In the Shadow of your Wings, Psalm 17, Day 44, Feb 13th,

 ¹ Hear me, LORD, my plea is just;
   listen to my cry.
Hear my prayer—
   it does not rise from deceitful lips.
² Let my vindication come from you;
   may your eyes see what is right.

 ³ Though you probe my heart,
   though you examine me at night and test me,
you will find that I have planned no evil;
   my mouth has not transgressed.
⁴ Though people tried to bribe me,
   I have kept myself from the ways of the violent
   through what your lips have commanded.
⁵ My steps have held to your paths;
   my feet have not stumbled.
The word of God has protected the Psalmist.

 ⁶ I call on you, my God, for you will answer me;
   turn your ear to me and hear my prayer.
⁷ Show me the wonders of your great love,
   you who save by your right hand
   those who take refuge in you from their foes.
⁸ Keep me as the apple of your eye;
Safeguard me as the pupil of your eye. A conventional Hebrew metaphor for protection against oppression.


hide me in the shadow of your wings 
evokes a place of safety. Metaphor for the protective outreach of God’s power.
⁹ from the wicked who are out to destroy me,
   from my mortal enemies who surround me.
The Lord can keep one safe amid peril.

 ¹⁰ They close up their callous hearts,
   and their mouths speak with arrogance.
¹¹ They have tracked me down, they now surround me,
   with eyes alert, to throw me to the ground.
¹² They are like a lion hungry for prey,
   like a fierce lion crouching in cover.
Imagery of one’s opponents hunting one down.

 ¹³ Rise up, LORD, confront them, bring them down;
   with your sword rescue me from the wicked.
¹⁴ By your hand save me from such people, LORD,
   from those of this world whose reward is in this life.
The Psalmist sums up the world view of those who have no fear of God in this phrase.
May what you have stored up for the wicked fill their bellies;
   may their children gorge themselves on it,
   and may there be leftovers for their little ones.
ESV notes–In such an environment of threat, the proper recourse is prayer for the enemy’s defeat. Since they are unrepentant, deliverance for the pious requires defeat for the attacker. The specific type of defeat is left up to God.