Psalm 17:1-15, ESV
A Prayer of David. Hear a just cause, O LORD; attend to my cry! Give ear to my prayer from lips free of deceit! From your presence let my vindication come! Let your eyes behold the right! You have tried my heart, you have visited me by night, you have tested me, and you will find nothing; I have purposed that my mouth will not transgress. With regard to the works of man, by the word of your lips I have avoided the ways of the violent. My steps have held fast to your paths; my feet have not slipped.
I call upon you, for you will answer me, O God; incline your ear to me; hear my words. Wondrously show your steadfast love, O Savior of those who seek refuge from their adversaries at your right hand. Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings, from the wicked who do me violence, my deadly enemies who surround me. They close their hearts to pity; with their mouths they speak arrogantly. They have now surrounded our steps; they set their eyes to cast us to the ground.
He is like a lion eager to tear, as a young lion lurking in ambush. Arise, O LORD! Confront him, subdue him! Deliver my soul from the wicked by your sword, from men by your hand, O LORD, from men of the world whose portion is in this life. You fill their womb with treasure; they are satisfied with children, and they leave their abundance to their infants. As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness; when I awake, I shall be satisfied with your likeness.
Psalm 17:1-15, JN paraphrase
LORD, hear me as one who has been tried and tested by You. I have been vindicated by Your close examination that I speak as a man without deceit. My feet have not slipped from the path ordained by You.
Now LORD, God, the Almighty, answer my call, demonstrate Your steadfast love for those who seek your Face. Support me as the apple of Your eye, as one hidden in the shadow of Your wings. The wicked have attempted to assault me aided by the desperate enemies who seek to turn You against me. They are identified by their haughty and arrogant demeanor and their compulsion to destroy me and mine on Your eyes.
O, LORD, save me and mine from those whose only portion is in this life; they have no vision of the life to come in Your presence. They have no sense of the joy to come when I behold Your Face, and the righteousness that emanates from You.
Recommended Reading
Time for another one from T. M. Moore: Restore Us! A Call to Serious Prayer for Revival. BTW: All of his books at the Fellowship of Ailbe Bookstore are FREE with a $5 S&H fee.
