Salmi 17:14 Commento

David being in great distress and danger by the malice of his enemies, does, in this psalm, by prayer address himself to God, his tried refuge, and seeks shelter in him. I. He appeals to God concerning his integrity (Psa 17:1-4). II. He prays to God still to be upheld in his integrity and preserved from the malice of his enemies (Psa 17:5-8, Psa 17:13). III. He gives a character of his enemies, using that as a plea with God for his preservation (Psa 17:9-12, Psa 17:14). IV. He comforts himself with the hopes of his future happiness (Psa 17:15). Some make him, in this, a type of Christ, who was perfectly innocent, and yet was hated and persecuted, but, like David, committed himself and his cause to him that judgeth righteously. A prayer of David.

INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 17 A Prayer of David. This prayer was put up by David either in his own person, on his own account, praying to God for the vindication of his cause, and for salvation and deliverance from his enemies; or in the person of the Messiah, whose type he was, and of the whole church, so Jerom of old interpreted it; and the title of it in the Arabic version is, "a prayer in the person of a perfect man, and of Christ himself, and of everyone that is redeemed by him;'' in which preservation and protection are prayed for, and hope of eternal life is expressed. It was written, according to Theodoret, when David suffered persecution from Saul.

From men which are thy hand, O Lord,.... Some understand these words, with what follows, as independent of the former, and of another set of men, even of good men; so the Targum, "and the righteous who deliver their souls for thy sake, O Lord, unto death in the earth, their portion is in eternal life;'' so Jarchi gives the like sense of them: but the words are to be connected with the preceding, as they are by Aben Ezra, Kimchi, and Ben Melech; and the sense is, deliver my soul from men, which are instruments in thine hand to chastise thy people: so even Satan himself, and the Sabeans and Chaldeans, whom he instigated to afflict Job, are called the "hand" of the Lord that touched him, because he suffered them to do what they did for the trial of him, Job 19:21. The words may be rendered, "the men of thy hand" (m); who are raised up by thine hand to the power and dignity they have; and who can easily be pulled down by it; and who are in thine hand, and at thy beck and control, and whose wrath and fury thou canst restrain. Or they may be rendered, "from men by thy hand" (n); that is, deliver me from them by thy strong hand and mighty power; as Israel of old was delivered from the Egyptians by the strong and mighty hand of God; from men of the world: who are, as they were when they came into the world, in sin, in darkness, and in a carnal and unregenerate state; who are not only in the world, but of it, and belong to it, and to it only; and are under the influence of the god of the world, and are taken with the lusts and pleasures of it, and live in them and serve them: and are of worldly spirits, inordinately love the things of the world, mind earth and earthly things, and are unconcerned about the things of another world; see Luk 16:8; which have their portion in this life; and in this only; have a large share of the good things of this life; and which is all their portion, Luk 16:25; and whose belly thou fillest with thy hid treasure: earthly treasure, as gold and silver, which is called hid treasure, because it is first hid in the bowels of the earth, out of which it is dug, and afterwards hid in the coffers of worldly men; and oftentimes kept to the hurt of the owners of it. Or the phrase may denote the value and preciousness of it. And to have the belly filled with this is to have a very great affluence and plenty of it; though it is very rare, let it be ever so large, that men are fully satisfied with it; they are full of children; which among the eastern nations was reckoned a considerable part of outward prosperity and happiness; see Job 21:7; or their "children are full", or "filled" (o) with hidden treasure also; and leave the rest of their substance to their babes; their children's children; their grandchildren, as Kimchi explains it; and which is said, not by way of complaint, as an evil in them, since it is lawful and right for parents to lay up for their children, and leave it to them: unless the sense is, that they engross all to themselves, and to their posterity, in life and death; while they live, they indulge their sensual appetites and lusts, and fill themselves and theirs, but give nothing to the poor and hungry; nor part with anything for the interest of God and true religion; and when they die leave nothing for such use and service, but all to their posterity: but rather the phrase is expressive of their great plenty; that having lived in and enjoyed great fulness themselves, and given large portions to their children, yet have much left; which, at death, they bequeath to the young generation. Now from such men in power and dignity, and from being hurt by them, as well as from communion and conversation with them, the psalmist desires to be delivered; and expresses his satisfaction in other and better things than they enjoy, in the following words. (m) "ab inimieis manus tuae", V. L. so Sept. "a viris manus tuae", Lutherus, Musculus. (n) "Manu tua", Montaus, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Cocceius, Gejerus. (o) "saturantur vel satiantur filii", Munster, Muis, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Gejerus; so Targ. Ar. Ainsworth.

"Deliver My soul from the ungodly." Deliver My soul, by restoring Me after the death, which the ungodly have inflicted on Me. "Your weapon: from the enemies of Your hand" [Psalm 17:14]. For My soul is Your weapon, which Your hand, that is, Your eternal Power, has taken to subdue thereby the kingdoms of iniquity, and divide the righteous from the ungodly. This weapon then "deliver from the enemies of Your hand," that is, of Your Power, that is, from Mine enemies. "Destroy them, O Lord, from off the earth, scatter them in their life." O Lord, destroy them from off the earth, which they inhabit, scatter them throughout the world in this life, which only they think their life, who despair of life eternal. "And by Your hidden things their belly has been filled." Now not only this visible punishment shall overtake them, but also their memory has been filled with sins, which as darkness are hidden from the light of Your truth, that they should forget God. "They have been filled with swine's flesh." They have been filled with uncleanness, treading under foot the pearls of God's words. "And they have left the rest to their babes:" crying out, "This sin be upon us and upon our children." [Matthew 27:25]

Since I do not know how to ask for manifest punishment of them, whereas you are aware, having as you do hidden treasuries of wisdom, inflict on them the punishments you best know.

Here the psalmist is not criticizing the children’s food, as some would think (for those things that enter the mouth do not make a person unclean), but he regards those to whom God has given many offspring unwise when they leave behind them not excellence but their evils as an inheritance.

He says, "Your sword, from the enemies of your hand" -- supply "rescue": Ps. 68: "Attend to my soul and deliver it." Or "rescue your sword from the enemies," that is, take away the blade and the power that they have from you: Wis. 6: "Power has been given to you by God." And the will that they have of themselves: Zech. 13: "Sword, arise against my shepherd." Or "trip them up" in their frustration, "and rescue my soul from the enemies of your hand," that is, of Christ, your Son; for the Son is called the hand of the Father: Deut. 32: "I will lift up my hand to heaven," that is, "my Son." "O Lord, separate them from the few of the earth in their life." Because they persecute me for this reason: to establish their kingdom. There is a twofold reading here. In the Roman Psalter, it reads: "O Lord, divide them in their life"; as if to say: they have their eyes on the earth, and therefore they do evil; but exclude them from the land you gave them. But how? Will they go to one place? No; rather, scatter them throughout the whole world. The other reading: "Lord, separate them from the few of the earth"; as if to say: separate them from the land, and from the few, that is, from the society of the elect, in their life, that is, while they live. Or because we read that when destruction was imminent, they were warned by an angel that the faithful should depart and go to the kingdom of Agrippa. And therefore, "separate them from the few," that is, the Christians, who were preserved. "Their belly is filled from your hidden stores," that is, from sins not confessed: Prov. 28: "He who hides his crimes will not prosper." Job 31: "If I concealed my sin as men do and hid my iniquity in my bosom." Or here the reason for the petition is set forth, and this reason is twofold: namely, it can refer to sins or to benefits for which they are ungrateful. If in the first way, then: first he sets forth the abundance of sins. If in the second way, he shows how God's benefits were passed on to their children. He says, therefore, regarding the first: "Their belly is filled from your hidden stores," that is, from sins that are hidden from him -- not that God does not see them, but because he does not wish to see them. Hab. 1: "Your eyes are too pure, O Lord, to behold evil, and you cannot look upon iniquity." "Their belly is filled," that is, their conscience, or memory, or carnal concupiscence, or sensuality. "They are satisfied with children," that is, with sins, or evil works. Evil works are called the children of the wicked, just as good works are the children of the good. Another reading has, "They are satisfied with swine's flesh," that is, with the filth of sins; and this is the explanation of what he says, "from your hidden stores." "And they divided their remains to their little ones"; as if to say: they are passed on to their children, who imitated their sins. Wis. 4: "From the wicked, all the children who are born are witnesses of wickedness against their parents in their interrogation." Or "they are satisfied with children," that is, for the benefit of their children, "and they divided their remains to their little ones," whom they obligated to sin as far as they could. Mt. 27: "His blood be upon us and upon our children." Or "they are satisfied with children," that is, on behalf of their children; as if to say: they are so filled with sins that it sufficed for them and for their children; that is, the remaining sins that they themselves did not commit, they left for their children to commit. If in the second way, then: they received a twofold benefit. First, spiritual, because the law. And therefore he says, "from your hidden stores" of wisdom, "their belly is filled," that is, their carnal sense. Ps. 147: "He has not done likewise to every nation." Second, temporal goods, because "they are satisfied with children," and what is more, they left them to them. Jerome's reading has, from that place: "Rescue my soul from the wicked one, who is, as it were, your sword" -- Is. 10: "Woe to Assyria, the rod of fury" -- "from the men of your hand, who are dead in the depths, whose portion is in this life"; as if to say: rescue my soul from the wicked one, that is, from Saul, "and from the men of your hand," who resist your hand, "who are dead in the depths," that is, in sin, "whose portion is in this life, whose belly is filled," etc. Saul, according to the Gloss, signifies death; and just as David reigned in peace after the death of Saul, so Christ, having conquered death, after the resurrection.

This Psalm is termed a prayer because the language of petition is predominant. With a just cause, sincerely presented, the writer prays for a just decision and help and protection. Pleading former mercies as a ground of hope, he urges his prayer in view of the malice, pride, rapacity, and selfishness of his foes, whose character is contrasted with his pious devotion and delight in God's favor. (Psa 17:1-15) sentence--acquitting judgment. from thy presence--Thy tribunal. things that are equal--just and right, do Thou regard.

men . . . world--all men of this present time. They appear, by fulness of bread and large families, to be prosperous; but (Psa 17:15) he implies this will be transient, contrasting his better portion in a joyful union with God hereafter. Next: Psalms Chapter 18