Daily Devotions
Psalms
"Concerning the works of men"
Day 118 – Psalm 17
“Concerning the works of men” Psalm 17:4a
NOT PLEADING SINLESS PERFECTION
Though David was confident that when God examined his heart He would “find nothing” (Psalm 17:3c), he did not present himself as one who was sinless. How then should we understand this text?
CONSCIOUS KEEPING OF GOD’S WORD
The following text may shed some light as to how David knew that he would be vindicated by God.
“Concerning the works of men,
By the word of Your lips, I have kept away
from the paths of the destroyer.”
Psalm 17:4
1. “Concerning the works of men”
a) David had studied carefully “the works of men”.
b) He knew how God would judge people:-
i) The wicked would be judged by their evil deeds (Psalm 7, 9)
ii) The atheists would be judged by their rejection of that which is good and godly, and their practice of wicked deeds (Psalm 14)
iii) The idolatrous would be judged also by their wicked deeds (Psalm 16)
2. “By the word of Your lips”
a) God had revealed to Israel His laws and His statutes.
b) The laws of God were well known to the nation.
c) David intimates knowledge of “the word of (God’s) lips”.
3. “I have kept away from the paths of the destroyer”
a) David knew that God’s anger was directed at those who were “destroyers”.
b) This was a term that described “murderers”.
IN CONTEXT
David’s case would probably have involved “dangerous murderers” who might have plotted his death! He was not like them and thus he had “a just cause” to plead.