The Person of God

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Psalm 17

There are 11 grammatical links between Psalms 16 and 17 which suggests they are to be taken as a pair.  Psalm 17 is the first Psalm thus far that is specifically designated as “A Prayer”.  This great Psalm does 2 things for us; it gives us a model for our prayers and also reveals that God is very interested in what goes on in our physical world.

Have you ever felt like so much Bible preaching and teaching doesn’t give you comfort and security in your relationship with God in our present physical world?  Does it seem like the truth of God is abstract and vague?

Let us find great solace in the God of the physical realm as He comforts us with His Person!

This Psalm is both a model and the embodiment of genuine prayer.  Let us learn from king David who was a master in the art of supplication!     

1. A Model Prayer: This is one of the most striking features of this great Psalm.  David asks God to do something and then immediately follows up his request with succinct reasons why God should give him what he asks for.  There are 3 requests which are followed by undergirding statements which act as supports for David’s prayers:  
   1. The Prayer for Prayer to be Heard: Verses 1-2.  Notice the words “hear” “attend to my cry” and “give ear”.
   2. The Proclamation of Innocence: Verses 3-5.  Notice the words “you have tried” “you have visited” and “you have tested”.  This is highlighting the “thoroughness of God’s searching gaze” The refining fires.
   3. The Prayer for God’s Steadfast Love: Verses 6-9.  David “asks that Israel’s story become the suppliant’s story, asks for a personal exodus deliverance as someone who relies on Yhwh.”
   4. The Protest Against Enemies: Verses 10-12.
   5. The Prayer for the Downfall of Enemies: Verse 13-14.
   6. The Declaration of Trust: Verse 15.
2. An Embodied Prayer: Did you notice the constant emphasis on the various parts of the body in this Psalm?  
   1. David embodies a personal crisis
   2. God is God of the physical world
   3. God is a real person
   4. The Aaronic Blessing: Numbers 6:22-26 
   5. We have a Great High Priest: Hebrews 4:14-16.  The greatest deliverance of all is when Christ our High Priest came to recapitulate as the new Head of Adam’s Race.  In other words, Christ became us to redeem us.  The grace of God has been coming in the flesh long before and long after Christ.  Christ is the culmination of God’s presence in the physical world.  God come to us in the flesh because we are flesh.

As we consider Christ our Great High Priest let us come boldly to God’s gracious throne and learn how to sharpen and hone our prayers according to the example of Psalm 17.