not in hypocrisy From feigning lips
          proceed."
verse 2  "And from before thy presence forth My judgement do thy send;
          And unto things that equal are O let thy eyes attend."
verse 3  "Thou hast my heart proved, and by night Didst visit, and me
          try, Yet nothing find, for that my mouth Shall not sin
          purposed I."
verse 4  "As for men's works, I, by the word, Which from thy lips doth
          flow, Have kept myself out of the paths In which destroyers
          go."
verse 5  "Hold up my goings, Lord, me guide In paths that are divine,
          That so my footsteps may not slide Out of those ways of
          thine."
verse 6  "Upon thee I have called, O God, Because thou wilt me hear;
          That thou mayst hearken to my speech, To me incline thine
          ear."
verse 7  "Thy wondrous lovingkindness show, Thou, who by thy right
          hand Dost save all those who trust in thee From such as them
          withstand."
verse 8  "As th' apple of the eye me keep; In thy wings shade me hide
          From wicked men and deadly foes Who rage on every side."
verse 9  "In their own fat they are enclosed; Their mouth speaks
          loftily. Our steps the compassed, and to earth They bowing,
          set their eye."
verse 10."Even like a lion fierce and strong, And greedy of his prey,
          Or lion young, which lurking doth In secret places stay."
verse 11 "Arise, and disappoint my foe, And cast him down, O Lord;
          Save thou my soul from wicked men, From men who are thy
          sword."
verse 12 "From men who are thy hand, O Lord, From worldly men me save,
          Who only in this present life Their part and portion have."
verse 13 "They with thy hidden wealth are filled, And many children
          have; The rest of their abundant wealth They to their
          children leave."
verse 14 "But as for me, I thy own face In righteousness shall see;
          And with thy likeness when I wake I satisfied shall be."

     We will now begin the verse by verse of this chapter. Psalms 17:1
"{A prayer of David.} Hear the right, O LORD, attend unto my cry, give
ear unto my prayer, [that goeth] not out of feigned lips."

     Feigned, in the verse above, means deceiving, or fraud. Rinnah,
the word that was translated cry here, means shout loudly. David says,
that he is not speaking with false lips. He shouts, as if he needs to
to get God's attention. David is sure that he is on the side of the
right. We see, in this, that David feels justified in calling for
God's help.

     Psalms 17:2 "Let my sentence come forth from thy presence; let
thine eyes behold the things that are equal."

     David is not afraid to be judged by the just God. David feels
sure that, if he is tried in the balance scale, the scale would be in
favor of him. We may be assured, also, if we walk uprightly before our
God, the balances will be weighed in our favor, as well.

     Psalms 17:3 "Thou hast proved mine heart; thou hast visited [me]
in the night; thou hast tried me, [and] shalt find nothing; I am
purposed [that] my mouth shall not transgress."

     David has every confidence that God knows the thoughts of David's
heart. David feels that he has been through many tests, and has shown
in these tests that he is on God's side. We remember, when all the
soldiers were so afraid of Goliath, they would not go out to fight
him, David, as a lad went, knowing that God was with him. In fact, he
went in the name of God. He was not defeated, and I am sure David is
reflecting on some of those times here. Many of God's people are
comforted by God in the night in visions and dreams. David has made up
his mind that every word that proceeds from his mouth will be pleasing
unto God.

     Psalms 17:4 "Concerning the works of men, by the word of thy lips
I have kept [me from] the paths of the destroyer."

     The word of thy lips, here, is speaking of the Word of God {the
Bible}. The teachings of God have kept David from the concerns of the
works of men.  Notice in this that, David's will was involved in
staying away from the destroyer. He says {I have kept}. David has let
the teachings of God direct him. Christians today must hide the Word
of God in their inner being, and let that Word direct them in all
decisions they make. I do not believe a person can walk as a Christian
without studying His Word {the Bible} daily. We are living in very
dangerous times. We can not take someone else's word for what the
Bible says. We must know for ourselves what the Bible teaches, so that
we can not be deceived.

     Psalms 17:5 "Hold up my goings in thy paths, [that] my footsteps
slip not."

     Those who walk in spiritual darkness, stumble and fall. We must
walk in the Light of Jesus so we will not fall. John 12:35 "Then Jesus
said unto them, Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while
ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you: for he that walketh in
darkness knoweth not whither he goeth."  John 8:12  "Then spake Jesus
again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that
followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of
life."
     Psalms 17:6 "I have called upon thee, for thou wilt hear me, O
God: incline thine ear unto me, [and hear] my speech."

     Just the fact that a person prays, shows that he believes that
God hears and answers prayers. Notice, again, the confidence that
David has, {thou wilt hear me}. David is saying, God listen carefully
to my request, before you answer. Have you ever felt that God tired of
hearing your requests in prayer? I believe this is David saying, this
is a more important prayer than some I have prayed. When Jesus prayed
for the sick, and they were healed, He said, your faith has made you
whole. It is very important to believe that our prayer will be
answered when we pray. Mark 11:24 "Therefore I say unto you, What
things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive [them],
and ye shall have [them]."

     Psalms 17:7 "Shew thy marvellous lovingkindness, O thou that
savest by thy right hand them which put their trust [in thee] from
those that rise up [against them]."

     Jesus, not only sits at the right hand of God, but, in fact, is
the Right Hand of God. {To understand this better, read the little
pamphlet on The Right Hand Of God}. The Right Hand that saved all of
us is Jesus. We know that in the 14th chapter of John beginning with
the 12th verse, we can pray and receive answers to those prayers, if
we ask in Jesus' name. It is impossible to pray in someone's name you
do not believe in. Those who rose up against Jesus, and those who even
now reject Him, will not pray in His name. God's lovingkindness was
shown abundantly to all of us, when He gave Himself to die for our
sin. God's love for mankind could never be questioned. I John 4:10
"Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent
his Son [to be] the propitiation for our sins."

     Psalms 17:8 "Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the
shadow of thy wings,"

     I believe the eye is the window to the man's soul. The apple,
here mentioned, is possibly the pupil of the eye. The first moment any
foreign object comes toward the eye, the lid closes to protect the
pupil. I have used the expression so many times, about the mother hen
spreading her wings and saving the little chicks from the storm under
her wings. How wonderful to know that God will spread His wings and
save us from harm, if we are His. David wants the supernatural
protection of God. If we are smart, we will want that protection, too.

     Psalms 17:9 "From the wicked that oppress me, [from] my deadly
enemies, [who] compass me about."

     David is not crying for protection from a natural storm, but he
is asking for protection from the wicked who would like to kill him.
Our prayer should be that the blood of Jesus will build a hedge around
us that the enemy can not get through to harm us. When you are covered
in the blood of Jesus, the enemy will flee. The enemy is afraid of the
blood of Jesus. The blood of Jesus is what defeated Satan.

     Psalms 17:10 "They are enclosed in their own fat: with their
mouth they speak proudly."

     Being enclosed in their own fat possibly means that they live in
the fatness of the earth. By the world's standards, they would have
about all you could want. They would possibly wonder why they needed
God, because they have most everything this world can offer them.

     Psalms 17:11 "They have now compassed us in our steps: they have
set their eyes bowing down to the earth;"

     This probably means that David believes he is surrounded by these
worldly people. Notice, their eyes are not looking heavenward, but at
the earth. You and I are surrounded by people of the earth today. They
see only the here and now. They want the things the earth has to offer
and are not concerned about their life after death.

     Psalms 17:12 "Like as a lion [that] is greedy of his prey, and as
it were a young lion lurking in secret places."

     Notice, they are not a lion, but are acting like one. We will
look at the devil who runs around {like a lion} seeking whom he may
destroy. I Peter 5:8 "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary
the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may
devour:" Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

     Psalms 17:13 "Arise, O LORD, disappoint him, cast him down:
deliver my soul from the wicked, [which is] thy sword:"

     David was well aware that battles were won by God being on his
side. To fight a battle, without the aid of God, would be disastrous.
David is asking God to destroy his enemies for him.

     Psalms 17:14 "From men [which are] thy hand, O LORD, from men of
the world, [which have] their portion in [this] life, and whose belly
thou fillest with thy hid [treasure]: they are full of children, and
leave the rest of their [substance] to their babes."

     The worldly people, who have rejected Jesus as their Saviour,
surely better enjoy this world, because this is all the pleasure they
will have. Hell awaits that type of person. Notice, their treasures
are all of this world. When they die they will leave their treasures
here on the earth. Their worldly children will be the only ones that
will get any good out of them. They have laid up no treasures for
heaven.  The only thing meant by these people being {thy hand} is that
God was their Creator. They have no future with God in heaven at all.
Their portion is for this life.

     Psalms 17:15 "As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness:
I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness."

     David says, here, that heaven is good enough for him. He knows
that someday he will stand before the righteous Judge of all the
earth. He, also, knows that he will have taken on the likeness of God.
Praise God, we are adopted in to the family of God when we become a
Christian. When we die, we will be like David and see His
righteousness. We will be righteous, too, because we have washed our
robe in the blood of the Lamb and taken on His righteousness. I John
3:2 "Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear
what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be
like him; for we shall see him as he is."

     We shall be heirs according to the promise. Galatians 3:29 "And
if ye [be] Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according
to the promise." Titus 3:7 "That being justified by his grace, we
should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life."










































                             Questions 15

1.  What does feigned mean?
2.  Rinnah means what?
3.  David says, he is not speaking with ______ ____.
4.  Why does David feel that he is justified to receive God's help?
5.  How does David feel about being tried in the balance scale?
6.  Name one of the tests that David went through.
7.  What are just 2 ways that God comforts His people?
8.  What is the {word of thy lips} speaking of in verse 4?
9.  How do we know that David's will was involved in staying away from
    the destroyer?
10. What does the author believe is a must to walk as a Christian?
11. What happens to those who walk in spiritual darkness?
12. Who is the Light of the world?
13. What is a simple thing that shows that people believe in prayer?
14. When Jesus healed the sick, He said, Your ______ has made you
    whole.
15. Quote Mark chapter 11 verse 24.
16. Who is the Right Hand of God?
17. How can we pray and receive answers to our prayers?
18. 1 John chapter 4 verse 10 tells us what about love?
19. What is the {apple of the eye} probably?
20. What is David asking for when he says, hide me under the shadow of
    thy wings?
21. What protects the Christian from the devil?
22. Being enclosed in their own fat means what?
23. Why do they speak proudly?
24. What kind of people was David surrounded by?
25. What is meant by, they have set their eyes, bowing down to earth?
26. The devil runs around seeking whom he may destroy, acting like
    what animal?
27. To fight a battle, without the aid of God, would be ____________.
28. Why should worldly people get all the enjoyment they can out of
    this world?
29. What is meant by, leaving the rest of their substance to their
    babes?
30. Quote 1 John chapter 3 verse 2.