Psalm 17

Welcome to God's Word for You, a ministry of Sharon R.P. Church in Morning Sun, Iowa. Check us out online at www.sharonrpc.org. We pray that this message will be a blessing to you and that the Lord will use it to transform your faith and your life. Hey, hey, good morning.
Welcome to Coffee and Devotions this Tuesday morning. This is where every day you and I, we get together. We get into God's word and we grow in our love for the Lord together. And this year, 2021, we'll make it through all the wisdom literature. Well, this morning we are at Psalm 17. Why don't we go ahead and have some coffee? We'll pray and we'll get into God's word.
Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for this day. What a rich blessing it is to be your children and to know that you hear us. Lord, we pray that you would care for us this morning. Watch over us and bless us in Jesus' name. Amen. All right, here we go. Psalm 17. Hear a just cause, O Lord. Attend to my cry. Give ear to my prayer, which is not from deceitful lips. Let my vindication come from your presence. Let your eyes look on the things that are upright. You have tested my heart. You had visited me in the night. You have tried me and have found nothing.
I have purpose that my mouth shall not transgress. Concerning the works of men, by the word of your lips, I have kept away from the path of the destroyer. Uphold my steps in your paths, that my footsteps may not slip. I have called upon you, for you will hear me, O God. Incline your ear to me and hear my speech. Show your marvelous love and kindness by your right hand. Oh, you who save those who trust in you from those who rise up against them. Keep me as the apple of your eye. Hide me under the shadow of your wings from the wicked who oppress me, from my deadly enemies who surround me.
They have closed up their fat hearts. With their mouths they speak proudly. They have now surrounded us in our steps. They have set their eyes crouching down to the earth as a lion is eager to tear its prey. And like a young lion lurking in secret places, arise, Lord, confront him, cast him down. Deliver my life from the wicked. with your sword, with your hand from men, O Lord, from men of the world who have their portion in this life and whose bellies you fill with your hidden treasure.
They are satisfied with children and leave the rest of their possession for their babes. As for me, I will see your face in righteousness. I shall be satisfied when I wake in your likeness. Wow, what an amazing Psalm before us this morning. We need to ask ourselves, A, what is this about? B, what's the best verse to summarize this? And C, what are we called to do in response to these words? So A, what is this about?
Well, we find here in the first part, we have David crying out to the Lord to hear him. David crying out that God would listen to his prayers, listen to his cries. David's in a dark spot here. His enemies have surrounded him. And so what's he saying? He's saying, God, look at those who are upright. God, you've tested my heart. You have visited me in the night. You have tried and found nothing. I purpose that my mouth shall not transgress. David is saying, search me. God, you have searched me. Hear me.
Now it's amazing that we know this is a prayer of David and we know that David is praying this out of his experience. And yet we know that David elsewhere, Psalm 32 and Psalm 51, we know that he didn't have a completely pure heart. We know that he didn't always have pure motives. And so it's in this prophetic voice that we hear this is Jesus's prayer as well. The Psalms are most, most, concentratedly, most powerfully showing us the heart of Jesus. We know that, yes, David really prayed these prayers, and he could pray them, and you can pray them too, but we don't pray them in and of ourselves. We pray them in Christ. As we're in Christ, we're found righteous. As we're in Christ, we can come to this and we can know that these things are true. but concerning the works of men."
And he compares himself with those around him, right? And he calls out to God. He calls out to God to show his marvelous, loving kindness. Isn't that amazing? I'm going to go ahead and just jump ahead here. I'm going to highlight verse 7. What a beautiful passage, right?
That God hears and saves those whom he loves. His marvelous loving kindness there is the word chesed, grace, faithfulness, God's utter commitment and loyalty to his loved ones, his people. But you might also say, well, verse eight is pretty good too. We'll go ahead and underline verse eight as well. Keep me as the apple of your eye, hide me under the shadow of your wings.
David is crying out for God to rescue him, for God to remember his love towards him. that God would shield him, God would care for him. And then he does pray against those who are God's enemies. We need to remember that David is the king of Israel. Likewise, Jesus is the king of kings and the Lord of lords and those who fight against the sun. Well, Psalm 2 told us his wrath will break out against them.
And so we look here and we see that they have, I love the imagery here, they have closed up their fat hearts. They love the opulence of this world. They love the things of this world and not the things of God. And so we might be uncomfortable with these types of things, but yet at times, Jesus does say, Father, forgive them for they do not know what they do. Father, forgive them for they do not know what they do.
And he repeats this as he's on the cross. And yet at the same time, it's also Jesus in the book of Revelation who comes with his robe dipped in blood, who has the sword at his right hand and out of his mouth comes a sharp double-edged sword. It is Jesus Christ who will subdue the nations. And so we know that this is both of these things, right? That God is merciful to those whom he chooses to show mercy, but he is also zealous for righteousness. And so David cries out that way.
But he asks that God would keep him as the apple of his eye. And this last part is really interesting too, speaking of the resurrection. As for me, I will see your face in righteousness. I will be satisfied when I wake in your likeness. What an amazing truth. For those who are the objects of God's marvelous love and kindness. We will see him face-to-face. One day you will, if you are in Christ, see him face-to-face. And as these words on the screen tell us, I shall be satisfied when I wake in your likeness, in your resurrected body. You will see God and live with him forever if you are in Christ Jesus.
So do you cry out to him? Will you be like him who cries out that, oh you save, those who trust in you, from those who rise up against them. Will you cry out, oh Lord, save me? Will you pray to God that he would make you the apple of his eye? Would you confess with your mouth your sins and believe in your heart that God raised Jesus Christ from the dead? If so, you will see his face and you will be raised again in his likeness.
Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for the gospel promises which we find here in Psalm 17. Lord, we pray that you would remember us in your marvelous love and kindness, that you would keep us in the shadow of your wing, that you would let us be the apple of your eye, and that you would give us the hope of seeing your face. In Jesus' name, amen. May the Lord bless you today. May you rest in Jesus Christ, and may you have hope to do your work for His glory.
See you tomorrow morning. Bye. We pray that the message would be used by God to transform your faith in your life this week. If you'd like to get more information about us, feel free to go to the website, SharonRPC.org. We'd love to invite you to worship with us. Our worship time is 10 a.m. every Sunday at 25204 160th Avenue, Morning Sun, Iowa, 52640. May God richly bless you this week.