A manual of the book of Psalms · Martin Luther
PSALM XVII.
_David, in confidence of his integrity, craveth defence of God against his enemies.—He sheweth their pride, craft, and eagerness.—He prayeth against them in confidence of his hope._ 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 loving-kindness, 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. This Psalm is a prayer against false teachers, and those very delicate saints, that is, hypocrites, who by their human doctrines, call men off from the word of God, and hate and persecute the truly godly teachers. These are the characters whom Paul also calls “enemies of the cross of Christ:” for they are not willing to suffer anything for God’s sake, but shun the cross; but make a pretext of the name and worship of God, and under all the artifices of their hypocrisy, seek nothing else than earthly advantages, honors, wealth, the favour of men, and the pleasures and gratifications of the world. Hence David calls them, in the last verse but one, ‘men of this world,’ and ‘men of this life.’ Of this kind also are all those animals of the belly in monasteries, those cumberers of the earth, the monks, and lazy priests. This Psalm also has reference to the Second and Third Commandments, and to the first petition of the Lord’s Prayer, where we pray “Hallowed be thy name.”
Text from Project Gutenberg, public domain in the United States.