the Week of Christ the King / Proper 29 / Ordinary 34
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King James Version
Psalms 17:3
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- DailyParallel Translations
You have tested my thoughts and examined my heart in the night. You have scrutinized me and found nothing wrong. I am determined not to sin in what I say.
Thou hast proved mine heart; thou hast visited me in the night; thou hast tried me, and findest nothing; I am purposed that my mouth shall not transgress.
You have proved my heart; you have visited me in the night; You have tried me, and find nothing; I have purposed that my mouth shall not transgress.
You have examined my heart; you have tested me all night. You questioned me without finding anything wrong; I have not sinned with my mouth.
You have scrutinized my inner motives; you have examined me during the night. You have carefully evaluated me, but you find no sin. I am determined I will say nothing sinful.
Thou hast proved my heart; thou hast visited [me] in the night; thou hast tried me, [and] shalt find nothing; I have purposed [that] my mouth shall not transgress.
You have proved my heart; you have visited me in the night; You have tried me, and found nothing; I have resolved that my mouth shall not disobey.
You have tried my heart; You have visited me in the night; You have tested me and You find nothing [evil in me]; I intend that my mouth will not transgress.
You have tried my heart, you have visited me by night, you have tested me, and you will find nothing; I have purposed that my mouth will not transgress.
Thou hast preued myn herte, and hast visitid in niyt; thou hast examynyd me bi fier, and wickidnesse is not foundun in me.
You have tried my heart; You have visited me in the night. You have tested me and found no evil; I have resolved not to sin with my mouth.
You know my heart, and even during the night you have tested me and found me innocent. I have made up my mind never to tell a lie.
Thou hast proved my heart; thou hast visited me in the night; Thou hast tried me, and findest nothing; I am purposed that my mouth shall not transgress.
You have put my heart to the test, searching me in the night; you have put me to the test and seen no evil purpose in me; I will keep my mouth from sin.
You probed my heart, you visited me at night, and you assayed me without finding evil thoughts that should not pass my lips.
Thou hast proved my heart, thou hast visited me by night; thou hast tried me, thou hast found nothing: my thought goeth not beyond my word.
You were with me all night and looked deep into my heart. You questioned me and found that I did not say or do anything wrong.
Thou hast tried my heart, Thou hast visited it in the night; Thou hast tested me, and Thou findest not
Thou hast prooued 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 transgresse.
You have tested my heart. You have visited me during the night. You have tested me and have found nothing wrong. I have decided that my mouth will not sin.
If you try my heart, if you visit me by night, if you test me, you will find no wickedness in me; my mouth does not transgress.
Thou hast prooued and visited mine heart in the night: thou hast tryed me, and foundest nothing: for I was purposed that my mouth should not offend.
Thou hast proved my heart; thou hast visited me in the night; thou hast tried me, and thou hast not found iniquity in me; nothing hath come out of my mouth which is according to the deceitful works of men.
You know my heart. You have come to me at night; you have examined me completely and found no evil desire in me. I speak no evil,
Thou hast tested my heart, hast made inspection by night, hast refined me until thou couldst find nothing, Had I devised evil, my mouth should not have transgressed:
(16-3) Thou hast proved my heart, and visited it by night, thou hast tried me by fire: and iniquity hath not been found in me.
If thou triest my heart, if thou visitest me by night, if thou testest me, thou wilt find no wickedness in me; my mouth does not transgress.
Thou hast proued myne heart, thou hast visited [it] in the nyght season: thou hast tryed me, and founde no [wickednesse, for] I purposed that nothyng shoulde scape my mouth.
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.
You have tested my heart;you have examined me at night.You have tried me and found nothing evil;I have determined that my mouth will not sin.
You have proved my heart; you have visited me in the night; You have tried me, and found nothing; I have resolved that my mouth shall not disobey.
You have tried my heart; you have examined me by night; you have tested me; you found nothing. I have decided that my mouth will not transgress.
You will test my heart; You will visit in the night; You will refine me; You will find nothing; my thoughts do not pass beyond my mouth.
Thou hast proved my heart, Thou hast inspected by night, Thou hast tried me, Thou findest nothing; My thoughts pass not over my mouth.
Thou hast proued & visited myne herte in the night season: thou hast tried me in the fyre, & hast founde no wickednes in me: for I vtterly purposed, that my mouth shulde not offende.
Go ahead, examine me from inside out, surprise me in the middle of the night— You'll find I'm just what I say I am. My words don't run loose.
You have put my heart to the test; You have visited me by night; You have sifted me and You find nothing; My intent is that my mouth will not offend.
You have tested my heart; You have visited me in the night; You have tried me and have found nothing; I have purposed that my mouth shall not transgress.
You have tried my heart; You have visited me by night; You have tested me and You find nothing; I have purposed that my mouth will not transgress.
You have tested my heart;You have visited me by night;You have tried me and You find nothing;I have purposed that my mouth will not transgress.
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
proved: Psalms 11:5, Psalms 26:2, Psalms 66:10, Psalms 139:1, Job 23:10, Zechariah 13:9, Malachi 3:2, 1 Corinthians 4:4, 1 Peter 1:7
thou hast: Psalms 16:7, Job 24:14, Hosea 7:6, Micah 2:1, Acts 16:9, Acts 18:9, Acts 18:10
shalt: Psalms 7:4, Psalms 44:17-21, 1 Samuel 24:10, 1 Samuel 24:12, 1 Samuel 26:11, 1 Samuel 26:23, 2 Corinthians 1:12
I am: Psalms 39:1, Psalms 119:106, Proverbs 13:3, Acts 11:23, James 3:2
Reciprocal: 1 Samuel 12:5 - in my hand 1 Samuel 20:12 - O Lord Job 10:7 - Thou knowest Job 31:6 - Let me be weighed in an even balance Job 34:36 - My desire is that Job may be tried Psalms 7:8 - according Psalms 7:9 - for Psalms 18:23 - upright Psalms 69:5 - and my sins Psalms 94:9 - hear Psalms 139:24 - And see Psalms 141:3 - Set a watch Psalms 142:3 - then thou Proverbs 5:21 - General Proverbs 24:12 - doth not he that Jeremiah 12:3 - knowest Jeremiah 15:15 - thou Jeremiah 20:12 - that Matthew 6:4 - seeth John 21:17 - thou knowest that 1 Corinthians 8:3 - is 2 Corinthians 13:5 - Examine 1 Thessalonians 2:4 - but God
Cross-References
Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is an hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear?
And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might live before thee!
And Abraham took Ishmael his son, and all that were born in his house, and all that were bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham's house; and circumcised the flesh of their foreskin in the selfsame day, as God had said unto him.
And Abraham was ninety years old and nine, when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.
Moreover he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God.
Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the children of Israel.
And they fell upon their faces, and said, O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and wilt thou be wroth with all the congregation?
Get you up from among this congregation, that I may consume them as in a moment. And they fell upon their faces.
And he said, Nay; but as captain of the host of the Lord am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto him, What saith my Lord unto his servant?
For it came to pass, when the flame went up toward heaven from off the altar, that the angel of the Lord ascended in the flame of the altar. And Manoah and his wife looked on it, and fell on their faces to the ground.
Gill's Notes on the Bible
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 Canaanites in the land, and as he left Hezekiah to his own heart, Judges 2:22. 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. 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;
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; 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.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
Thou hast proved mine heart - In this verse he refers to his own character and life in the matter under consideration, or the consciousness of his own innocence in respect to his fellow-men who are persecuting and opposing him. He appeals to the Great Searcher of hearts in proof that, in this respect, he was innocent; and he refers to different forms of trial on the part of God to show that after the most thorough search he would find, and did find, that in these respects he was an innocent man, and that his enemies had no occasion to treat him as they had done. It is still to be borne in mind here that the trial which the psalmist asks at the hand of God was not to prove that he was innocent toward him, or that he had a claim to His favor on account of his own personal holiness, but it was that he was innocent of any wrong toward those who were persecuting him, or, in other words, that after the most searching trial, even by his Maker, it would be found that he had given them no cause for treating him thus. The word here rendered “proved” means “to try, to prove, to examine,” especially metals, to test their genuineness. See Psalms 7:9-10, note; Job 12:11, note. The psalmist here says that God had tried or searched “his heart.” He knew all his motives. He had examined all his desires and his thoughts. The psalmist felt assured that, after the most thorough trial, even God would not find anything in his heart that would justify the conduct of his enemies toward him.
Thou hast visited me - That is, for the purpose of inspecting my character, or of examining me. The English word “visit,” like the Hebrew, is often used to denote a visitation for the purpose of inspection and examination. The idea is, that God had come to him for the very purpose of “examining” his character.
In the night - In solitude. In darkness. When I was alone. In the time when the thoughts are less under restraint than they are when surrounded by others. In a time when it can be seen what we really are; when we do not put on appearances to deceive others.
Thou hast tried me - The word used here - צרף tsâraph - means properly “to melt, to smelt,” etc., metals, or separating the pure metal from the dross. The meaning is, that God, in examining into his character, had subjected him to a trial as searching as that employed in purifying metals by casting them into the fire.
And shalt find nothing - Thou wilt find nothing that could give occasion for the conduct of my enemies. The future tense is used here to denote that, even if the investigation were continued, God would find nothing in his heart or in his conduct that would warrant their treatment of him. He had the most full and settled determination not to do wrong to them in any respect whatever. Nothing had been found in him that would justify their treatment of him; he was determined so to live, and he felt assured that he would so live, that nothing of the kind would be found in him in time to come. “I am purposed.” I am fully resolved.
My mouth shall not transgress - Transgress the law of God, or go beyond what is right. That is, I will utter nothing which is wrong, or which can give occasion for their harsh and unkind treatment. Much as he had been provoked and injured, he was determined not to retaliate, or to give occasion for their treating him in the manner in which they were now doing. Prof. Alexander renders this “My mouth shall not exceed my thought; “but the common version gives a better idea, and is sanctioned by the Hebrew. Compare Gesenius, Lexicon.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse Psalms 17:3. Thou hast proved mine heart — Thou well knowest whether there be any evil way in me. Thou hast given me to see many and sore trials; and yet, through thy mercy, I have preserved my integrity both to thee and to my king. Thou hast seen me in my most secret retirements, and knowest whether I have plotted mischief against him who now wishes to take away my life.
Thou hast tried me — צרפתני tseraphtani; Thou hast put me to the test, as they do metals, in order to detect their alloy, and to purify them: well expressed by the Vulgate, Igne me examinasti, "Thou hast tried me by fire;" and well paraphrased in my old Psalter, - Thu examynd me the lykkenyng of the fournas, that purges metal, and imang al this, wykednes es nout funden in me: that es, I am funden clene of syn, and so ryghtwis.-He who is saved from his sin is right wise; he has found the true wisdom.
My mouth shall not transgress. — This clause is added to the following verse by the Vulgate and Septuagint: "That my mouth may not speak according to the works of men, I have observed difficult ways because of the words of thy lips." That is, So far from doing any improper action, I have even refrained from all words that might be counted inflammatory or seditious by my adversaries; for I took thy word for the regulation of my conduct, and prescribed to myself the most painful duties, in order that I might, in every respect, avoid what would give offence either to thee or to man. Among the genuine followers of God, plots and civil broils are never found.
