Psalms 17 in plain modern English. New Ground English Translation.
Time Period
Traditionally the reign of David, roughly 1010 to 970 BC, during a period of pursuit by well fed and confident enemies
Location
Jerusalem and the open country, with imagery drawn from hunting and from lions on the prowl
Audience
Worshipping Israelites, particularly anyone falsely accused and seeking a hearing
Situation
A plea framed as a legal appeal, asking God to test the singer's heart and give a verdict in his favour while men circle him like a lion ready to tear. He asks to be hidden in the shadow of God's wings.
Key Background
Someone accused with no way to prove innocence in a local court could bring the case to the sanctuary, where an oath before God served as the final appeal, and this psalm follows that pattern of asking for a divine ruling. The apple of the eye translates a Hebrew phrase meaning the little man of the eye, a reference to the tiny reflection you see in another person's pupil, naming the most instinctively protected part of the body. The shadow of the wings likely pictures the carved winged figures overshadowing the ark inside the sanctuary, and also the ordinary sight of a bird sheltering its young.
Hear what is — listen to my cry. Pay attention to my prayer; it comes from lips that don't deceive.
Let my come from you — your eyes see what is true.
You have my heart, examined me through the night. You have me and found nothing wrong — my mouth does not cross the line.
As for what others do — by the word from your lips, I have kept myself from the ways of the
My steps have held firm to your — my feet have not slipped.
I am calling on you because you answer me, God. toward me — hear what I have to say.
Show the wonder of your — you who those who take shelter at your right hand from those who rise against them.
Guard me like the of — hide me in the of
from the who devastate me, from my deadly enemies who close in on every side.
They have their own their mouths speak with arrogance.
They have me down, now they surround me — their eyes are set to throw me to the ground.
They are like a hungry to tear its prey apart — like a crouching in hidden places.
up, Yahweh! Confront them, bring them down. Rescue me from the corrupt with your —
from Yahweh, by your hand — from of this whose portion is in this life alone. You fill their bellies with what you have up; their children have plenty, and they leave their surplus to their little ones.
But me — I will see your because I am in the When I awake, I will be satisfied just by you as you are.