Psalms To See Me Through: Psalm 17—Prayer For Protection Against Oppressors

A Prayer of David.

Hear a just cause, O Lord, give heed to my cry; Give ear to my prayer, which is not from deceitful lips. Let my judgment come forth from Your presence; Let Your eyes look with equity. You have tried my heart; You have visited me by night; You have tested me and You find nothing; I have purposed that my mouth will not transgress {vv. 1-3}.

You will have trials in this world; these encouraging Words of Jesus flood my thoughts when I read his prayer; I feel the desperation in David’s voice. I have felt this desperation recently; circumstances tend to leave us parched and feeling alone. God uses our parched, desperate, crying to draw us deeper in Him.

God will visit us in the night and try our hearts; are we listening?

I was asleep but my heart was awake. A voice! My beloved was knocking: Open to me... {Song of Songs 5:2}. 

The only way to contend our innocence is if we are truly repentant for what He found there; He will find something. Once we confess it our sin, and allow the Blood to wash us, we are redeemed. Only then are we guiltless; Christ’s sacrifice makes it possible.

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness {1 Jn. 1:9}.

People are fallen. How easy it is to fall from grace; none of us are immune. Because we live in a fallen world, we will have trials, people will betray us, let us down, and disappoint us—and we them. In the Tabernacle of Moses, the priest was required to wash—a picture of the washing of water with the Word (see Eph. 5:26). The priest looked into the Bronze Laver—the polished mirror of bronze, and washed. He saw only his reflection, not another’s. The bronze mirror was to judge one self and wash before performing any service before the Lord.  

As for the deeds of men, by the word of Your lips I have kept from the paths of the violent.
My steps have held fast to Your paths. My feet have not slipped. I have called upon You, for You will answer me, O God; Incline Your ear to me, hear my speech {vv. 4-6}.

Stay on your path, no matter what others do or say. God will guide you and you will not slip—but wholeheartedly keep to the path God set you on.

Wondrously show Your lovingkindness, O Savior of those who take refuge at Your right hand
From those who rise up against them.  Keep me as the apple of the eye; Hide me in the shadow of Your wings from the wicked who despoil me, My deadly enemies who surround me. They have closed their unfeeling heart, with their mouth they speak proudly. They have now surrounded us in our steps; They set their eyes to cast us down to the ground. He is like a lion that is eager to tear, And as a young lion lurking in hiding places {vv. 7-12}.

Often, we expect God to deliver us from the situation instead of seeking wisdom in the situation. God may be using the hard place to teach things to us and to reveal things about ourselves. David learned this each time he faced an enemy. Our expectations in a situation are usually different than what the Lord has planned. How many times have we heard, sometimes God calms the storm, sometimes He calms us in the midst of the storm? God is our Refuge and Strong Tower, and we can run to Him and be safe (see Prov. 18:10).

And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us {Rom. 5:3-4}.

Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing {James 1: 2-4}.

This scribe battles this often—some circumstances prove too challenging, and it takes all the strength I can muster to look beyond them to the Lord. Peter, after taking his step of faith to walk the lake’s surface, sank only when he took his eyes off Jesus and focused on the wave. It only took him under because his focus was turned; the enemy distracted him.

The Lord gives us the assurance that He will help us through the trial, all we have to do is ask. He hides us in the shadow of His wings. He will keep us. James continues his admonition on tribulations with the key to making it through the hard times;

 But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.  But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways {James 1:5-8}.

Peter learned this in his leap onto the lake. God will give us wisdom for every situation if we ask. If however, we allow the circumstances to toss us to and fro, and keep us from seeking God, we can’t receive that wisdom, and we go around the mountain again; the trial overwhelms us, and we receive nothing.

 Arise, O Lord, confront him, bring him low; Deliver my soul from the wicked with Your sword, from men with Your hand, O Lord, from men of the world, whose portion is in this life, And whose belly You fill with Your treasure; They are satisfied with children, And leave their abundance to their babes {vv. 13-14}.

God will fight our enemies; He assures us time and again in Scripture. He will keep us; the wicked are concerned only with the things this world has to offer, and are subject to the world’s systems and processes. But we are to have a Kingdom perspective. Everything you are going through is to enhance the Kingdom of God, and to know God deeper. He wants to know us and have an intimate relationship with His people. And after the tribulation is over, and we have wrestled with God, we may leave with a limp (see Genesis 32:22-32), but we will have a new name and a deeper relationship with God. When you awake you will say to the Lord—

As for me, I shall behold Your face in righteousness; I will be satisfied with Your likeness when I awake {v.15}.

To read all the Psalms in this series click here: Psalms To See Me Through

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Encounter With The Spectacular

Then he brought me back to the door of the house; and behold, water was flowing from under the threshold of the house toward the east, for the house faced east. And the water was flowing down from under, from the right side of the house, from south of the altar.  He brought me out by way of the north gate and led me around on the outside to the outer gate by way of the gate that faces east. And behold, water was trickling from the south side.  When the man went out toward the east with a line in his hand, he measured a thousand cubits, and he led me through the water, water reaching the ankles. Again he measured a thousand and led me through the water, water reaching the knees. Again he measured a thousand and led me through the water, water reaching the loins {Ezekiel 47:1-4 NASB}.

This was an incredible vision and encounter for Ezekiel; God touched him in a spectacular way; He pierced the veil and saw God's glory revealed. Ezekiel had a vision of holy waters, their rise, depth, and the healing virtue they contained.

He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water {Jn. 7:38}.

This is a prophecy of Living Waters; John the Revelator saw the same Living Waters in a vision in Revelation 22. I long for God to touch me in a spectacular way. I know, I am supposed to be deep and humble and tell you how thankful I am to see God in the mundane; that I don’t need a spectacular experience to believe in God or trust His faithfulness. I don’t need one to believe in Him, I do desire to know Him more. I am grateful for the mundane, while anticipating the spectacular. If I don’t encounter Him in this way, I still believe in Him and know Him to be faithful and trustworthy. Forever.

The spectacular does not mean that I will necessarily experience God’s power like Ezekiel, and I don’t just desire to witness a display of His power for a sign or for the sake of having an experience. I want to know Him deeper and more intimately than I ever have. I follow in the footprints of women and men of God who sought the same; Moses witnessed God’s power, provision, and miracles in the wilderness, yet, He still prayed for God to show him His glory. He wanted to know God on a deeper level; not only the provision of His hand, but in the intimacy of His face. He was called a friend of God.

You are my friends if you do what I command you {Jn. 15:14}.

Elijah, while hiding in a cave in fear of his life, had just witnessed God’s power on Mt. Carmel, but he came to know God in a deeper way in the cave. He saw the earthquake, fire, whirlwind, yet heard God in the still small voice. In studying the original Hebrew in 1 Kings 19:11-14, some scholars suggest that Elijah did not only hear God’s voice, but actually heard God’s thoughts. A spectacular experience indeed. In case you don’t believe that is possible let’s read:

But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.  But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one.  For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he will instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ {1 Cor. 2:14-16 NASB emphasis mine}.

God continues to reveal Himself to those who seek Him. We can know the thoughts of Christ through His Holy Spirit and the Word. The Word is a record of His thoughts. A word of caution—if your experience or encounter with God does not line up with His Word, you did not have an encounter with the Creator of the universe; lean into Him like you never have before. His Word trumps any experience or encounter we may have.

 Not all of us will encounter God in the spectacular way that Ezekiel did, however, He does want to reveal Himself to us deeper as we grow in Him. He revealed Himself to Moses at different times in deeper ways during each step of his journey to the promise land. 

We need to discipline ourselves to recognize God in the mundane, but He does not expect us to stay in the mundane, mediocrity of life. If He did, He would not have established the Holy Place, or the Holy of Holies in the Tabernacle; He would have built the outer and inner courts only. The deeper you journey into the Tabernacle, the deeper you experience the life, work, and ministry of Jesus and there you commune with Him (read about the Tabernacle here). If God did not want us to experience the spectacular, Peter and John would not have witnessed Christ’s transfiguration. He desires for us to see His glory.

He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power {Heb. 1:3 NASB}.

God brought Ezekiel through the waters at different levels; first his ankles, then the knees, and then up to his loins. Continue into the next verses and the water exceeds his head. God wants to take us deeper and deeper in Him; not so that we can have just some mystical experience, but that we can experience Him. He wants to know us face to face just as He did Moses.  These men that experienced God in the spectacular, did not merely have an experience, they had an encounter. My spirit cries out for an encounter.