Psalms 17:3

Thou hast proved mine heart; thou hast visited me in the night; thou hast tried me, and shalt find nothing; I am purposed that my mouth shall not transgress.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
proved	בָּ֘חַ֤נְתָּ ba.Chan.ta	H974	to test (especially metals) · verb, qal perfect, 2nd person masculine singular
heart	לִבִּ֨י li.Bi	H3820	the heart · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix
visited	פָּ֘קַ֤דְתָּ pa.Kad.ta	H6485	to visit (with friendly or hostile intent) · verb, qal perfect, 2nd person masculine singular
night	לַּ֗יְלָה Lay.lah	H3915	properly · noun, common masculine singular absolute
tried	צְרַפְתַּ֥נִי tze.raf.Ta.ni	H6884	to fuse (metal) · verb, qal perfect, 2nd person masculine singular + pronominal suffix
find	תִּמְצָ֑א tim.Tza'	H4672	properly · verb, qal imperfect, 2nd person masculine singular
purposed	זַ֝מֹּתִ֗י za.mo.Ti	H2161	to plan · verb, qal perfect, 1st person common singular
mouth	פִּֽי Pi	H6310	the mouth (as the means of blowing) · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix
transgress	יַעֲבָר ya.'a.vor-	H5674	to cross over · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Job 23:10 But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.
Psalms 26:2 Examine me, O LORD, and prove me; try my reins and my heart.
Acts 11:23 Who, when he came, and had seen the grace of God, was glad, and exhorted them all, that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lor…
Psalms 39:1 I said, I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue: I will keep my mouth with a bridle, while the wicked is before me.
Malachi 3:2 But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner’s fire, and like fullers’ soap:
Psalms 66:10 For thou, O God, hast proved us: thou hast tried us, as silver is tried.
Psalms 119:106 I have sworn, and I will perform it, that I will keep thy righteous judgments.
Psalms 139:1 O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Psalms 17:1-7

This psalm is a prayer. As there is a time to weep and a time to rejoice, so there is a time for praise and a time for prayer. David was now persecuted, probably by Saul, who hunted him like a partridge on the mountains; without were fightings, within were fears, and both urged him as a suppliant to the throne of mercy. He addresses himself to God in these verses both by way of appeal (Hear the right, O Lord! let my righteous cause have a hearing before thy tribunal, and give judgment upon it) and by way of petition (Give ear unto my prayer Psa 17:1, and again Psa 17:6, Incline thy ear unto me and hear my speech); not that God needs to be thus pressed with our importunity, but he gives us le…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Psalms 17:3

proved . . . visited . . . tried--His character was most rigidly tested, at all times, and by all methods, affliction and others (Psa 7:10). purposed that, &c.--or, my mouth does not exceed my purpose; I am sincere.

John Gill on Psalms 17:3

Thou hast proved mine heart,.... This properly belongs to God, who is the searcher of the heart and reins, and is desired by all good men; and though God has no need to make use of any means to know the heart, and what is in it; yet in order to know, or rather to make known, what is in the hearts of his people, he proves them sometimes by adversity, as he did Abraham and Job, and sometimes by prosperity, by mercies given forth in a wonderful way, as to the Israelites in the wilderness, Deuteronomy 8:2; sometimes by suffering false prophets and false teachers to be among them, Deuteronomy 13:3; and sometimes by leaving corruptions in them, and them to their corruptions, as he left the Canaani…

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John Calvin on Psalms 17:3-4

Psalm 17:3-4 3. Thou hast proved my heart; thou hast visited it by night; thou hast examined it, thou shalt find nothing; my thoughts shall not pass beyond my mouth. [344] 4. As for the works of men, by the word of thy lips I have taken heed of [or watched] the ways of the destroyer. [345] 3. Thou hast proved my heart. Some are of opinion that in the three first verbs the past tense is put for the future. Others more correctly and more clearly resolve the words thus: If thou provest my heart, and visitest it by night, and examinest it thoroughly, there will not be found any deceit therein. But without making any change upon the words, they may be suitably enough explained in this way: Thou…

The Church Fathers

Even before I make the request, my predicament does not escape you, nor are you ignorant of all the designs in my heart that I experience in the night and ponder by day.
— Diodorus of Tarsus, COMMENTARY ON PSALM 17

Who can with confidence say, "I am pure from sins"? Christ alone is truly and properly able to say these words.… When gold is tested by fire, it remains pure and shining. According to Isaiah, out of all people since the beginning of the age, Christ alone "did not sin, nor was there any deceit found in his mouth."
— Eusebius of Caesarea, COMMENTARY ON PSALMS 17:3

"You have proved and visited Mine heart in the night-season" [Psalm 17:3]. For this Mine heart has been proved by the visitation of tribulation. "You have examined Me by fire, and iniquity has not been found in Me." Now not night only, in that it is wont to disturb, but fire also, in that it burns, is this tribulation to be called; whereby when I was examined I was found righteous.
— Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 17

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Decision · Exemplified: David — Exemplified: David
Integrity · 16:19,20; — 16:19,20;
Night · God frequently: Visited his people in — God frequently: Visited his people in

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Psalms 17:3

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Psalms 17:1-7

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Psalms 17:3

John Gill on Psalms 17:3

John Calvin on Psalms 17:3-4

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Psalms 17:3

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Psalms 17:1-7

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Psalms 17:3

John Gill on Psalms 17:3

John Calvin on Psalms 17:3-4

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Keil & Delitzsch on Psalms 17:3-5

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Psalms 17:3-5

Spurgeon's Treasury of David on Psalms 17:3