Psalm 17 - Lions and Fat Men

Podcast Transcript (Auto-Transcribed by Apple Podcasts)

Hope you are having a great Easter week if you're listening to this episode when it comes out, or just a regular week, if it's any week other than the week that this episode releases.

We are in Psalm 17 today, and we are honestly hitting some great Psalms this week. And Psalm 17 is one that's a little less familiar. I know it was less familiar to me and I assume to many of you as well.

But even just in reading over it, I saw some really great things and thoughts that are great for us to meditate on and to consider even in light of where the world is right now.

I think there's some considerations that we can take into place, take into consideration even as we think about Easter. And we'll dive right into verse one so you can kind of see what I'm talking about.

So this is a Davidic prayer or a prayer of David. Yahweh, hear a just cause. Pay attention to my cry.

Listen to my prayer from lips free of deceit. Let my vindication come from you for you see what is right. You have tested my heart.

You have examined me at night. You have tried me and found nothing evil. I have determined that my mouth will not sin.

Concerning what people do, by the word of your lips, I have avoided the ways of the violent. My steps are on your paths. My feet have not slipped.

So here this is David going to the divine judge, to the only one who can really say whether or not a person in their soul is truly innocent or guilty.

And here because God is the one who can actually say if David is right here positionally before the Lord.

Here when he talks about being vindicated, having lips free of deceit, having avoided the ways of the violent, being on God's paths, he's here not claiming like perfect righteousness. He's not saying, God, I've never sinned.

But what he's saying here is, God, like positionally, I have not set myself against you, saying, God says this, but I'm going to do this.

So he is appealing to God, saying, my great judge, here he says, from lips free of deceit, he says, I'm being truthful, I'm being honest in what I am saying. I want my vindication to come from you because you see everything.

He says, you've weighed my heart. You've tested it. You've tried it.

You have put it through your divine wringer. And you have found that I'm genuinely attempting to follow you. Says, I've determined that my mouth will not stand.

He says, God, even with the words that I say, not even just my actions, like my words, I want them to be glorifying to you. Then we see why he's asking for the judge to hear his case. And it's in verse number six.

I call on you, God, because you will answer me. Listen closely to me and hear what I say. Display the wonders of your faithful love, Savior of all who seek refuge, from those who rebel against your right hand.

Protect me as the pupil of your eye. Hide me in the shadow of your wings, from the wicked who treat me violently, my deadly enemies who surround me.

Here he's asking for God to protect him, to display his power, to give him refuge, to hide him away from his enemies. And this is a common prayer request of David's. He had many enemies.

His own people, the Hebrews, were chasing after him, attempting to get him because of King Saul.

The Philistines were the kind of natural enemies of the Israelites, and so they were hunting him from time to time, even when he went into some nearby countries. There was often distrust.

There were times where David would go into a city, and the people would then send a letter out to Saul and say, Hey, David's here. You should come and get him. So this was kind of a consistent prayer request on David's heart.

I love here, verse number seven, display the wonders of your faithful love. I don't know if I've mentioned this word before. It's the word Chased, and I'm actually going to pull up.

This will be my non-paid plug for Logos Bible Software, and it is an incredibly robust system that you can look at the Bible. You can look at study Bible notes. You can look at the original languages.

All sorts of things are in there. So here is what it says about the word Chased. Chased is a very, very common word in the Old Testament.

Actually, William Tyndale, one of the first translators of the Bible into English, coined a specific word to describe this Hebrew word, and that word was loving kindness. It was not a word before Tyndale, but the word was loving kindness.

It's also been translated covenant love, faithful love, steadfast love.

I know often in the English standard English standard version, it's defined as this, a joint obligation between relatives, friends, host and guest, master and servant, closeness, solidarity, loyalty.

It comes about as it lists some different ways in which it's used in the Bible. In Deuteronomy 7 and verse 9, it comes about by a ceremony. It results from the closer relationship between two people.

It's a lasting loyalty. It's between a son and a dying father, a wife and a husband, a king and his people. It's God's relationship with the people.

It's faithfulness, it's goodness, it's graciousness. It's the mercies that God showed to David. It's also referenced as proofs of mercy.

It's just a really, really big term. But the main thought of it is this. God has made you a promise.

He made the Israelites promises. He was going to be their God. They were going to be his people.

For us in the New Testament, that he has adopted us, that we are the bride of Christ, that we are his own special purchased possession. He has so many promises for us, that we are joint heirs with Christ.

And because of his promises, he has declared that he will be faithful to us, that he will not leave us, that he will not abandon us, that he will provide for our needs. And so this is what David's praying for.

He says, God, display the wonders of your loving kindness, of your covenant love. I want you to show me what it looks like for God to keep his promise to provide and to care for me. What a wonderful thought and promise of God.

I want to know what it looks like when your faithfulness is on display. What a great prayer for our lives. God, there's plenty of unfaithfulness all around us.

And God, I need to see, I need to experience, I need to feel what it is to have a God that never goes back on his word.

That because he has promised all of these things in Scripture to his children, God, I'm claiming these promises and I'm asking for you to show up. And what a great line.

He has to display the wonders of your faithful love, Savior of all who seek refuge from those who rebel against your right hand. Someone's right hand is often referenced in Scripture. That's like their strong side.

It's the ones that are rebelling against your strength.

He says, God, when people rebel against your might, and they are really doing kind of the work of Satan, the work of the devil, they are Satan was the one that did not want David to be on the throne. Satan didn't want David to be alive.

Satan didn't want David to enjoy a kingdom in which there was prosperity and join the Lord, all that. Like he wanted disruption and death and broken relationships and broken homes. That's what Satan wants.

And when people rebel against God, they not knowingly, but they are siding with Satan and they are going against everything that God has. So he says that you save those who seek refuge from the rebels.

And I'm thankful that God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in times of trouble. And in verse 80 says, protect me as the pupil of your eye, hide me in the shadow of your wings, that your pupil is very protected. You got a whole eyelid.

Those of you that are just listening to the podcast, I'm touching my eyelid and it's protected because it covers my pupil. And he says, God, protect me like my eyelids protect my pupil, that it's completely gone. It's completely hid away.

And he says, God, I need you to protect me like that. Hide me like a mother bird would hide her young ones. You don't want to mess with a mama bird.

And he says, that's how God protects his people. And I think here, though, he's praying for it in a physical sense.

And maybe you are in kind of a precarious situation, maybe with your living situation or maybe a relationship situation where you might be able to pray this exact prayer in the way that David's praying it, where you go, God, like I'm physically in

danger and I need your protection. And David shows us that that's something that we can pray for. But maybe like myself, you'd go, well, I don't have any physical enemies attacking me, but we do have a spiritual enemy.

And Satan is after our hearts and lives and testimonies and relationships. Satan wants to destroy us. 1 Peter 5 and verse number 8, that we are to be sober.

We are to be vigilant because our adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion is walking about seeking who he can devour. And we need protection from him.

I think of Ephesians chapter 6 and starting in verse number 10, turn it over, where he says this, Finally, be strengthened by the Lord and by his vast strength. Put on the full armor of God so that you can stand against the tactics of the devil.

For our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world powers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavens.

This is why you must take up the full armor of God, so that you may be able to resist in the evil day and having prepared everything to take your stand.

Stand therefore with truth like a belt around your waist, righteousness like armor on your chest, and your feet sandaled with readiness for the gospel of peace.

In every situation, take the shield of faith, and with it you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is God's Word.

Pray at all times in the Spirit with every prayer and request, and stay alert in this with all perseverance and intercession for all the saints.

We've got a spiritual battle that we are facing, that we need armor for, that we need a sword for, that we need the Spirit for. And so we can pray to God.

God, as I enter into spiritual warfare just by waking up in the morning, God, I need you to protect me. I need you to hide me in the shadow of your wings.

Never think, oh, well, I've been doing this Christian thing a long time, and I don't think Satan could really mess with me. Nothing is further from the truth. Don't have time to go into all of it today.

Verse number 10. Here he's talking about those deadly enemies who surround him that he's asking God for deliverance from. He says, they have become hardened.

It's literally, they have closed up their fat. That phrase doesn't translate very cleanly into English. The thought is this, they've become so comfortable in life.

It is that they have plenty of everything they need in life. They have become fat and their fat has, their abundance and plenty has made it so that they no longer care about what God says or about how God speaks. They're indifferent to him now.

He says, they have become hardened. Their mouths speak arrogantly. They advance against me.

Now they surround me. They are determined to throw me to the ground. They are like a lion, eager to tear like a young lion, lurking in ambush.

He says, rise up, Yahweh. Confront him. Bring him down with your sword.

Save me from the wicked. Here he's asking God, like, take drastic measure. Save me.

And God did that for David time and time and time and time again. And if he did it for David with physical enemies, then we know that he will hear our prayer if we ask that for him combating our spiritual enemy, the devil. Think of James chapter 4.

It says that we need to humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God so that he can deliver us from Satan. It says resist the devil and he will run from you.

But it's only as we humble ourselves before God and go, God, I know that I can't do this on my own. I need your help. And then when we resist the devil, he will run from us.

Verse number 14. With your hand, Yahweh, save me from men, from men of this world, whose portion is in this life. You fill their bellies with what you have in store.

Their sons are satisfied and they leave their surplus to their children. Here, verse 14, David's saying this. These people are so focused on this life.

They don't care about the next life. They don't care about their souls. They don't care about spiritual things.

And so everything good that they could possibly get is in this life. And so they're contented. They're happy.

They've got stuff to give the kids. They've got stuff to give the grandkids. He says in verse number 15, but I will seek your face in righteousness.

When I awake, I will be satisfied with your presence.

So verse 14, he says, the people of this world, those that are focused not on God, but on just the things of this earth, on what's material, on what's seen, he says, you fill their bellies with what you have in store.

Their sons are satisfied and they leave their surplus to their children. But David, when I awake, I will be satisfied with your presence. Today, are you satisfied with the presence of God?

Is the fact that God is with you, that he lives in you, that he has given his word to you, that he has given you brothers and sisters to walk through this Christian life with, that he has given you a mission and a purpose to accomplish his work in

the world. Are you satisfied with that? Are you content with it? Or is it something that you take for granted, that you'd say, Oh, yeah, well, it's always been like this and it's not really anything special.

Pray to the Lord today. Ask God, will you remind me again how incredible it is to be in your presence? That even when I don't feel like you're there, you are there.

And God, in my hardships, I know I'm not alone in the good times when I know like, okay, it's not going to get much better than this. And it's all going to go downhill from here that I can realize, okay, but God's with me.

So whatever comes ahead, I know you're there. I can have confidence. I can have joy.

I can have comfort. I'd encourage you today, praying, ask the Lord to help you be satisfied again with the presence of God himself.

This world, the people of this world, they're focused on what they can get, what they can leave in inheritance to their kids. But we as the people of God ought to be satisfied, content, happy to have the Lord. Is he enough for you?

For all you had, no house, no family, no relationships, but you had God. Would it be enough? It's a big question.

Thankfully, God has given us so many things. He doesn't ask us to be often to be satisfied with just him. But are you satisfied with him?

Are all the other things that he's given to you in your life, are they just the cherry on top of a relationship with him? Or is he kind of an afterthought, and everything else is the bulk of what you appreciate?

Love thinking about some of those things, something that I'll be meditating on for the rest of today, and possibly some of tomorrow as well. I hope there will be an encouragement to you tomorrow.

We are in Psalm 18, which is just a great treasure trove of a Psalm, and looking forward to diving into that with you. Thank you.