Lesson 135 - Senior
Memory Verse
Cross References
I A Petition
1. David prayed fervently for God to hear his cause, attend unto his cry, and give ear unto his prayer, [PS:17:1], [PS:17:6]; [PS:103:6]; [ROM:5:2]; [EPH:1:6]; [EPH:2:18].
2. David prayed for God's sustaining power to help him, and keep him in the way of righteousness, [PS:17:5]; [PS:119:116-117]; [PS:121:3]; [PS:18:36].
3. David prayed for God's loving protection from his enemies, for such protection is the peculiar privilege of every child of God, [PS:17:7-9], [PS:17:13]; [PS:31:19-24]; [PS:57:1]; [DEU:32:9-12].
II David's Cause
1. David felt justified in his walk before God, and did not hesitate to appeal to God for justice in his behalf, [PS:17:2-4]; [1JN:3:21-22]; [HEB:10:22]; [EPH:3:12].
2. David's prayer to God describes his enemies, their ungodly ways, their tactics of hate, and he prays that God will mete out to them their just reward, [PS:17:10-14]; [PS:73:5-9]; [LUK:16:25].
3. David prayed that God would disappoint the wicked and cast him down, and deliver his own soul from the wicked, [PS:17:13].
III Conclusion
1. David concludes his prayer with the confidence that he can face God in this life in righteousness, and in the resurrection shall be satisfied to be like Him, [PS:17:15]; [PS:36:7-8]; [PS:63:5]; [JER:31:14]; [1JN:3:1-2].
Notes
Access to God
The seventeenth Psalm is one of many prayers David made to God. It is thought he prayed this prayer when Saul, King of Israel, was desperately seeking his life. The many trials and perils David suffered drove him to his knees to seek the guidance and help of God. But for the intervention of God in David's behalf on several occasions, he would have lost his life.
David, as a man who prayed from dire necessity and need for body and soul, knew from experience how to pray. His prayers are great comforts for those who are in trouble and need. Prayer is the supreme privilege and blessing of the Christian. To have access to God, to be able to go to Him, to pour out our hearts and tell Him our troubles and trials, is a privilege that cannot be overvalued.
The worldly-minded do not value the praying heart because they do not pray; nor do they have access to God unless they repent. David was a man after God's own heart. His prayer in the seventeenth Psalm is one we can do well to copy.
A Right Cause
Prayer to God is not a haphazard thing; but God is King, and He sets forth definite requirements as to how we are to pray. David started out correctly by praying, "Hear the right, O LORD." We must have a just cause to go to God in prayer. We cannot bring some selfish or vengeful cause to God, and expect to get an answer, as God does not stoop to the petty and sinful things of men. James tells us: "Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts" (James 4:3).
David was persecuted severely by Saul, who was embittered against God because of his own sin. Seeing the blessing of God upon David, Saul became jealous and filled with hatred against David, because God had given him the kingdom in Saul's stead. David was forced to flee for his life from the hatred of Saul. David knew he had a right cause when he prayed for protection from Saul, and this was the first utterance of his prayer.
Holiness
While our justifiable cause is a strong incentive for God to hear our prayer, it is not the prime motive with God for answering prayer. David knew that holiness of life and soul is what God looks at. "For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him" (II Chronicles 16:9).
David in his need did not hesitate to point God to his life as an inducement for God to help him in his dis-tress. "Thou hast proved mine heart; thou hast visited me in the night; thou hast tried me, and shalt find nothing. . . . Concerning the works of men, by the word of thy lips I have kept me from the paths of the destroyer." When we can point God to our lives without fear that God will find sin, we have access to God.
David said God had tried him and found nothing evil, and would find nothing in the future. Holiness in the past is good promise to God that by His grace we shall have holiness in the future. It was the evidence of the past that enabled David to pray so boldly, "I am purposed that my mouth shall not transgress." No one is keeping his tongue as he should unless God helps him.
Satan is the accuser of the brethren, but holiness of life is one thing his accusations are powerless against. When a mortal can get upon the rock of holiness he has a vantage point with God that will prevail in every in-stance. The Psalmist tells us: "The eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry. . . . The righteous cry, and the LORD heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles" (Psalm 34:15, 17).
Job, in his trial of faith, knew that the integrity of his soul before God was his most valuable asset in getting God's help in his affliction. His testimony was: "My foot hath held his steps, his way have I kept, and not declined. Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food" (Job 23:11, 12). "Till I die I will not remove mine integrity from me. My righteousness I hold fast, and will not let it go: my heart shall not reproach me so long as I live" (Job 27:5, 6). Job did prevail with God, and God did hear and answer his prayer; and it was his holiness of life before God that brought him through to victory.
Power and Protection
David prayed for God's grace to be manifested toward him that he would not turn away from righteousness to sin. God's power is ample to keep every child of God in the way of holiness. All we need to do is ask of God and use His grace when we receive it. Sin will never have any power over us so long as we remain under the Blood of Christ. Yet we must ask often, for God gives only as the need of the day.
David's plea to be kept by God as the apple of the eye is thought by many to have reference to the eyeball of the eye. The human body is a masterpiece of God's creative hand, and the eye is a marvel amidst marvels in the protection God has given it. It is set deep in the skull where any stray foreign object would merely hit the skill and not touch the eye. The eyes are equipped with eyelids, which quicker than thought can and do shut upon the approach of a missile, hiding the eye from harm. Besides this, the eyebrows are above the eyes to help in any misfortune that might occur.
David in a few words said a great deal in describing to God the kind of protection he desired. He would be protected from danger, from all sides, from above and below, if God kept him as he desired. David saw the marvelous work of God in the construction of the eyes, and did not hesitate to desire the same for himself as a child of God. Ample Scriptural authority is given in promise for such protection to the child of God, the 91st and 121st Psalm being good examples.
Sinful Men
David reminded God of the wickedness of his enemies in contrast to the righteousness of his own life. We need only to walk in the streets of everyday life to see men as David described them. His enemies were hunting him as a lion does its prey. Lions usually hide in ambush, in tall grass, or some good cover, and spring up-on their prey as it passes by. Peter calls Satan, the archenemy of all mankind, a lion: "Your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour" (I Peter 5:8).
David prayed for deliverance "from men which are thy hand, O LORD, from men of the world, which have their portion in this life": ([PS:17:14]). It is a truth not always seen that the men of the world, and the wicked, have their portion of wealth and good in this present life.
The hid treasure David refers to, many think means the hidden wealth of the world, such as mineral wealth. It is an undisputed fact that some of the most wicked, men who have lived, have also been the wealthiest. To possess wealth does not prove the character or success of men before God. Many people favour the rich and slight the poor. "How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God! For it is easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God" (Luke 18:24, 25). David, concerning the prosperity of the wicked, wrote: "For I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. For there are no bands in their death: but their strength is firm. They are not in trouble as other men. . . . When I thought to know this, it was to painful for me; until I went into the sanctuary of God; then understood I their end" (Psalm 73:3-5, 16, 17).
The rich leave their substance for their children to enjoy after they are gone. The wicked often have all the material blessing they could desires, yet in their death they are as other men -" they leave all. Those who know not God are "like the beasts that perish" -" without hope, ([PS:49:20]).
The wicked many times enjoy riches and the pleasures of sin in this life but they die and go to an everlasting hell without any good thing to comfort them. This is exemplified in the account of Lazarus and the rich man ([LUK:16:19-31]). Lazarus begged at the rich man's door and desired the crumbs from his table. He seemingly had no good thing in this life, but when he died he left all of his evil days forever and went to an eternity with God where there was nothing but good forever. What a contrast when the rich man died and left his days of good, and went to spend an eternity in hell.
Christian Rest
David's prayer to God ended with a note of confidence in God and serenity of soul. The child of God has peace with God, and confidence in the divine plan of God, and in His protection for His people. The hope of beholding the face of God in righteousness was portion enough for David. "I shall be satisfied, when I awake, [meaning the resurrection] with thy likeness." We shall see Him as He is and we shall be like Him. It is hard for finite minds to conceive what immortality will be like; yet, the Bible tells us we shall be immortal, shall be like Christ, and shall be the sons of God in the fullness of the heritage. Then it is not difficult to see why David could say with all honesty: "I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness."
Questions
1. What is the right way to pray?
2. Should we let God prove our hearts, and search us out to see if we have sinned?
3. Who is the destroyer of men?
4. What did David mean when he asked God to keep him as the apple of the eye?
5. How are sinners likened to lions?
6. Do the wicked enjoy better things in this life than the saints of God?
7. When shall the saints inherit all their good things?
8. What did David mean when he said he would be satisfied to awake with the likeness of God?