26 matching verse commentaries
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
INTRODUCTION TO Psalms 17 A Prayer of David. This prayer was put up by David either in his own person, on his own account, praying to God for the vindication of his cause, and for salvation and deliverance from his enemies; or in the person of the Messiah, whose type he was, and of the whole church, so Jerom of old interpreted it; and the title of...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Hear the right, O Lord,.... The psalmist appeals to the Lord as a Judge, sitting on the throne judging right, that he would hear his cause litigated between him and his adversaries, determine and give the decisive sentence about it; so Christ committed himself to him that judgeth righteously, 1 Peter 2:23; for by "right" may be meant his right and...
Matthew Henry - Complete Commentary - Matthew Henry
David being in great distress and danger by the malice of his enemies, does, in this psalm, by prayer address himself to God, his tried refuge, and seeks shelter in him. I. He appeals to God concerning his integrity, ver. 1-4. II. He prays to God still to be upheld in his integrity and preserved from the malice of his enemies, ver. 5-8, 13. III....
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
Hear the right, O LORD, attend unto my cry, give ear unto my prayer, that goeth not out of feigned lips. Good men are often slandered and misunderstood; and, at such times, the first verse of this Psalm will well fit their lips: “Hear the right, O Lord.” And, at all times, it is a great blessing when a supplicant can say to God, “Give ear unto my...
Spurgeon - Treasury of David - Charles H. Spurgeon
Ver. 1. Hear the right, O Lord. He that has the worst cause makes the most noise; hence the oppressed soul is apprehensive that its voice may be drowned, and therefore pleads in this one verse for a hearing no less than three times. The troubled heart craves for the ear of the great Judge, persuaded that with him to hear is to redress. If our God...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Let my sentence come forth from thy presence,.... Not of condemnation, such as came forth from God and passed on Adam and all his posterity, Romans 5:12; though such an one was executed on Christ, as he was the surety and representative of his people; but of justification, which came forth from God and passed on Christ, when he rose from the dead,...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
Let my sentence come forth from thy presence; let thine eyes behold the things that are equal. It is the appeal of a slandered man to the highest court; he takes his case into the Court of King’s Bench, and asks God himself to give the verdict concerning what he had done. It is a good case that will bear to be so investigated.
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Thou hast proved mine heart,.... This properly belongs to God, who is the searcher of the heart and reins, and is desired by all good men; and though God has no need to make use of any means to know the heart, and what is in it; yet in order to know, or rather to make known, what is in the hearts of his people, he proves them sometimes by...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
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. Happy is the man who is not afraid for God to come to him suddenly in the night, or to pounce upon him, as it were, at any hour of the day, for, whenever he comes, he will find his servant so...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Concerning the works of men,.... Of wicked men, as to what respects and concerns them, or in the midst of them; in the midst of a wicked generation of men, and their filthy conversation; who appear to be so, by the word of thy lips; the law of God, the Scriptures of truth, the rule and standard of faith and practice, which show what works are good...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
Concerning the works of men, by the word of thy lips I have kept me from the paths of the destroyer. Notice that verse, young man! There is much-needed teaching there for you. There are many “paths of the destroyer” in this wicked city of London, and all over the world; and it is only by taking heed to our ways, according to God’s Word, that we...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Hold up my goings in thy paths,.... Which being spoken by David in his own person, and for himself, shows that he was conscious of his own weakness to keep himself in the ways of God, and to direct his steps therein; and that he was sensible of, the need he stood in of divine power to uphold and support him in them; [that] my footsteps slip not;...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
Hold up my goings in thy paths, that my footsteps slip not. “I know that I am in thy way; but, O Lord, hold me up! I am like a horse that needs a careful driver, else I shall trip and fall, in rough places or in smooth, ‘Hold up my goings in thy paths,’ for I may fall even there. There are the sins of my holy things, so ‘hold up my goings in thy...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
I have called upon thee,.... In prayer. This had been the constant practice of the psalmist, and he still continued in it; for thou wilt hear me, O God; God is a God hearing prayer; he is used to hear his people, and they have frequent experience of it, and they may be assured that whatsoever they ask according to his will, and in the name of...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
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...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Show thy marvellous loving kindness,.... Such is the lovingkindness of God to his people in Christ; which is sovereign, free, special, distinguishing, everlasting, and unchangeable; it is better than life, and passes knowledge; and which is set upon men and not angels, some and not all, and these many of them the worst and vilest of men, and all...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Keep me as the apple of the eye,.... Which is weak and tender, and is hurt and put to pain, and made uneasy by every little thing that annoys it, and than which nothing is more dear to a man, or he is more careful of preserving from being hurt; and fitly represents the weak estate and condition of God's people, his affection for them, and tender...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
From the wicked that oppress me,.... Or "waste" or "destroy" (g); as wild beasts do a field or vineyard when they get into it; and such havoc do persecutors and false teachers make of the church and people of God, when they are suffered to get in among them, Psalms 80:13; wherefore from such wicked and unreasonable men protection is desired, 2...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
They are enclosed in their own fat,.... Or "their fat has enclosed them"; either their eyes, that they can hardly see out of them, or their hearts, so that they are stupid and senseless, and devoid of the fear of God; the phrase is expressive of the multitude of their wealth and increase of power, by which they were swelled with pride and vanity,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
They have now compassed us in our steps,.... The sense is, they could not stir a step but they were at their heels, surrounding them on every side. This was true of David, when he was pursued by Saul, and followed by him to Keilah and the wilderness of Maon, 1 Samuel 23:8; according to the "Cetib", or textual writing, it should be rendered, "they...