Psa 17:1-15 “Having made known unto us the mystery of his will”

Psa 17:1 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.
Psa 17:2 Let my sentence come forth from thy presence; let thine eyes behold the things that are equal.
Psa 17:3 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.
Psa 17:4 Concerning the works of men, by the word of thy lips I have kept me from the paths of the destroyer.
Psa 17:5 Hold up my goings in thy paths, that my footsteps slip not.
Psa 17:6 I have called upon thee, for thou wilt hear me, O God: incline thine ear unto me, and hear my speech.
Psa 17:7 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.
Psa 17:8 Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of thy wings,
Psa 17:9 From the wicked that oppress me, from my deadly enemies, who compass me about.
Psa 17:10 They are inclosed in their own fat: with their mouth they speak proudly.
Psa 17:11 They have now compassed us in our steps: they have set their eyes bowing down to the earth;
Psa 17:12 Like as a lion that is greedy of his prey, and as it were a young lion lurking in secret places.
Psa 17:13 Arise, O LORD, disappoint him, cast him down: deliver my soul from the wicked, which is thy sword:
Psa 17:14 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.
Psa 17:15 As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness.

The first three verses of this Psalm 17 set the stage for one of the major messages being given in this part of scripture. The Psalmist cries out “Hear the right, O LORD, attend unto my cry, give ear unto my prayer, that goeth not out of feigned lips”. Take away the words ‘that goeth’, which are not in the original context, and the message becomes clear that there is an acknowledgement being made that his lips are defiled and need to be purged in order to pray a prayer that is pleasing unto God.

Isa 6:7 And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.

Jas 4:3 Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.

God causes and hears the prayers of his saints today that asks our Father “don’t let my words be false” because we know our words and our actions are predestined by God either for good or for evil, therefore we cry out, “Let my sentence come forth from thy presence; let thine eyes behold the things that are equal” in other words ‘judge me now, prove my heart and visit me in the night, and try me so that I will be purposed in my mouth to not transgress’.

1Pe 4:1 Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin;
1Pe 4:2 That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.

Right away we see God’s sovereignty revealed in the process of being able to cease from sinning because we are judged of God, not because we are not judged; but because he is working his judgments in our earth so that we can learn righteousness (Isa 26:9). We keep asking God and keep crying out that he would show us that it is Christ doing the work in us, a work that destroys our “feigned lips” and brings us to a place of thanksgiving.

Heb 13:15 By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.

Psa 119:171 My lips shall utter praise, when thou hast taught me thy statutes^H2706.
Psa 119:172 My tongue shall speak of thy word: for all thy commandments are righteousness.
Psa 119:173 Let thine hand help me; for I have chosen thy precepts^H6490.
Psa 119:174 I have longed for thy salvation, O LORD; and thy law is my delight.
Psa 119:175 Let my soul live, and it shall praise thee; and let thy judgments^H4941 help me.

H2706 statutes
חק
chôq
khoke

From H2710; an enactment; hence an appointment (of time, space, quantity, labor or usage): – appointed, bound, commandment, convenient, custom, decree (-d), due, law, measure, X necessary, ordinance (-nary), portion, set time, statute, task.

H6490 precepts
פּקּד   פּקּוּד
piqqûd piqqûd
pik-kood’, pik-kood’

From H6485; properly appointed, that is, a mandate (of God; plural only, collectively for the Law): – commandment, precept, statute.

H4941 judgments
משׁפּט
mishpâṭ
mish-pawt’

From H8199; properly a verdict (favorable or unfavorable) pronounced judicially, especially a sentence or formal decree (human or (particularly) divine law, individual or collectively), including the act, the place, the suit, the crime, and the penalty; abstractly justice, including a particular right, or privilege (statutory or customary), or even a style: – + adversary, ceremony, charge, X crime, custom, desert, determination, discretion, disposing, due, fashion, form, to be judged, judgment, just (-ice, -ly), (manner of) law (-ful), manner, measure, (due) order, ordinance, right, sentence, usest, X worthy, + wrong.

It is God’s determination or disposing of His judgments upon us that make it possible for us to continue in the faith (Joh 8:32). The choosing of His precepts (Joh 15:16) is only the starting point of what He is able to do and will do with all of humanity one day.

Eph 1:11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:

Pro 16:33 The lot is cast into the lap; but the whole disposing thereof is of the LORD.

In tonight’s study we will look more closely at the work that God is doing in His people who He choose in him “before the foundation of the world” to understand “the mystery of his will” and how “his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself” cannot be known unless we are being saved today by the grace through faith process that we’ve been called unto.

Eph 1:4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:
Eph 1:5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
Eph 1:6 To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.
Eph 1:7 In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;
Eph 1:8 Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence;
Eph 1:9 Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself:
Eph 1:10 That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:

Eph 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Eph 2:9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Eph 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

Psa 17:1 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.
Psa 17:2 Let my sentence come forth from thy presence; let thine eyes behold the things that are equal.
Psa 17:3 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.

As mentioned in the introduction, David is a man of unclean lips like Isaiah (Isa 6:5) who is asking God to change that situation so that his cry and prayer can be heard through the purging out of the old sinful nature (Isa 6:6-7).

God is in the midst of proving David’s heart to show him that he is the man (2Sa 12:7). All of this trying happens in the night which is symbollic of the darkness of our hearts and is where God works with the light and the darkness of our hearts to bring us to a place where we are purposed within our minds through Christ to not transgress (Joh 8:36, Psa 6:6, Psa 127:2).

After we go through the fiery trials, we say confidently, not in our flesh (Php 3:3, Joh 4:23) but in our spirits, that we are more than conquerors through Him, being fashioned and formed into a new vessel of honour who will live these words “and shalt find nothing; I am purposed that my mouth shall not transgress”, which is a type and shadow of those who are granted in this age to be “the true worshippers [who] shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.”

Psa 17:4 Concerning the works of men, by the word of thy lips I have kept me from the paths of the destroyer.
Psa 17:5 Hold up my goings in thy paths, that my footsteps slip not.

Here it is again a couple of gray words added to throw the believer off from the fact that we all had our former conversation in this world, and kept “the paths of the destroyer”. It is by the word of God’s lips that we are marred in the Potter’s hand (Jer 18:4) and must first be of our father the devil, walking in “the paths of the destroyer”.

Eph 2:2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:
Eph 2:3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.
Eph 2:4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
Eph 2:5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)

If God holds up our goings in His path, then and only then will “my footsteps slip not”.

Psa 84:10 For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.

Psa 35:6 Let their way be dark and slippery: and let the angel of the LORD persecute them.

Jer 23:12 Wherefore their way shall be unto them as slippery ways in the darkness: they shall be driven on, and fall therein: for I will bring evil upon them, even the year of their visitation, saith the LORD.

Psa 73:18 Surely thou didst set them in slippery places: thou castedst them down into destruction.

The relation of the one day in the court rather than a thousand without of Psa 84:10 is a parallel verse that witnesses to the need for judgment, or the day of the Lord to be ongoing and happening if we are to have peace in the house of God and no longer find ourselves slipping in this world. Having said that, God gives us this spiritually slip-free environment through a complete process of falling seven symbolic times in the wilderness of which we are coming out. Notice the context of these following verses and how they have to do with God “not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance”.

Psa 84:10 For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.

2Pe 3:8 But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
2Pe 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; [here is the context of this ‘one day is as a thousand’ statement] but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

Pro 24:16 For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief.

Psa 17:6 I have called upon thee, for thou wilt hear me, O God: incline thine ear unto me, and hear my speech.
Psa 17:7 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.

God’s “marvellous lovingkindness” is something we just read. Last week we looked at the meaning of “thy right hand”, and we’re reminded that God’s elect are His right hand that He uses to protect against “those that rise up”. Even today we are saviours to one another in training, being prepared to save the rest of humanity in due course.

Eph 2:4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
Eph 2:5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
Eph 2:6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:

1Ti 4:16 Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them [Joh 8:31-32]: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.

Oba 1:21 And saviours shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be the LORD’S.

Psa 17:8 Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of thy wings,

The apple of the eye^{H380 H1323} and the shadow of thy wings are speaking of God’s daughter, Christ’s wife the church, the cherubim who cover the altar, the mercy seat, and minister to those who are granted to take shelter under her wings. The Lord provides the mercy and truth that we long to have bound about our necks for the sake of those who are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb and for all of those who will one day be partakers of this great joy of knowing God and Jesus Christ.

Rth 2:12 The LORD recompense thy work, and a full reward be given thee of the LORD God of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to trust.

Mat 23:37 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!

Pro 3:3 Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart:

Rev 19:9 And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.

Luk 10:20 Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.
Luk 10:21 In that hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit, and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes: even so, Father; for so it seemed good in thy sight.

1Co 1:26 For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:

Psa 17:9 From the wicked that oppress me, from my deadly enemies, who compass me about.
Psa 17:10 They are inclosed in their own fat: with their mouth they speak proudly.
Psa 17:11 They have now compassed us in our steps: they have set their eyes bowing down to the earth;
Psa 17:12 Like as a lion that is greedy of his prey, and as it were a young lion lurking in secret places.

When we are God’s daughter or the apple of His eye, then we can be kept “from the wicked that oppress me” and from “my deadly enemies, who compass me about”. God willing, we don’t forsake the assembling of the body of Christ (Heb 10:25), who supplies what we need in these spiritual battles that are meant to make us stronger together as one body (Eph 4:4,16, 1Co 12:12).

Those spiritual powers that we are up against “are inclosed in their own fat” meaning they are well nourished in their own false doctrines and “speak proudly” and contemptuously against the righteous (Psa 31:18). We are not ignorant of Satan’s devices, and are told to remain vigilant because the adversary has one main goal in mind and that is to destroy the elect spiritually (2Co 2:11, 1Pe 5:8, Mat 24:24).

“They have now compassed us in our steps” has both an inward application (Luk 21:20) and outward fulfillment (Mat 24:22) that God will allow to manifest to declare His glory throughout all the earth as the world comes to see our salvation draw near (Rev 1:7, Luk 21:28). God’s elect will witness through the confidence given to us by God to “then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh”.

The scripture declares that Christ “cometh with clouds” which clouds we know to be the elect, and declares the same message of armies in heaven that are following Christ on white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean (Rev 19:14). Those horses are symbolic of the power that has now been given to the elect who are clothed in white linen, which is the righteousness of the saints (Rev 19:8). Today the world has “set their eyes bowing down to the earth” as they see God’s two witnesses lying dead in the street, not perceiving or understanding the spiritual work that God is accomplishing within as we are “dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rev 11:8-9, Rom 6:11).

The spiritual condition of the world promises to become less and less tolerant of all those who are of “this way…binding and delivering into prisons both men and women”. If God will permit, this will unfold in each of our lives “like as a lion that is greedy of his prey, and as it were a young lion lurking in secret places”. I hope and pray we all see that it is not a hard thing for God to provide for us through these difficult and fiery trials that have come and will come upon His people. We will, like Samson in shadow and type, be given super natural spiritual strength to rip the lion (Satan) as if it were a kid (a young goat) as mentioned in Jdg 14:6. This ripping of the kid tells us that God has always predestined us to be a living sacrifice who lay down our lives for one another and go without the camp with Christ so that we can overcome the adversary by the strength that God will provide for us through the offering that we are blessed to partake of in Christ.

Rom 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
Rom 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

Act 22:4 And I persecuted this way unto the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women.

Jdg 14:6 And the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and he rent him as he would have rent a kid, and he had nothing in his hand: but he told not his father or his mother what he had done.

Lev 1:10 And if his offering be of the flocks, namely, of the sheep, or of the goats, for a burnt sacrifice; he shall bring it a male without blemish.
Lev 1:11 And he shall kill it on the side of the altar northward [our old man is destroyed by judgement that comes from the north] before the LORD: and the priests, Aaron’s sons, shall sprinkle his blood round about upon the altar.

Heb 13:13 Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach.

The lurking in secret places tells us who it is that will be our greatest spiritual foes at the end of this and any age in Christ, and that will be those who are looking without themselves for the man of perdition, and for Christ to return, not being given to see that we are Jesus Christ (Joh 14:9), and that the man of perdition is being destroyed by the brightness of his coming, today.

Mat 24:26 Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not.
Mat 24:27 For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

2Th 2:8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:

Psa 17:13 Arise, O LORD, disappoint him, cast him down: deliver my soul from the wicked, which is thy sword:

Now we come to the last part of our study and see right away how God has always intended to “disappoint him, cast him down: deliver my soul from the wicked” the man of perdition within. That wicked man within is God’s sword, and that wicked man without is God’s sword. It is all His to do whatever he has predestined according to the counsel of his own will.

1Co 3:21 Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are yours;
1Co 3:22 Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours;
1Co 3:23 And ye are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s.

Rom 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

Eph 1:11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:

Psa 17:14 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.

Ours is a calling and unction that is hidden from the world, and God has used the things of this life to blind the masses, to keep their bellies full so they have no appetite for the things of the spirit. Being “full of children” and being able to provide for “their babes” is how God “inclosed [them, us in our time] in their own fat:” and with this abundance and finding of their life by their power and own free moral agency (I speak as a fool) “with their mouth they speak proudly”.

It is this pride of life that God allows and accomodates for in each man’s life so that in the day of visitation an accounting will be given of what we were and how we worked toward preserving our flesh leaving the rest of our substance to our babes, because it was all we could do without the mind of Christ which tells us to lay up treasure in heaven and lose our life to find it and don’t leave the other undone either as Christ commnanded.

Mat 6:20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:

Mat 10:39 He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.

Mat 23:23 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.

1Ti 5:8 But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.

Psa 17:15 As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness.

We have been with each other long enough to “behold thy face in righteousness” and know that it is Christ’s righteousness and not our own.

Php 3:9 And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:

When we wake up in the morning, dead to sin and alive in Christ, knowing God has a perfect plan for all of His creation that will save all. We rejoice because we already see this salvation unfolding in earnest in each of our lives as we go unto perfection and the joy set before us. It is because of Christ’s righteousness alone that we “shall be satisfied” and it will continue to require that we remain “awake” spiritually if we are going to continue to see “thy likeness” in each other.

1Co 15:52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
1Co 15:53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
1Co 15:54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.
1Co 15:55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?

Heb 12:1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
Heb 12:2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Joh 14:9 Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?