Psalm 17:3














The psalmist seems to have been one of the children of Israel scattered abroad. From the midst of a strange country he looks with a wistful eye towards the far-off land of his youth. Tried and persecuted by the worldly and profane, he takes refuge under the sheltering wings of Jehovah, his father's God. If he was not David, he has the spirit of David. There are foreshadowings and foregleams of gospel times, in the ideas as to "the world," the "loving-kindness," and saving power of the Lord; and the blessed hope of satisfaction in God. This verse leads us to consider the visits of God in the night.

I. REFRESHMENT. The divisions of time have to do with man (Genesis 1:5; Psalm 104:20).

"God has set labour and rest,
As day and night to men successive,
And the timely dew of sleep." When night comes, it brings, not only relief from toil, but needed rest in sleep. In this we see the mercy of God. Like the sunshine and the rain, sleep is a common gift from God to men. Sleep also often brings return of health. How often is it said of some beloved one, with trembling hope, "If he sleep, he shall do well" (John 11:12)!

II. PROTECTION. We associate the day with safety (John 11:9). On the other hand, night is the season when not only wild beasts, but lawless men, seek their prey (Psalm cir. 20, 21; Job 24:14-17; 1 Thessalonians 3:7). There may be dangers unseen and unknown (Psalm 91:5, 6). Besides, there are perils from evil thoughts and the wiles of the wicked one. But come what will, God is our sure Defence. He visits us in love and mercy. He watches over us with untiring vigilance (Psalm 121:3). The angel of judgment may be abroad, but under the shelter of the blood of the covenant we are safe. Even though God should say, "This night thy soul shall be required of thee," it will be in love, and not in wrath. Even should we be taken away in our sleep, it will be to light, and not to darkness. Hence we may say, "I will lay me down in peace, and sleep; for thou, Lord, only makest me dwell in safety" (Psalm 4:8).

III. INSTRUCTION. God has access to us at all times. He speaks to us continually by day, when our ears are open; but he also speaks to us, as he sees cause, by night, in dreams and visions, and when he holds our souls waking. Of this we have many examples in the Bible, and who is there who has not had some knowledge of this in his own experience? Dreams and visions are, for the most part, vain things; but there are even dreams and visions that have been found to be visits of God and turning-points in life. But it is when we have hours of sleeplessness that precious opportunities occur of communing in our hearts with God. Then there is not only quietness, but solitude. We are alone with God, and if we recognize his presence and hearken to his Word, we shall have cause to say, with thankfulness, "Thou hast visited me in the night." Sleeplessness, if prolonged, if it becomes a habit, is a sore evil; but sleepless hours may be turned to great profit. We have then the opportunity for quiet thought, for self-examination, for converse with God. Perhaps the past, with its joys and sorrows, rises before us, or we are troubled about the present or the future; but God is ever near, to counsel and to comfort us. "He giveth songs in the night" (Job 35:10). "One practical lesson at least may be remembered as bearing on this subject - the duty of storing the mind, while we are yet comparatively young and strong, with that which, in the hours of sleeplessness and pain, will enable us to rise up to God. A mind well stored with Holy Scripture, with good prayers and hymns, need never feel that the waking hours of the night are lost. We may do more, for the soul's true sanctification and peace, than many others in their own brief earthly pilgrimage" (Canon Liddon). - W.F.

Thou hast visited me in the night.
God has two daily messengers of His love for men, bringing to them His gifts of love — Day and Night. Let us think of His visitations to us by night, when we are still and when He would have us reflect. The Psalm is evidently an evening Psalm.

I. HOW WELL IT IS THAT THE DAY SHOULD CLOSE WITH REFLECTION, that God should visit us thus. Rest alone would be a visitation from God, His gift. But sleep is the better when we pass to it from prayer. If a knock comes to the door at night when all is quiet how it startles us. In the day we should not notice it, but at night we needs must. And Christ may say, "I came in the day but was not heard; behold, I now stand at the door and knock." It is well to reflect at the close of each day on each day. In the bustle of business we do not understand the meaning of our life. Perhaps we never shall till the bustle of all life's days is done and we stand on "the safe and quiet shore of eternity." There are, too, our own ways that need to be understood. Conscience needs to be quickened, and one day it will be. Just as the manipulations of the photographer in the dark chamber bring forth a picture which has been burnt into the plate by rays o flight before, that when completed it may be brought to light again, and men may see what manner of men they were; so in the dark chambers of the dead, in the hidden spirit world, there shall be a quickening of conscience. And God has given to us the darkness of night in which, away from busy life, we may bring forth the pictures of the day that are imprinted on conscience. Cultivate this photography of life.

II. AND THERE IS THE NIGHT OF TROUBLE. God visits those who trust Him then. Let there be also in this night reflection, review. Memory is given us that we may not depend for happiness on the present. And review in this night your conduct in your joys. Ah, who is worthy of their joy? Be willing then to bear the night. "God's blessings come in the night," so says a German proverb. There is no night in which God is not near us. No, not the last eventide, the darkest of all In Christ we need not foal

(T. Gasquoine, B. A.)

There is no necessary contrast between what are called the scientific and the religious aspects of nature. Science keeps its eye upon the facts of nature, carefully verifies and measures them, and seeks to discover their exact relations to each other. Religion, too, is interested in nature, and behind each natural fact sees chiefly Him to whom both effect and cause are traceable. Religion is more necessary to us men than science, and therefore God has taught us religion first of all. The succession of day and night will illustrate what I am saying. We know the physical causes of night, but it has another and a higher meaning, and this is hinted at in our text. The religious aspects of night are many. It strikes us first of all —

I. AS AN INTERRUPTION. It breaks in upon and suspends all human occupation. At the very least eight hours in the twenty-four, a quarter of a century in the life of a man of seventy-five, are withdrawn from the demands of labour, And as each day the shadow of night creeping around the world advances, millions of human workers hail the approaching pause in toil which is thus mercifully imposed upon them. Man might have been so fashioned as not to need this, but this enforced suspension of activity cannot but suggest a meaning. It suggests not merely the limited stock of strength at our disposal which needs thus often to be refreshed and replenished, but it also reminds us that we have a higher life than that of the activity of the day, and which shall last when all belonging to this shall have passed away.

II. NIGHT SUGGESTS DANGER. The daylight is of itself protection. When it is withdrawn much becomes possible which it forbids. Night is the opportunity of wild beasts and of evil men. They ply their trade during its dark and silent hours. And thus St. Paul describes the workers of darkness as "unfruitful." Our Lord compares the unexpectedness of His second coming "as a thief in the night." If, indeed, St. Paul were to visit London on the afternoon of a bank holiday, it is to be feared that he would have to reconsider his remark that "they that be drunken are drunken in the night." Still, on the whole, the night is the season of peril and disaster. We yet need to pray God that He would "protect us from all perils and dangers of this night." For notwithstanding brilliantly lighted streets and well organised police there are yet special perils — such as those of fire in our large and lofty houses, from which the tenants of rude huts and shepherds cabins would find ready escape. It is with civilised as with savage man, God is, in the last resort, our only Protector.

III. NIGHT IS A TIME DURING WHICH GOD OFTEN SPEAKS TO THE SOUL OF MAN. No believer in God's existence can reasonably deny that He can communicate with the mind of man. We think sleeplessness a great misfortune, but it may be a great blessing. For never does God speak more solemnly, more persuasively to the human soul, than in the waking hours of night. Then conscience has a chance; we listen and hear no other voice. Conscience revives the past, and the eye of sense rests upon no object which can compete with and efface the awful impression. Then religion asserts its empire, and we acknowledge to ourselves with sorrow how much we have forgotten or despised that had the first of all claims upon us. See the many references in the Psalms to these holy uses of the night. One practical lesson, at least, we may remember as bearing upon this subject — the duty of storing the mind while we are yet comparatively young and strong with that which in the hours of sleeplessness and pain will enable us to rise up to God. A mind thus well stored need never fear that the waking hours of night are lost.

(Canon Liddon.)

I am purposed that my mouth shall not transgress.
Homilist.
Such was the pious resolution of the Psalmist when the tongues of his enemies were transgressing both against him and his God. Silence would produce the better effect, both on his own mind and on his enemies.

I. THE EVIL WHICH THE PSALMIST DREADED. Transgressing with his tongue. The tongue, indeed, is only the channel through which the depravity of the heart proceeds, but it is a channel of remarkable facility. It is liable to transgress —

1. Against God. By murmuring at the providence of God.

2. Against mankind. There are cruel expressions of malice and revenge sometimes uttered by one man against another to ruin his character. There are those who injure religion and their character by a propensity to speak with levity or bitterness. There are those who transgress by flattery-an evil more injurious than the keenest reproach sometimes.

II. THE BEST MEANS OF AVOIDING THIS EVIL. "If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man." What does this purpose imply?

1. A serious regard to Divine inspection and authority.

2. Attention to the state of the heart.

3. We should aim to cultivate religious knowledge, and promote, at every proper opportunity, religious conversation. The most likely way to preserve the tongue from evil is to employ it in what is valuable and useful Prepared by the secret exercises of piety and devotion, we shall enjoy the full delights of domestic and social life without injury and without remorse.

(Homilist.)

A friend of Archbishop Leighton said that, in free and frequent intercourse with him for twenty-two years, "I never knew him say an idle word, or a word that had not a direct tendency to edification; and I never once saw him in any other temper but that I wished to be in at the last moment of my life."

People
David, Psalmist, Saul
Places
Jerusalem
Topics
Beyond, Disobey, Evil, Examine, Findest, Hast, Heart, Inspected, Mouth, Nothing, Pass, Probe, Proved, Purpose, Purposed, Resolved, Searching, Sin, Test, Tested, Testest, Though, Thoughts, Transgress, Tried, Triest, Visited, Visitest, Wickedness, Wilt
Outline
1. David, in confidence of his integrity, craves defense of God against his enemies
10. He shows their pride, craft, and eagerness
13. He prays against them in confidence of his hope

Dictionary of Bible Themes
Psalm 17:3

     5549   speech, positive
     8319   perception, spiritual
     8339   self-control
     8832   testing

Library
The Two Awakings
'I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with Thy likeness.' --PSALM xvii. 15. 'As a dream when one awaketh; so, O Lord, when Thou awakest, Thou shalt despise their image.'--PSALM lxxiii. 20. Both of these Psalms are occupied with that standing puzzle to Old Testament worthies--the good fortune of bad men, and the bad fortune of good ones. The former recounts the personal calamities of David, its author. The latter gives us the picture of the perplexity of Asaph its writer, when he 'saw the prosperity
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Hope of Future Bliss
In looking at this passage to-night, we shall notice first of all, the spirit of it; secondly, the matter of it; and then, thirdly, we shall close by speaking of the contrast which is implied in it. I. First, then, the SPIRIT OF THIS UTTERANCE, for I always love to look at the spirit in which a man writes, or the spirit in which he preaches; in fact, there is vastly more in that than in the words he uses. Now, what should you think is the spirit of these words? "As for me, I will behold thy face
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 1: 1855

Mysterious visits.
AN ADDRESS TO A LITTLE COMPANY AT THE COMMUNION TABLE AT MENTONE."Thou hast visited me in the night."--Psalm xvii. 3. MYSTERIOUS VISITS. IT is a theme for wonder that the glorious God should visit sinful man. "What is man, that Thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that Thou visitest him?" A divine visit is a joy to be treasured whenever we are favoured with it. David speaks of it with great solemnity. The Psalmist was not content barely to speak of it; but he wrote it down in plain terms,
Charles Hadden Spurgeon—Till He Come

Out of the Deep of Fear and Anxiety.
My heart is disquieted within me. Tearfulness and trembling are come upon me, and an horrible dread hath overwhelmed me.--Ps. lv. 4. Thou hast proved and visited my heart in the night season--Ps. xvii. 3. Nevertheless though I am sometimes afraid, yet put I my trust in Thee.--Ps. lv. 3. The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?--Ps. xxvii. 1. I sought the Lord and He heard me and delivered me from all my fear.--Ps.
Charles Kingsley—Out of the Deep

His Journey to South Russia.
1853. The call which John Yeardley had received to visit the German colonies in South Russia, and which had lain for a long time dormant, now revived. A friend who had watched with regret his unsuccessful attempts on former journeys to enter that jealous country, and who augured from the political changes which had taken place that permission might probably now be obtained, brought the subject again under his notice. The admonition was timely and effectual. After carefully pondering the matter--with,
John Yeardley—Memoir and Diary of John Yeardley, Minister of the Gospel

My God Will Hear Me
"Therefore will the Lord wait, that He may be gracious unto you. Blessed are all they that wait for Him. He will be very gracious unto thee at the voice of thy cry; when He shall hear it, He will answer thee."--ISA. xxx. 18, 19. "The Lord will hear when I call upon Him."--PS. iv. 3. "I have called upon Thee, for Thou wilt hear me, O God!"--PS. xvii. 6. "I will look unto the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me."--MIC. vii. 7. The power of prayer rests in the faith
Andrew Murray—The Ministry of Intercession

How a Desolate Man Ought to Commit Himself into the Hands of God
O Lord, Holy Father, be Thou blessed now and evermore; because as Thou wilt so it is done, and what Thou doest is good. Let Thy servant rejoice in Thee, not in himself, nor in any other; because Thou alone art the true joy, Thou art my hope and my crown, Thou art my joy and my honour, O Lord. What hath Thy servant, which he received not from Thee, even without merit of his own? Thine are all things which Thou hast given, and which Thou hast made. I am poor and in misery even from my youth up,(1)
Thomas A Kempis—Imitation of Christ

Twelfth Sunday after Trinity Gospel Transcends Law.
Text: 2 Corinthians 3, 4-11. 4 And such confidence have we through Christ to God-ward: 5 not that we are sufficient of ourselves, to account anything as from ourselves; but our sufficiency is from God; 6 who also made us sufficient as ministers of a new covenant; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life. 7 But if the ministration of death, written, and engraven on stones, came with glory, so that the children of Israel could not look stedfastly upon
Martin Luther—Epistle Sermons, Vol. III

Seasonable Counsel: Or, Advice to Sufferers.
BY JOHN BUNYAN. London: Printed for Benjamin Alsop, at the Angel and Bible in the Poultry, 1684. ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR. THIS valuable treatise was first published in a pocket volume in 1684, and has only been reprinted in Whitfield's edition of Bunyan's works, 2 vols. folio, 1767. No man could have been better qualified to give advice to sufferers for righteousness' sake, than John Bunyan: and this work is exclusively devoted to that object. Shut up in a noisome jail, under the iron hand of
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

An Exhortation to Love God
1. An exhortation. Let me earnestly persuade all who bear the name of Christians to become lovers of God. "O love the Lord, all ye his saints" (Psalm xxxi. 23). There are but few that love God: many give Him hypocritical kisses, but few love Him. It is not so easy to love God as most imagine. The affection of love is natural, but the grace is not. Men are by nature haters of God (Rom. i. 30). The wicked would flee from God; they would neither be under His rules, nor within His reach. They fear God,
Thomas Watson—A Divine Cordial

The Resemblance Between the Old Testament and the New.
1. Introduction, showing the necessity of proving the similarity of both dispensations in opposition to Servetus and the Anabaptists. 2. This similarity in general. Both covenants truly one, though differently administered. Three things in which they entirely agree. 3. First general similarity, or agreement--viz. that the Old Testament, equally with the New, extended its promises beyond the present life, and held out a sure hope of immortality. Reason for this resemblance. Objection answered. 4.
John Calvin—The Institutes of the Christian Religion

Second Sunday Before Lent
Text: Second Corinthians 11, 19-33; 12, 1-9. 19 For ye bear with the foolish gladly, being wise yourselves. 20 For ye bear with a man, if he bringeth you into bondage, if he devoureth you, if he taketh you captive, if he exalteth himself, if he smiteth you on the face. 21 I speak by way of disparagement, as though we had been weak. Yet whereinsoever any is bold (I speak in foolishness), I am bold also. 22 Are they Hebrews? so am I. Are they Israelites? so am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? so am
Martin Luther—Epistle Sermons, Vol. II

The Blessed Privilege of Seeing God Explained
They shall see God. Matthew 5:8 These words are linked to the former and they are a great incentive to heart-purity. The pure heart shall see the pure God. There is a double sight which the saints have of God. 1 In this life; that is, spiritually by the eye of faith. Faith sees God's glorious attributes in the glass of his Word. Faith beholds him showing forth himself through the lattice of his ordinances. Thus Moses saw him who was invisible (Hebrews 11:27). Believers see God's glory as it were
Thomas Watson—The Beatitudes: An Exposition of Matthew 5:1-12

Departure from Ireland. Death and Burial at Clairvaux.
[Sidenote: 1148, May (?)] 67. (30). Being asked once, in what place, if a choice were given him, he would prefer to spend his last day--for on this subject the brothers used to ask one another what place each would select for himself--he hesitated, and made no reply. But when they insisted, he said, "If I take my departure hence[821] I shall do so nowhere more gladly than whence I may rise together with our Apostle"[822]--he referred to St. Patrick; "but if it behoves me to make a pilgrimage, and
H. J. Lawlor—St. Bernard of Clairvaux's Life of St. Malachy of Armagh

Psalms
The piety of the Old Testament Church is reflected with more clearness and variety in the Psalter than in any other book of the Old Testament. It constitutes the response of the Church to the divine demands of prophecy, and, in a less degree, of law; or, rather, it expresses those emotions and aspirations of the universal heart which lie deeper than any formal demand. It is the speech of the soul face to face with God. Its words are as simple and unaffected as human words can be, for it is the genius
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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