King James Version
Psalms 17
15 verses with commentary
Hear a Just Cause, O Lord
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. the right: Heb. justice not: Heb. without lips of deceit
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Hear the right, O LORD, attend unto my cry, give ear unto my prayer, that goeth not out of feigned lips.</strong> David opens this psalm with an urgent, threefold appeal for divine attention: "Hear," "attend," and "give ear." This rhetorical intensification—using three imperatives with three synonyms for prayer (<em>tsedeq</em>, "the right"; <em>rinnah</em>, "cry"; <em>tefillah</em>, "pray...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(1) **Hear the right.**—Or (see margin), *justice. *Some ancient versions read, “Hear, Lord of righteousness.” Others make it concrete: “Hear me, the righteous; “but the Authorised Version has the true sense.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**29. lifted up myself--**in malicious triumph (Pr 17:5; 24:17; Psa 7:4).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 17
Chapter Outline
David's integrity.(1-7)
The character of his enemies. His hope of happiness.(8-15)
**Verses 1-7**
This psalm is a prayer. Feigned prayers are fruitless; but if our hearts lead our prayers, God will meet them with his favour. The psalmist had been used to pray, so that it was not his distress and danger that now first brought him to his duty. And he was ...
Read full commentary →Let my sentence come forth from thy presence; let thine eyes behold the things that are equal.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
David appeals for vindication from God's presence, knowing only God's eyes see what is upright ('mesharim'—equity/uprightness). This demonstrates confidence in divine omniscience and perfect justice. The Hebrew 'mishpat' (vindication/judgment) acknowledges God as the righteous Judge who sees beyond human appearances (1 Samuel 16:7). This anticipates believers' final vindication at Christ's judgmen...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(2) **Let my sentence**—*i.e.*, let my cause be tried before Thy tribunal, where it is sure of success, since I am innocent and Thou art just. The second clause is better in the present, “Thine eyes behold,” &c.
**The things that are equal.**—Heb., *meysharîm, *which may be either abstract, *rectitude, *or concrete, *the just *(Song of Solomon 1:4, Note), or adverbial, *justly.*
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**30. mouth--**literally, "palate." (See on Job 6:30).
**wishing--**literally, "so as to demand his (my enemy's) soul," that is, "life by a curse." This verse parenthetically confirms Job 31:30. Job in the patriarchal age of the promise, anterior to the law, realizes the Gospel spirit, which was the end of the law (compare Le 19:18; De 23:6, with Mt 5:43, 44).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 17
Chapter Outline
David's integrity.(1-7)
The character of his enemies. His hope of happiness.(8-15)
**Verses 1-7**
This psalm is a prayer. Feigned prayers are fruitless; but if our hearts lead our prayers, God will meet them with his favour. The psalmist had been used to pray, so that it was not his distress and danger that now first brought him to his duty. And he was ...
Read full commentary →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.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
David submits to God's testing: 'You have tried my heart.' The Hebrew 'bachan' (tried/tested) suggests refining metal. God's night visitation and testing by fire found nothing—David resolved that his mouth would not transgress. This parallels Job's confidence in divine testing (Job 23:10) and anticipates Peter's teaching that trials prove faith's genuineness (1 Peter 1:7). Reformed theology sees t...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(3) **In** **the night **(as Psalm 16:7).—The time of calm reflection and self-examination. Some, however, taking this verse in connection with Psalm 17:15, think the poem was composed at night.
**I am purposed.**—The Hebrew word presents a difficulty. It is better to take it as a noun—*counsels, *and here, as generally, *evil *counsels—and join it to the preceding, not (as in the Authorised Versi...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
31. That is, Job's household said, Oh, that we had Job's enemy to devour, we cannot rest satisfied till we have! But Job refrained from even wishing revenge (1Sa 26:8; 2Sa 16:9, 10). So Jesus Christ (Lu 9:54, 55). But, better (see Job 31:32), translated, "Who can show (literally, give) the man who was not satisfied with the flesh (meat) provided by Job?" He never let a poor man leave his gate with...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 17
Chapter Outline
David's integrity.(1-7)
The character of his enemies. His hope of happiness.(8-15)
**Verses 1-7**
This psalm is a prayer. Feigned prayers are fruitless; but if our hearts lead our prayers, God will meet them with his favour. The psalmist had been used to pray, so that it was not his distress and danger that now first brought him to his duty. And he was ...
Read full commentary →Concerning the works of men, by the word of thy lips I have kept me from the paths of the destroyer.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
David kept himself from 'paths of the violent' through God's word ('word of Your lips'). The Hebrew 'parits' (violent/destroyer) describes ruthless people. This demonstrates Scripture's sanctifying power—God's word guides and restrains. This anticipates Psalm 119's extensive meditation on Scripture's role in holy living and Jesus' use of Scripture to resist temptation (Matthew 4). Reformed theolog...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(4) **Concerning the works of men**—*i.e.*, *as regards the actions of men, *or *in ordinary human actions; *for the expression comp. Job 31:33; and Hosea 6:7, where the margin has *Adam.*
**By the word of thy lips.**—Some take this clause closely with the foregoing, and render, “against the word,” but the Authorised Version is better. The Divine standard for action, not the human or worldly, infl...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**32. traveller--**literally, "way," that is, wayfarers; so expressed to include all of every kind (2Sa 12:4).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 17
Chapter Outline
David's integrity.(1-7)
The character of his enemies. His hope of happiness.(8-15)
**Verses 1-7**
This psalm is a prayer. Feigned prayers are fruitless; but if our hearts lead our prayers, God will meet them with his favour. The psalmist had been used to pray, so that it was not his distress and danger that now first brought him to his duty. And he was ...
Read full commentary →Hold up my goings in thy paths, that my footsteps slip not. slip: Heb. be not moved
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Hold up my goings in thy paths, that my footsteps slip not.</strong> Having declared his integrity (verses 1-4), David now acknowledges his dependence on divine help to maintain it. The verse presents a paradox central to biblical spirituality: we are responsible to walk righteously, yet we depend entirely on God's enabling power to do so.<br><br>"Hold up my goings" (<em>tamokh ashuray</em...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(5) **Hold up.**—Not, as in the Authorised Version, imperative, which is directly opposed to the context. The psalmist still asserts his innocence. Render:—
My course kept close in thy tracks,
My footsteps have not wavered.
(Comp. Job 23:11; Psalm 41:12.)
**Paths.**—Literally, wheel-tracks.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**33. Adam--**translated by Umbreit, "as men do" (Ho 6:7, where see Margin). But English Version is more natural. The very same word for "hiding" is used in Ge 3:8, 10, of Adam hiding himself from God. Job elsewhere alludes to the flood. So he might easily know of the fall, through the two links which connect Adam and Abraham (about Job's time), namely, Methuselah and Shem. Adam is representative ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 17
Chapter Outline
David's integrity.(1-7)
The character of his enemies. His hope of happiness.(8-15)
**Verses 1-7**
This psalm is a prayer. Feigned prayers are fruitless; but if our hearts lead our prayers, God will meet them with his favour. The psalmist had been used to pray, so that it was not his distress and danger that now first brought him to his duty. And he was ...
Read full commentary →I have called upon thee, for thou wilt hear me, O God: incline thine ear unto me, and hear my speech.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
David's confidence in prayer—'I call upon You, for You will answer me'—demonstrates assurance grounded in God's character. The request to 'incline Your ear' uses intimate language suggesting attentive listening. This anticipates Jesus' teaching on persistent prayer (Luke 18:1-8) and John's assurance that God hears His children (1 John 5:14-15). Reformed theology grounds prayer confidence in God's ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(6*)* **I**—is emphatic, “As for me, I,” &c.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**34. Rather, the apodosis to Job 31:33, "Then let me be fear-stricken before a great multitude, let the contempt, &c., let me keep silence (the greatest disgrace to a patriot, heretofore so prominent in assemblies), and not go out," &c. A just retribution that he who hides his sin from God, should have it exposed before man (2Sa 12:12). But Job had not been so exposed, but on the contrary...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 17
Chapter Outline
David's integrity.(1-7)
The character of his enemies. His hope of happiness.(8-15)
**Verses 1-7**
This psalm is a prayer. Feigned prayers are fruitless; but if our hearts lead our prayers, God will meet them with his favour. The psalmist had been used to pray, so that it was not his distress and danger that now first brought him to his duty. And he was ...
Read full commentary →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. by thy: or, them which trust in thee from those that rise up against thy right hand
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
David appeals to God's 'steadfast love' ('chesed'—covenant faithfulness) shown to those who take refuge in Him. The phrase 'by Your right hand' indicates God's power and saving action. This parallels Exodus 15:6 celebrating God's right hand shattering enemies. The refuge motif anticipates believers' security in Christ—nothing can separate us from God's love (Romans 8:38-39). Reformed theology sees...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(7) **Shew.**—Literally, *Separate; *but (comp. Psalm 4:3), from its use to express God’s providential care of Israel in distinction to other nations, acquires in addition the idea of wonder and miracle (Exodus 8:22; Exodus 9:4; Exodus 11:7, &c). The LXX. and Vulgate, “make thy mercies appear wonderful.”
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
35. Job returns to his wish (Job 13:22; 19:23). Omit "is"; "Behold my sign," that is, my mark of subscription to the statements just given in my defense: the mark of signature was originally a cross; and hence the letter Tau or T. Translate, also "Oh, that the Almighty," &c. He marks "God" as the "One" meant in the first clause.
**adversary--**that is, he who contends with me, refers also to...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 17
Chapter Outline
David's integrity.(1-7)
The character of his enemies. His hope of happiness.(8-15)
**Verses 1-7**
This psalm is a prayer. Feigned prayers are fruitless; but if our hearts lead our prayers, God will meet them with his favour. The psalmist had been used to pray, so that it was not his distress and danger that now first brought him to his duty. And he was ...
Read full commentary →Keep me as the apple of the eye , hide me under the shadow of thy wings,
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of thy wings.</strong> This verse contains two of Scripture's most tender and beloved images of divine protection. David asks not merely for God's general oversight but for the intense, intimate care one gives to what is most precious and vulnerable.<br><br>"The apple of the eye" (<em>ishon bat-ayin</em>, אִישׁוֹן בַּת־עָיִן) litera...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(8) **Apple of the eye.**—Literally, *little man, daughter of the eye. *The *mannikin *is, of course, the reflection seen in the pupil. *Daughter *is either a contraction of a word meaning cavity, or is the common Hebrew idiom which by *son *or *daughter of *expresses relation, as *sons of the bow = arrows. *In fact, the curious Hebrew phrase is substantially like the Greek κόρη and Latin *pupa, *...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
36. So far from hiding the adversary's "answer" or "charge" through fear,
**I would take it on my shoulders--**as a public honor (Is 9:6).
**a crown--**not a mark of shame, but of distinction (Is 62:3).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 8-15**
Being compassed with enemies, David prays to God to keep him in safety. This prayer is a prediction that Christ would be preserved, through all the hardships and difficulties of his humiliation, to the glories and joys of his exalted state, and is a pattern to Christians to commit the keeping of their souls to God, trusting him to preserve them to his heavenly kingdom. Those ar...
Read full commentary →From the wicked that oppress me, from my deadly enemies, who compass me about. oppress: Heb. waste my: Heb. my enemies against the soul
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
The 'deadly enemies' who 'surround' David are described with hunting imagery. The Hebrew 'shud' (destroy/devastate) indicates ruthless intent. Being surrounded ('sabab') creates desperation—no escape except divine intervention. This anticipates Christ surrounded by enemies at Gethsemane and crucifixion, yet trusting the Father. Reformed theology sees believers' enemies as ultimately spiritual powe...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(9) **Deadly.**—Literally, *with the soul, *or *life, *or better, as in the Syriac, “against the life,” and so *deadly. *Others take it adverbially with the verb, “eagerly compass.”
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
37. A good conscience imparts a princely dignity before man and free assurance in approaching God. This can be realized, not in Job's way (Job 42:5, 6); but only through Jesus Christ (He 10:22).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 8-15**
Being compassed with enemies, David prays to God to keep him in safety. This prayer is a prediction that Christ would be preserved, through all the hardships and difficulties of his humiliation, to the glories and joys of his exalted state, and is a pattern to Christians to commit the keeping of their souls to God, trusting him to preserve them to his heavenly kingdom. Those ar...
Read full commentary →They are inclosed in their own fat: with their mouth they speak proudly.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
The wicked have 'closed their hearts to pity'—literally 'closed their fat' (chelev), suggesting self-indulgent hardness. Their mouths 'speak arrogantly' ('ge'ut'—pride/arrogance). This connects callousness toward others with pride before God. Jesus condemned such hardness in religious leaders (Matthew 23). Reformed theology sees this as evidence of total depravity—the unregenerate heart's natural ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(10) **They are inclosed . . .**—Literally, *Their fat have they shut up. *So LXX. and Vulgate, without indicating the meaning. But the “proudly” of the next clause suggests that “fat” is only a figure for the conceit of prosperity, and as that verb is active, the word *mouth *should be joined with it as object from the next clause, “*In their conceit they shut their mouth; *(when they do speak) *...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
38. Personification. The complaints of the unjustly ousted proprietors are transferred to the lands themselves (Job 31:20; Ge 4:10; Ha 2:11). If I have unjustly acquired lands (Job 24:2; Is 5:8).
**furrows--**The specification of these makes it likely, he implies in this, "If I paid not the laborer for tillage"; as Job 31:39, "If I paid him not for gathering in the fruits." Thus of the four clau...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 8-15**
Being compassed with enemies, David prays to God to keep him in safety. This prayer is a prediction that Christ would be preserved, through all the hardships and difficulties of his humiliation, to the glories and joys of his exalted state, and is a pattern to Christians to commit the keeping of their souls to God, trusting him to preserve them to his heavenly kingdom. Those ar...
Read full commentary →They have now compassed us in our steps: they have set their eyes bowing down to the earth;
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
Enemies tracking David's steps now surround him, setting their eyes 'to cast him to the ground.' The Hebrew 'natah' (cast down) suggests violent throwing. The eyes 'set' ('shith') indicate determined focus on destruction. This parallels Christ's enemies who watched Him seeking grounds for accusation (Luke 20:20). Reformed theology sees this as the world's perpetual hostility toward God's anointed.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(11) **They have now . . .**—Evidently the meaning is, *Wherever we go they surround us like curs, i.e., *they dog our footsteps. But the text is confused.
**They have set.**—Literally, *they fix their eyes to cast on the earth, *which may mean, “they fix their eyes on me, ready to strike me to the ground.” Ewald, “they direct their eyes through the land to strike.” But Mr. Burgess suggests a tran...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**39. lose ... life--**not literally, but "harassed to death"; until he gave me up his land gratis [Maurer]; as in Jud 16:16; "suffered him to languish" by taking away his means of living [Umbreit] (1Ki 21:19).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 8-15**
Being compassed with enemies, David prays to God to keep him in safety. This prayer is a prediction that Christ would be preserved, through all the hardships and difficulties of his humiliation, to the glories and joys of his exalted state, and is a pattern to Christians to commit the keeping of their souls to God, trusting him to preserve them to his heavenly kingdom. Those ar...
Read full commentary →Like as a lion that is greedy of his prey, and as it were a young lion lurking in secret places. Like: Heb. The likeness of him (that is, of every one of them) is as a lion that desireth to ravin lurking: Heb. sitting
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
The double lion metaphor—a lion 'eager to tear' and a young lion 'lurking in ambush'—portrays predatory evil. The Hebrew 'kasaph' (eager/long) suggests intense desire to destroy. This imagery recalls Satan as a roaring lion (1 Peter 5:8) and anticipates Revelation's imagery of beastly persecution. Reformed theology recognizes that Satan works through human agents to oppose God's people.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(12) **Young lion.**—Heb., *kephir. *The Hebrew has seven different names for the lion. Milton’s description of Satan naturally recurs to the reader—
“About them round
A lion now he stalks with fiery glare.”
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**40. thistles--**or brambles, thorns.
**cockle--**literally, "noxious weeds."
**The words ... ended--**that is, in the controversy with the friends. He spoke in the book afterwards, but not to them. At Job 31:37 would be the regular conclusion in strict art. But Job 31:38-40 are naturally added by one whose mind in agitation recurs to its sense of innocence, even after it has come to the usua...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 8-15**
Being compassed with enemies, David prays to God to keep him in safety. This prayer is a prediction that Christ would be preserved, through all the hardships and difficulties of his humiliation, to the glories and joys of his exalted state, and is a pattern to Christians to commit the keeping of their souls to God, trusting him to preserve them to his heavenly kingdom. Those ar...
Read full commentary →Arise, O LORD, disappoint him, cast him down: deliver my soul from the wicked, which is thy sword: disappoint: Heb. prevent his face which is: or, by
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
David prays for God to 'confront' and 'subdue' his enemies with God's sword. The Hebrew 'qadam' (confront) means to meet face-to-face. This imprecatory prayer appeals to divine justice, trusting God as warrior-king. The 'sword' represents God's judgment. Reformed theology understands such prayers as prophetic declarations of certain judgment, not personal vengeance—they express confidence in God's...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(13) **Disappoint.**—Rather, *go to meet, *as a champion defending some one.
**Which is thy sword.**—This thought, making the wicked God’s weapons of wrath (Isaiah 10:5), is arbitrarily introduced by the Authorised Version, and is quite out of keeping with the context. Translate “*with *thy sword,” either understanding a preposition, or treating the accusative as an adverb of manner; as an adverb ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 8-15**
Being compassed with enemies, David prays to God to keep him in safety. This prayer is a prediction that Christ would be preserved, through all the hardships and difficulties of his humiliation, to the glories and joys of his exalted state, and is a pattern to Christians to commit the keeping of their souls to God, trusting him to preserve them to his heavenly kingdom. Those ar...
Read full commentary →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. which are: or, by they: or, their children are full
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
This complex verse contrasts the wicked whose 'portion is in this life' with the righteous who have God. The Hebrew 'cheled' (world/lifetime) indicates temporal existence. Their belly is filled with 'treasure' ('tsaphun'—hidden stores), satisfied with worldly prosperity. This anticipates Jesus' warning about storing treasure on earth (Matthew 6:19-20) and the rich fool whose soul was required (Luk...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(14) **Of the world.**—Literally, *of time. *Heb., *cheled, *“that which creeps on,” an expression anticipating the New Testament use of *world. *(Comp. Job 21:7-14.)
**Their portion in this life**—contrasts with Psalm 16:5.
**Thy hid treasure.**—*That which thou hast stored up, *which is sometimes in a good sense (Psalm 31:19; Proverbs 13:22), sometimes in a bad (Job 21:19). But ought we not to t...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
CHAPTER 32
Job 32:1-37:24. Speech of Elihu.
1-6. Prose (poetry begins with "I am young").
**because, &c.--**and because they could not prove to him that he was unrighteous.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 8-15**
Being compassed with enemies, David prays to God to keep him in safety. This prayer is a prediction that Christ would be preserved, through all the hardships and difficulties of his humiliation, to the glories and joys of his exalted state, and is a pattern to Christians to commit the keeping of their souls to God, trusting him to preserve them to his heavenly kingdom. Those ar...
Read full commentary →As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness.</strong> The psalm concludes with one of the Old Testament's clearest expressions of hope for fellowship with God beyond death. Having contrasted himself with the wicked whose portion is "in this life" (verse 14), David declares his ultimate hope: seeing God's face and being satisfied...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(15) **I**—emphatic. The satisfaction of worldly men is in their wealth and family honours, that of the poet in the sun of God’s presence and the vision of His righteousness. (Comp. Note, Psalm 11:7.)
Instead of “likeness,” render *image, *or *appearance. *But what does the poet mean by the hope of seeking God when he wakes? Some think of rising to peace after a perplexing trouble; others of healt...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
CHAPTER 32
Job 32:1-37:24. Speech of Elihu.
1-6. Prose (poetry begins with "I am young").
**because, &c.--**and because they could not prove to him that he was unrighteous.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 8-15**
Being compassed with enemies, David prays to God to keep him in safety. This prayer is a prediction that Christ would be preserved, through all the hardships and difficulties of his humiliation, to the glories and joys of his exalted state, and is a pattern to Christians to commit the keeping of their souls to God, trusting him to preserve them to his heavenly kingdom. Those ar...
Read full commentary →