Psalm 17:3

3 Thou has proved mine heart; thou hast visited me by night; thou hast tried me as with fire, and unrighteousness has not been found in me: I am purposed that my mouth shall not speak amiss.

Psalm 17:3 Meaning and Commentary

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 Deuteronomy 8:16 ) ; 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 Canaanites in the land, and as he left Hezekiah to his own heart, ( Judges 2:22 ) ( 3:1 ) ( 2 Chronicles 32:31 ) . In one or other or more of these ways God proved the heart of David, and found him to be a man after his own heart; and in the first of these ways he proved Christ, who was found faithful to him that appointed him, and was a man approved of God;

thou hast visited [me] in the night;
God visited and redeemed his people in the night of Jewish darkness; he visits and calls them by his grace in the night of unregeneracy; and so he visits with his gracious presence in the night of desertion; and he often visits by granting counsel, comfort, and support, in the night of affliction, which seems to be intended here; thus he visited the human nature of Christ in the midst of his sorrows and sufferings, when it was the Jews' hour and power of darkness. Elsewhere God is said to visit every morning, ( Job 7:18 ) ;

thou hast tried me;
as silver and gold are tried in the furnace; thus the people of God, and their graces in them, are tried by afflictions; so David was tried, and in this manner Christ himself was tried; wherefore he is called the tried stone, ( Isaiah 28:16 ) ;

[and] shalt find nothing;
or "shalt not find": which is variously supplied; some "thy desire", or what is well pleasing to thee, so Jarchi; or "thou hast not found me innocent", as Kimchi; others supply it quite the reverse, "and iniquity is not found in me", as the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, and Ethiopic versions; or "thou hast not found iniquity in me", as the Syriac and Arabic versions; to which agrees the Chaldee paraphrase, "and thou hast not found corruption"; which must be understood, not as if there was no sin and corruption in David; for he often makes loud complaints and large confessions of his sins, and earnestly prays for the forgiveness of them; but either that there was no sin in his heart which he regarded, ( Psalms 66:18 ) ; which he nourished and cherished, which he indulged and lived in; or rather there was no such crime found in him, which his enemies charged him with; see ( Psalms 7:3 Psalms 7:4 ) . This is true of Christ in the fullest sense; no iniquity was ever found in him by God, by men or devils, ( John 14:30 ) ( 1 Peter 2:22 ) ; and also of his people, as considered in him, being justified by his righteousness, and washed in his blood, ( Jeremiah 50:20 ) ; though otherwise, as considered in themselves, they themselves find sin and corruption abounding in them, ( Romans 7:18 Romans 7:21 ) ;

I am purposed [that] my mouth shall not transgress;
by murmuring against God, on account of his visitation and fiery trials, or by railing at men for their false charges and accusations; this resolution was taken up by the psalmist in the strength of divine grace, and was kept by him, ( Psalms 39:9 ) ; so Christ submitted himself patiently to the will of God without repining, and when reviled by men reviled not again, ( Luke 22:42 ) ( 1 Peter 2:23 ) ; and from hence may be learned, that the laws of God may be transgressed by words as well as by works, and that the one as well as the other should be guarded against; see ( Psalms 39:1 ) .

Psalm 17:3 In-Context

1 Hearken, O Lord of my righteousness, attend to my petition; give ear to my prayer not uttered with deceitful lips.

2 Let my judgment come forth from thy presence; let mine eyes behold righteousness.

3 Thou has proved mine heart; thou hast visited me by night; thou hast tried me as with fire, and unrighteousness has not been found in me: I am purposed that my mouth shall not speak amiss.

4 As for the works of men, by the words of thy lips I have guarded myself from hard ways.

5 Direct my steps in thy paths, that my steps slip not.

6 I have cried, for thou heardest me, O God: incline thine ear to me, and hearken to my words.

7 Shew the marvels of thy mercies, thou that savest them that hope in thee.

8 Keep me as the apple of the eye from those that resist thy right hand: thou shalt screen me by the covering of thy wings,

9 from the face of the ungodly that have afflicted me: mine enemies have compassed about my soul.

10 They have enclosed themselves with their own fat: their mouth has spoken pride.

11 They have now cast me out and compassed me round about: they have set their eyes so as to bow them down to the ground.

12 They laid wait for me as a lion ready for prey, and like a lion’s whelp dwelling in secret places.

13 Arise, O Lord, prevent them, and cast them down: deliver my soul from the ungodly: draw thy sword,

14 because of the enemies of thine hand: O Lord, destroy them from the earth; scatter them in their life, though their belly has been filled with thy hidden treasures: they have been satisfied with uncleanness, and have left the remnant of their possessions to their babes.

15 But I shall appear in righteousness before thy face: I shall be satisfied when thy glory appears.