Psalms 17 KJV
A Prayer for Protection
About This Psalm
A prayer of someone with a clean conscience asking for protection. Sometimes the best defense is simply being able to say 'search me, I'm clean.'
1ear the right, O LORD, attend unto my cry, give ear unto my prayer, that goeth not out of feigned lips.
2 Let my sentence come forth from thy presence; let thine eyes behold the things that are equal.
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.
4 Concerning the works of men, by the word of thy lips I have kept me from the paths of the destroyer.
5 Hold up my goings in thy paths, that my footsteps slip not.
6 I have called upon thee, for thou wilt hear me, O God: incline thine ear unto me, and hear my speech.
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.
8 Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of thy wings,
9 From the wicked that oppress me, from my deadly enemies, who compass me about.
10 They are inclosed in their own fat: with their mouth they speak proudly.
11 They have now compassed us in our steps: they have set their eyes bowing down to the earth;
12 Like as a lion that is greedy of his prey, and as it were a young lion lurking in secret places.
13 Arise, O LORD, disappoint him, cast him down: deliver my soul from the wicked, which is thy sword:
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.
15 As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness.
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Did You Know?
The psalm's use of 'apple of the eye' (v. 8) draws on the Hebrew 'ishon,' evoking the pupil as the 'little man' reflected in another's gaze, symbolizing reciprocal divine attentiveness rather than mere protection.
Its assertion of nocturnal heart-testing (v. 3) parallels ancient Near Eastern ordeal rituals but reframes them as voluntary divine scrutiny, anticipating later Jewish and Christian mystical traditions of purgative night vigils.
Verse 15's 'awaking with thy likeness' echoes theophanic language from Exodus 33-34 while subverting it, shifting from partial vision to eschatological satisfaction and influencing resurrection motifs in Second Temple Judaism.
The chiastic centering on 'shadow of thy wings' (v. 8) links the psalm to Ruth 2:12 and other Davidic refuge psalms, creating an intertextual web that feminizes divine shelter as maternal brooding over vulnerable offspring.
Its claim of lips free from deceit (v. 1) and paths avoiding violence (v. 4) subtly alludes to David's refusal to assassinate Saul in the cave narratives, transforming personal innocence into a theological model of non-retaliatory trust.