Why read Psalm 17?
Read Psalm 17 to give thanks after coming through a difficult time. Its acknowledgment of God as strength and refuge encourages you to remember past help when facing new challenges.
You can read this psalm when its themes speak to your circumstances, or as part of your regular reading of the Psalter. This explanation draws on the text itself; the psalm is not reserved for one particular need.
The complete text of Psalm 17 (54 verses), from Kathisma 3 of the Psalter. The opening words — “I will love You, Lord, my strength. The Lord is...” — are also the traditional “name” of the psalm: our grandmothers did not say “psalm 17”, but called it by its opening words.
Text of Psalm 17
1. I will love You, Lord, my strength. The Lord is my stronghold and my refuge and my deliverer,
2. My God, my helper, and I will hope in Him,
3. My defender and the power of my salvation and my supporter.
4. With praise I will call upon the Lord, and I will be delivered from my enemies.
5. The pains of death surrounded me, and the rivers of lawlessness troubled me.
6. The pains of hell surrounded me; the snares of death confronted me.
7. And when they afflicted me I called upon the Lord, and I cried to my God.
8. He heard my voice from His holy dwelling, and my cry before Him will enter His ears.
9. And the earth shook and trembled, and the foundations of the mountains were troubled and shaken, because God was angry with them.
10. In His anger smoke rose, and a flame of fire from His face, burning coals from Him.
11. And He bowed the heavens and came down, and darkness was beneath His feet.
12. And He mounted the cherubim and flew; He flew upon the wings of the wind.
13. And He made darkness His covering, His tent around Him, dark water in the clouds of the air.
14. At the brightness of His face the clouds fled, His voice through hail and coals of fire.
15. And the Lord thundered from heaven, and the Most High uttered His voice.
16. He sent arrows and scattered them, and multiplied lightning and troubled them.
17. And the springs of the waters appeared, and the foundations of the world were uncovered,
18. At Your rebuke, Lord, at the breath of the Spirit of Your anger.
19. He sent from on high and took me; He lifted me from many waters.
20. Deliver me from my strong enemies and from those who hate me, for they have grown stronger than I.
21. They confronted me on the day of my affliction, but the Lord was my stronghold
22. And brought me out into a spacious place; He delivered me because He desired me.
23. And the Lord will repay me according to my righteousness, and according to the purity of my hands He will repay me,
24. For I kept the ways of the Lord and was not unfaithful to my God.
25. For all His judgments are before me, and His precepts have not departed from me.
26. And I will be blameless with Him, and I will guard myself against my iniquity.
27. And the Lord will repay me according to my righteousness and according to the purity of my hands before His eyes.
28. With the devout You will be devout; and with the innocent man You will be innocent.
29. And with the chosen You will be chosen; and with the stubborn You will be stubborn.
30. For You will save the humble people, and You will humble the eyes of the proud.
31. For You will light my lamp, Lord; my God, You will illuminate my darkness.
32. For with You I will be delivered from temptation, and with my God I will cross the wall.
33. My God, His way is blameless, the words of the Lord refined in fire; He is a shield to all who hope in Him.
34. For who is God apart from the Lord? And who is God apart from our God?
35. God, who girds me with strength and has made my way blameless.
36. He who makes my feet like those of the deer and sets me upon the heights.
37. You who strengthen my hands in time of war, and have placed a bronze bow in my arms.
38. And You gave me the shield of my salvation, and Your right hand supported me.
39. And Your rebuke corrected me to the end, and Your rebuke itself will teach me.
40. You widened my steps beneath me, and my feet did not weaken.
41. I will pursue my enemies and catch them, and will not return until they are finished.
42. I will crush them, and they will not be able to stand; they will fall beneath my feet.
43. And You girded me with strength for war and hindered all who rose against me.
44. And You made my enemies flee, and destroyed those who hate me.
45. They cried to the Lord, and there was no one to save them; and He did not hear them.
46. And I will break them like dust before the wind; like the mud of the streets I will crush them.
47. Deliver me from the rebellions of the people; You made me the head of the nations.
48. A people whom I did not know served me. With the hearing of the ear they heard me.
49. Foreign sons lied to me. Foreign sons grew old and limped away from their paths.
50. The Lord lives, and blessed is my God, and let the God of my salvation be exalted.
51. God, who gave me victory and subjected peoples to me; my Deliverer from furious enemies,
52. Above those who rise against me, lift me up; deliver me from the unjust man.
53. For this I will praise You among the nations, Lord, and I will sing Your name.
54. You who increase the salvation of Your king and show mercy to Your anointed, to David and his offspring forever.
When Psalm 17 is read
- It belongs to Kathisma 3; it is recited in private prayer, especially for peace and understanding.
- At the end of each psalm, the tradition adds: "Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, both now and ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen."
Neighboring psalms
The numbering follows the Orthodox Psalter (Septuagint). The same psalm may have a different number in other Bible editions.
