Verse Lens · Concise explanation
Psalms 17:1 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 1. 1Hear the right, O LORD, attend unto my cry, give ear unto my prayer, that goeth not out of feigned lips.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
Psalm 17:1: The petition “Hear the right, O LORD, attend unto my cry, give ear…” belongs to the prayer “A prayer for vindication and protection,” not to an isolated command.
A just cause asked to be seen
This verse is one part of that explanation in Psalms 17:1–15. The complete section carries the connected meaning and how it should shape life.
Read It With
- Psalms 17:1–15
Read Psalms 17:1 with 17:1–15. Read alone, “Hear the right, O LORD, attend unto my cry, give ear unto…” could lose the individual voice, the parallel line or movement it develops, and the psalm's outcome. The complete movement establishes: Within Psalms 17:1–15, the individual voice carries the movement “A prayer for vindication and protection” as part of “A prayer for vindication and protection.” Its lament form and poetic parallelism hold the petitions, images, memories, or praise together before any single line is applied.
Why This Verse Appears Here
Psalms 17:1–15 opens Psalm 17 with “Hear the right, O LORD, attend unto my cry, give ear unto my prayer, that goeth not out…” and establishes the individual voice and “A prayer for vindication and protection” movement before later lines develop or answer it. Within that relationship, Psalm 17:1 directs a petition or address toward God in “Hear the right, O LORD, attend unto my cry, give ear unto my prayer,…” rather than turning the line into a command against another person.
What Remains True
The verse's role is specific—Psalm 17:1 directs a petition or address toward God in “Hear the right, O LORD, attend unto my cry, give ear unto my prayer,…” rather than turning the line into a command against another person. Within that role, Trust can be voiced within danger and delay without becoming a guarantee of immunity or a reason to reject practical care. The local movement is “A prayer for vindication and protection.” The unit's reviewed limit is: The plea for vindication does not make the speaker's perspective infallible or authorize dehumanizing opponents.
Continue in Context
Read the complete section for the connected explanation and how it should shape life. This verse is a doorway into that passage, not a saying that stands alone.
Read Psalms 17:1–15 — A prayer for vindication and protectionSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? strong
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete thought-unit coverage.
Exact location: Psalms 17:1–15, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Psalms
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology checked at the exact unit without treating morphology as a complete apparatus or interpretation.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Ps.xml, OSIS 17:1–15
Open the fixed Hebrew Psalms file ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible Notes: Psalms 1-150
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, current official online edition
Supports: Verse-level controls for poetic syntax, imagery, older KJV language, textual issues, headings, and alternatives in Psalms 17:1–15.
Exact location: Official NET Bible Psalm 17 HTML, translator, textual, and study notes attached to Psalms 17:1–15
Open the official NET Psalms notes ↗