BOOK 19 OF 66 · WISDOM & POETRY · KING JAMES BIBLE

Psalms 17

Psalms book home•Chapter 17 of 150•15 verses

Chapter overviewAt a glance + deeper study

REVIEWED OVERVIEW

Psalms 17 Overview

David asks God to hear a just cause, invites examination, requests protection as the apple of God's eye, and contrasts worldly men with satisfaction in God's likeness.

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17Chapter

15Verses

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Before you read Psalms 17

Coming from

Psalm 16 centered on security, inheritance, and hope beyond death. Psalms is an anthology rather than a continuous chronological story, so the connection here is canonical and thematic.

In this chapter

David asks God to hear a just cause, invites examination, requests protection as the apple of God's eye, and contrasts worldly men with satisfaction in God's likeness.

Leads into

Psalm 18 turns to a great song of deliverance and royal victory, continuing the Psalter’s arranged movement without requiring that the two psalms describe consecutive historical events.

Key understandingExplore deeper

Psalm 17 belongs to Book I of the Psalter (Psalms 1–41). The language of integrity is an appeal about the present charge, not a claim that David was sinlessly perfect.

Major truths in this chapterExplore deeper

Central truth

A righteous appeal for protection from violent men.

Lament truth

In Psalm 17, biblical faith brings grief, fear, confusion, and need directly to God rather than hiding them.

Trust truth

In Psalm 17, confidence in God rests on His character and rule, not on the absence of danger.

Connections to the rest of ScriptureExplore deeper

Lament connection

Hebrews 4:15-16 invites believers to come boldly for mercy and grace in need. This connection helps frame Psalm 17.

Trust connection

Isaiah 26:3-4 likewise grounds steadfast peace in trusting the everlasting LORD. This connection helps frame Psalm 17.

What is clear, and where care is neededExplore deeper

Keep lament in context

Do not mistake every anguished sentence in Psalm 17 for the psalmist’s settled theological conclusion; lament often voices how the crisis feels before faith answers it.

Keep trust in context

Trust in Psalm 17 is not a promise of immunity from suffering or death; it is confidence in God through the danger.

Read Psalms 17 watching for…

hear the right.

tried heart.

apple of eye.

men of world.

awake with thy likeness.

Chapter outline2 sections

1-7David asks God to hear his righteous cause and keep his steps 8-15David asks protection from deadly enemies and looks to behold God’s face

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.

Let my sentence come forth from thy presence; let thine eyes behold the things that are equal.

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.

Concerning the works of men, by the word of thy lips I have kept me from the paths of the destroyer.

Hold up my goings in thy paths, that my footsteps slip not.

I have called upon thee, for thou wilt hear me, O God: incline thine ear unto me, and hear my speech.

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.

Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of thy wings,

From the wicked that oppress me, from my deadly enemies, who compass me about.

They are inclosed in their own fat: with their mouth they speak proudly.

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

Like as a lion that is greedy of his prey, and as it were a young lion lurking in secret places.

Arise, O LORD, disappoint him, cast him down: deliver my soul from the wicked, which is thy sword:

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.

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

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Psalms 17:6

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