Finding Yourself in the Psalms
Psalm 17
The Confident Prayer of the Righteous
How do you pray during difficult times? Pleading?
Begging? Crying?
(Psalm 34:15, NIV) "The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their cry;"
(2 Chronicles 6:19, NIV) "Yet give attention to your servant’s prayer and his plea for mercy, O
Lord my God. Hear the cry and the prayer that your servant is praying in your presence."
17:1 “Hear. . .”
17:1 “listen. . .”
17:2 “. . .see”
I. Can a child of God be blameless? 17:1-3
A. Solomon: (2 Chronicles 6:36, NIV) "“When they sin against you—for there is no one who does not sin—and you become angry with them and give them over to the enemy, who takes them captive to a land far away or near;"
B. (Psalm 139:23-24, NIV) "Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting."
C. (Job 17:5, NIV) "If a man denounces his friends for reward, the eyes of his children will fail."
D. (Job 31:6, NIV) "let God weigh me in honest scales and he will know that I am blameless—"
E. (Psalm 7:8, NIV) "let the Lord judge the peoples. Judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness, according to my integrity, O Most High."
F. (Psalm 41:12, NIV) "In my integrity you uphold me and set me in your presence forever."
G. (Proverbs 11:3, NIV) "The integrity of the upright guides them, but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity."
H. (Proverbs 20:7, NIV) "The righteous man leads a blameless life; blessed are his
children after him.
I. (1 Kings 9:4-5, NIV) "“As for you, if you walk before me in integrity of heart and uprightness, as David your father did, and do all I command and observe my decrees and laws, I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever, as I promised David your father when I said, ‘You shall never fail to have a man on the throne of Israel.’”
J. “Let this not be regarded as pharisaic on the part of David, even though it be not in keeping with Christian humility. The innocence professed is specially in
regard to the occasion of the psalmist’s present distress” Scrogie, 110.
II. How is David regarded as blamess?
A. His DECISION. V. 3 “I have resolved. . .”
B. His DEDICATION. V. 5 “My feet have not slipped. . .”
C. His DESIRE. V. 7 “Show the wonder of your great love. . .”
III. The Blessing of INTEGRITY
A. Prayer. “If I regard. . .” Ps 66:18
B. Relationship. “Owe no man anythin, except to love one another” Rom 13::8
C. Moral authority. Gal 6:1-2; Mat 7
D. Clear Conscience. E. Fruitfulness.
F. Availability for God. (2 Chronicles 16:9, NIV) "For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. You have done a foolish thing, and from now on you will be at war.”"
G. “A man of integrity has nothing to hide. He has nothing to fear, He has nothing
to prove. And he has nothing to lose except his wh0leness and honesty”Hendricks
There is a fine line between the confidence which comes from integrity and the arrogance which comes from pride. To the onlooker, the two man look alike. But the difference is determined in the HEART and will eventually be seen in our speech and conduct.
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