Concerning the works of men, by the word of thy lips I have kept me from the paths of the destroyer.
Psalm 17:4 continues David’s appeal of integrity before God. He has asked the LORD to hear the right, attend unto his cry, and let his sentence come forth from God’s presence (vv.1-2). He has confessed that God proved his heart, visited him in the night, tried him, and would find no wicked design in the cause before Him (v.3). He has also purposed that his mouth shall not transgress (v.3). Now he explains how he has kept himself from the corrupt paths of violent and destructive men: “by the word of thy lips.”
“Concerning the works of men.” David is speaking about human conduct. Men have works, ways, patterns, devices, examples, customs, ambitions, and practices. Some works are lawful and honourable; many are corrupt and destructive. The saint must judge the works of men by something higher than the works of men. David did not measure his path by Saul’s actions, the counsel of fearful men, the pressure of enemies, the habits of the age, or the passions of his own heart. He measured the works of men by the word of God.
This is necessary because the works of men are often persuasive. Men can make evil appear successful, necessary, common, profitable, or excusable. Saul’s persecution could have tempted David to revenge (1 Samuel 24:4-7). The counsel of companions could have pressed him toward violence (1 Samuel 26:8-11). The prosperity of the wicked can tempt the righteous to envy (Psalm 73:2-3). But David knew that man’s example is not man’s rule. The rule is the word of God.
“By the word.” Here is David’s instrument of preservation. He kept himself by God’s word. This does not mean David preserved himself apart from grace, but that he used the appointed means God gave. The word instructed his conscience, governed his choices, restrained his tongue, corrected his desires, exposed the path of evil, and strengthened him to refuse it. “Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word” (Psalm 119:9). “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee” (Psalm 119:11).
The word of God is not given for a fair shew in religion, but to govern the believer’s steps. It is the lamp and light by which the path is seen (Psalm 119:105). It gives understanding, so that the saint hates every false way (Psalm 119:104). It restrains the feet from evil: “I have refrained my feet from every evil way, that I might keep thy word” (Psalm 119:101). David’s preservation in Psalm 17:4 agrees with these testimonies. God’s word kept him from walking where destroyers walk.
“Of thy lips.” This phrase is full of holy beauty. David does not speak of Scripture as distant, cold, uncertain, or human. He calls it “the word of thy lips.” He receives God’s word as coming from God’s own mouth. This is intimate reverence. It is the language of a man who delights in God’s speech because he delights in God Himself. The Bible is not first the word of scribes, kings, councils, scholars, printers, or preachers. It is the word of God’s lips.
Moses taught Israel that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD (Deuteronomy 8:3). Jesus used that very Scripture against Satan in the wilderness (Matthew 4:4). David’s phrase carries the same faith. God has spoken. His words have proceeded from His own lips. Therefore, they are living, pure, authoritative, sufficient, and dear to the soul that loves Him.
This should greatly affect how saints approach the Bible. We do not come to God’s word as critics over it, customers comparing it, or judges correcting it. We come as children listening to the Father, servants receiving commandment from the King, sheep hearing the Shepherd, and worshippers treasuring the word of His lips. Job said, “Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food” (Job 23:12). David says the same in another form: “by the word of thy lips.” May we always approach Scripture with such intimate delight and trembling faith.
This phrase also guards the authority of Scripture. If the word is from God’s lips, then it is not subject to man’s revision. Men may dispute, soften, explain away, or replace it, but they cannot improve what God has spoken. “The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times” (Psalm 12:6). “For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven” (Psalm 119:89). The saint does not need a more fashionable voice. He needs the word of God’s lips.
“I have kept me.” David took personal responsibility. He did not say the word lay unused beside him. He used it. He heeded it. He hid it. He obeyed it. He kept himself by it. This is practical godliness. God’s word is not a charm carried on the body, nor a possession praised but neglected. It preserves when believed, loved, remembered, and obeyed. A Bible on the shelf does not keep a man from the path of the destroyer. The word must govern the heart and feet.
Yet David’s statement is not proud self-sufficiency. He kept himself by the word of God’s lips. The power did not arise from David’s natural strength, wisdom, or temperament. The preserving rule was God’s word. David was active, but the word was the means. This is how practical salvation often works. God preserves His servants by giving them truth, warning, commandment, fear, promise, and light, and they keep themselves by taking heed according to that word.
“From the paths.” Sin has paths. Wickedness is not only an isolated act, but a way, course, track, and direction. Men do not usually become destroyers in one step. They enter paths: bitterness, envy, revenge, deceit, lust, greed, pride, flattery, and violence. A path invites walking. It becomes familiar. It leads somewhere. David saw the paths of men and refused the paths of destroyers.
Scripture often speaks this way. The blessed man walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful (Psalm 1:1). Solomon warned his son not to enter into the path of the wicked or go in the way of evil men (Proverbs 4:14). He also described the path of the just as shining more and more unto the perfect day, while the way of the wicked is as darkness (Proverbs 4:18-19). Psalm 17:4 belongs to that doctrine of the two ways. God’s word kept David in the right path and away from the destroyer’s path.
“Of the destroyer.” The destroyer is one who ruins, wastes, harms, devours, and brings others toward death. In the immediate context, David’s enemies are deadly men. Later he says they are “deadly enemies,” they compass him in his steps, they watch like a lion greedy of prey, and the wicked are God’s sword under His rule (vv.9-13). The paths of the destroyer are therefore the ways of violent, proud, earthly men who ruin others for their own ends.
David was tempted to such a path more than once. He could have killed Saul in the cave, but refused to stretch forth his hand against the LORD’s anointed (1 Samuel 24:4-7). He could have allowed Abishai to smite Saul with the spear, but he restrained him, saying, “Destroy him not” (1 Samuel 26:8-11). Those were moments when the path of the destroyer opened before him under the appearance of opportunity. The word of God’s lips kept him from it. He would not purchase deliverance by disobedience.
This verse therefore joins heart, mouth, word, and path. In verse 3, David’s heart has been proved and his mouth purposed not to transgress. In verse 4, his conduct concerning the works of men is governed by God’s word. A clean cause before God requires more than claiming innocence; it requires a heart searched by God, a tongue restrained before God, and feet kept from the destroyer’s path by the word of God.
There is a strong lesson here for the tongue also. The destroyer’s path often begins with destructive speech. Men ruin others with lies, slander, threats, flattery, false witness, proud words, and bitter accusations. David’s mouth was purposed not to transgress (v.3), because God’s word kept him from the path of the destroyer (v.4). A man cannot say he is avoiding the destroyer’s path while using the destroyer’s tongue. “Death and life are in the power of the tongue” (Proverbs 18:21). The word of God’s lips must rule the words of our lips.
This verse searches the reader. What governs your judgment of the works of men? Is it custom, family, business advantage, political loyalty, fear, affection, anger, or self-preservation? What keeps you from destructive paths? Do you know the word of God’s lips well enough to be restrained by it when temptation arrives? Do you read the Bible as God speaking to you, or as religious material to be admired at a distance? David kept himself by the word. The same duty remains.
The Lord Jesus Christ is the perfect fulfillment of this verse. He lived by every word that proceeded out of the mouth of God (Matthew 4:4). When Satan tempted Him, He answered by the written word (Matthew 4:4,7,10). When men tried to entangle Him in His talk, He answered with perfect wisdom (Matthew 22:15-22). When reviled, He reviled not again (1 Peter 2:23). He never entered the path of the destroyer, though wicked men destroyed Him outwardly. He obeyed the Father perfectly and laid down His life for His sheep (John 10:17-18).
Psalm 17:4 therefore gives a precious rule for preservation. Concerning the works of men, David did not follow men. He kept himself by the word of God’s lips. Let every saint treasure this phrase. The Scriptures are the words of God’s own mouth to His people. Read them with delight. Hear them with fear. Keep them in the heart. Use them against temptation. Judge the works of men by them. Refuse every path of the destroyer by them. The man who loves the word of God’s lips will be preserved from many paths that end in ruin.
Concerning the works of men, by the word of thy lips I have kept me from the paths of the destroyer.
Psalm 17:4 continues David’s appeal of integrity before God. He has asked the LORD to hear the right, attend unto his cry, and let his sentence come forth from God’s presence (vv.1-2). He has confessed that God proved his heart, visited him in the night, tried him, and would find no wicked design in the cause before Him (v.3). He has also purposed that his mouth shall not transgress (v.3). Now he explains how he has kept himself from the corrupt paths of violent and destructive men: “by the word of thy lips.”
“Concerning the works of men.” David is speaking about human conduct. Men have works, ways, patterns, devices, examples, customs, ambitions, and practices. Some works are lawful and honourable; many are corrupt and destructive. The saint must judge the works of men by something higher than the works of men. David did not measure his path by Saul’s actions, the counsel of fearful men, the pressure of enemies, the habits of the age, or the passions of his own heart. He measured the works of men by the word of God.
This is necessary because the works of men are often persuasive. Men can make evil appear successful, necessary, common, profitable, or excusable. Saul’s persecution could have tempted David to revenge (1 Samuel 24:4-7). The counsel of companions could have pressed him toward violence (1 Samuel 26:8-11). The prosperity of the wicked can tempt the righteous to envy (Psalm 73:2-3). But David knew that man’s example is not man’s rule. The rule is the word of God.
“By the word.” Here is David’s instrument of preservation. He kept himself by God’s word. This does not mean David preserved himself apart from grace, but that he used the appointed means God gave. The word instructed his conscience, governed his choices, restrained his tongue, corrected his desires, exposed the path of evil, and strengthened him to refuse it. “Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word” (Psalm 119:9). “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee” (Psalm 119:11).
The word of God is not given for a fair shew in religion, but to govern the believer’s steps. It is the lamp and light by which the path is seen (Psalm 119:105). It gives understanding, so that the saint hates every false way (Psalm 119:104). It restrains the feet from evil: “I have refrained my feet from every evil way, that I might keep thy word” (Psalm 119:101). David’s preservation in Psalm 17:4 agrees with these testimonies. God’s word kept him from walking where destroyers walk.
“Of thy lips.” This phrase is full of holy beauty. David does not speak of Scripture as distant, cold, uncertain, or human. He calls it “the word of thy lips.” He receives God’s word as coming from God’s own mouth. This is intimate reverence. It is the language of a man who delights in God’s speech because he delights in God Himself. The Bible is not first the word of scribes, kings, councils, scholars, printers, or preachers. It is the word of God’s lips.
Moses taught Israel that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD (Deuteronomy 8:3). Jesus used that very Scripture against Satan in the wilderness (Matthew 4:4). David’s phrase carries the same faith. God has spoken. His words have proceeded from His own lips. Therefore, they are living, pure, authoritative, sufficient, and dear to the soul that loves Him.
This should greatly affect how saints approach the Bible. We do not come to God’s word as critics over it, customers comparing it, or judges correcting it. We come as children listening to the Father, servants receiving commandment from the King, sheep hearing the Shepherd, and worshippers treasuring the word of His lips. Job said, “Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food” (Job 23:12). David says the same in another form: “by the word of thy lips.” May we always approach Scripture with such intimate delight and trembling faith.
This phrase also guards the authority of Scripture. If the word is from God’s lips, then it is not subject to man’s revision. Men may dispute, soften, explain away, or replace it, but they cannot improve what God has spoken. “The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times” (Psalm 12:6). “For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven” (Psalm 119:89). The saint does not need a more fashionable voice. He needs the word of God’s lips.
“I have kept me.” David took personal responsibility. He did not say the word lay unused beside him. He used it. He heeded it. He hid it. He obeyed it. He kept himself by it. This is practical godliness. God’s word is not a charm carried on the body, nor a possession praised but neglected. It preserves when believed, loved, remembered, and obeyed. A Bible on the shelf does not keep a man from the path of the destroyer. The word must govern the heart and feet.
Yet David’s statement is not proud self-sufficiency. He kept himself by the word of God’s lips. The power did not arise from David’s natural strength, wisdom, or temperament. The preserving rule was God’s word. David was active, but the word was the means. This is how practical salvation often works. God preserves His servants by giving them truth, warning, commandment, fear, promise, and light, and they keep themselves by taking heed according to that word.
“From the paths.” Sin has paths. Wickedness is not only an isolated act, but a way, course, track, and direction. Men do not usually become destroyers in one step. They enter paths: bitterness, envy, revenge, deceit, lust, greed, pride, flattery, and violence. A path invites walking. It becomes familiar. It leads somewhere. David saw the paths of men and refused the paths of destroyers.
Scripture often speaks this way. The blessed man walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful (Psalm 1:1). Solomon warned his son not to enter into the path of the wicked or go in the way of evil men (Proverbs 4:14). He also described the path of the just as shining more and more unto the perfect day, while the way of the wicked is as darkness (Proverbs 4:18-19). Psalm 17:4 belongs to that doctrine of the two ways. God’s word kept David in the right path and away from the destroyer’s path.
“Of the destroyer.” The destroyer is one who ruins, wastes, harms, devours, and brings others toward death. In the immediate context, David’s enemies are deadly men. Later he says they are “deadly enemies,” they compass him in his steps, they watch like a lion greedy of prey, and the wicked are God’s sword under His rule (vv.9-13). The paths of the destroyer are therefore the ways of violent, proud, earthly men who ruin others for their own ends.
David was tempted to such a path more than once. He could have killed Saul in the cave, but refused to stretch forth his hand against the LORD’s anointed (1 Samuel 24:4-7). He could have allowed Abishai to smite Saul with the spear, but he restrained him, saying, “Destroy him not” (1 Samuel 26:8-11). Those were moments when the path of the destroyer opened before him under the appearance of opportunity. The word of God’s lips kept him from it. He would not purchase deliverance by disobedience.
This verse therefore joins heart, mouth, word, and path. In verse 3, David’s heart has been proved and his mouth purposed not to transgress. In verse 4, his conduct concerning the works of men is governed by God’s word. A clean cause before God requires more than claiming innocence; it requires a heart searched by God, a tongue restrained before God, and feet kept from the destroyer’s path by the word of God.
There is a strong lesson here for the tongue also. The destroyer’s path often begins with destructive speech. Men ruin others with lies, slander, threats, flattery, false witness, proud words, and bitter accusations. David’s mouth was purposed not to transgress (v.3), because God’s word kept him from the path of the destroyer (v.4). A man cannot say he is avoiding the destroyer’s path while using the destroyer’s tongue. “Death and life are in the power of the tongue” (Proverbs 18:21). The word of God’s lips must rule the words of our lips.
This verse searches the reader. What governs your judgment of the works of men? Is it custom, family, business advantage, political loyalty, fear, affection, anger, or self-preservation? What keeps you from destructive paths? Do you know the word of God’s lips well enough to be restrained by it when temptation arrives? Do you read the Bible as God speaking to you, or as religious material to be admired at a distance? David kept himself by the word. The same duty remains.
The Lord Jesus Christ is the perfect fulfillment of this verse. He lived by every word that proceeded out of the mouth of God (Matthew 4:4). When Satan tempted Him, He answered by the written word (Matthew 4:4,7,10). When men tried to entangle Him in His talk, He answered with perfect wisdom (Matthew 22:15-22). When reviled, He reviled not again (1 Peter 2:23). He never entered the path of the destroyer, though wicked men destroyed Him outwardly. He obeyed the Father perfectly and laid down His life for His sheep (John 10:17-18).
Psalm 17:4 therefore gives a precious rule for preservation. Concerning the works of men, David did not follow men. He kept himself by the word of God’s lips. Let every saint treasure this phrase. The Scriptures are the words of God’s own mouth to His people. Read them with delight. Hear them with fear. Keep them in the heart. Use them against temptation. Judge the works of men by them. Refuse every path of the destroyer by them. The man who loves the word of God’s lips will be preserved from many paths that end in ruin.