◄ Psalm 17:3 ►
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.
Study Bible
You have tried my heart;

God has examined David’s inner life, where motives, desires, and intentions reside. His knowledge reaches beyond outward conduct, exposing what is true within a person.

Psa 26:2 Test me, O LORD, and try me; examine my heart and mind.
Jer 17:10 I, the LORD, search the heart; I examine the mind…
Psa 139:23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me…

You have visited me in the night.

God’s searching presence extended into the hours when David was alone and unguarded. In seasons of darkness, danger, or private reflection, the Lord remained fully aware of his condition.

Job 33:14-18 For God speaks in one way and in another…
Gen 31:24 But that night God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream…
1Ki 3:5 One night at Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream,…

You have tested me and found no evil;

David speaks of a searching examination that revealed no hidden treachery or wicked purpose in the matter before him. He does not claim sinlessness, but integrity in his appeal to God.

Job 23:10 Yet He knows the way I have taken; when He has tested me…
Dan 6:4 Thus the administrators and satraps sought a charge…
Luk 23:4 Then Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds,…

I have resolved not to sin with my mouth.

David had determined not to answer his enemies with deceit, slander, or reckless speech. His words were to remain under the restraint of a heart committed to God’s ways.

Psa 39:1 For the choirmaster. For Jeduthun. A Psalm of David.…
Job 1:22 In all this, Job did not sin or charge God with wrongdoing.
Psa 141:3 Set a guard, O LORD, over my mouth; keep watch…

Persons / Places / Events
1. David
The author of this Psalm, David is expressing his confidence in God's examination of his heart and his commitment to righteousness.

2. God
The one who examines, visits, and tests David, demonstrating His omniscience and intimate involvement in the lives of His people.

3. The Night
Symbolic of times of vulnerability and introspection, where God’s presence and examination are keenly felt.
Teaching Points
God's Omniscience and Intimacy
God knows our innermost thoughts and intentions. We should live with the awareness that nothing is hidden from Him.

Integrity in Private and Public Life
Like David, we should strive for integrity, ensuring our private life aligns with our public declarations of faith.

The Power of the Tongue
Our words have significant power. We must resolve, like David, to guard our speech and ensure it aligns with righteousness.

The Role of Testing in Spiritual Growth
God’s testing is not to harm but to refine and strengthen our faith. Embrace trials as opportunities for growth.

Night as a Time for Reflection
Use quiet times, especially at night, for reflection and prayer, inviting God to examine and guide your heart.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does understanding that God examines our hearts influence your daily actions and decisions?

2. In what ways can you ensure that your private life reflects the same integrity as your public life?

3. Reflect on a time when you felt tested by God. How did that experience contribute to your spiritual growth?

4. How can you practically guard your speech to ensure it aligns with your commitment to righteousness?

5. What practices can you incorporate into your nightly routine to invite God’s examination and guidance?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Psalm 139:23-24
This passage echoes the theme of God searching and knowing the heart, inviting God to test and lead in the way everlasting.

Job 23:10
Job speaks of God testing him and emerging as gold, similar to David’s confidence in being found without evil.

James 3:2
This New Testament verse highlights the importance of controlling one's speech, aligning with David’s resolve that his mouth will not sin.
Sermons
God's Visitations in the NightT. Gasquoine, B. A.Psalm 17:3
Mysterious VisitsCharles Hadden Spurgeon Psalm 17:3
Restraining the TongueHomilistPsalm 17:3
The Mouth Kept Front TransgressionPsalm 17:3
The Religious Aspects of NightCanon Liddon.Psalm 17:3
The Visits of God in the NightW. Forsyth Psalm 17:3
The Prayer of the RighteousC. Short Psalm 17:1-5
The Righteousness of God's DealingW. Forsyth Psalm 17:1-15
The Saint's Appeal from the Wrongs of Earth to the Righteous One on the ThroneC. Clemance Psalm 17:1-15
People
David, Psalmist, Saul
Places
Jerusalem
Topics
Beyond, Disobey, Evil, Examine, Findest, Hast, Heart, Inspected, Mouth, Nothing, Pass, Probe, Proved, Purpose, Purposed, Resolved, Searching, Sin, Test, Tested, Testest, Though, Thoughts, Transgress, Tried, Triest, Visited, Visitest, Wickedness, Wilt
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Psalm 17:3

     5549   speech, positive
     8319   perception, spiritual
     8339   self-control
     8832   testing

Library
The Two Awakings
'I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with Thy likeness.' --PSALM xvii. 15. 'As a dream when one awaketh; so, O Lord, when Thou awakest, Thou shalt despise their image.'--PSALM lxxiii. 20. Both of these Psalms are occupied with that standing puzzle to Old Testament worthies--the good fortune of bad men, and the bad fortune of good ones. The former recounts the personal calamities of David, its author. The latter gives us the picture of the perplexity of Asaph its writer, when he 'saw the prosperity …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Hope of Future Bliss
In looking at this passage to-night, we shall notice first of all, the spirit of it; secondly, the matter of it; and then, thirdly, we shall close by speaking of the contrast which is implied in it. I. First, then, the SPIRIT OF THIS UTTERANCE, for I always love to look at the spirit in which a man writes, or the spirit in which he preaches; in fact, there is vastly more in that than in the words he uses. Now, what should you think is the spirit of these words? "As for me, I will behold thy face …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 1: 1855

Mysterious visits.
AN ADDRESS TO A LITTLE COMPANY AT THE COMMUNION TABLE AT MENTONE."Thou hast visited me in the night."--Psalm xvii. 3. MYSTERIOUS VISITS. IT is a theme for wonder that the glorious God should visit sinful man. "What is man, that Thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that Thou visitest him?" A divine visit is a joy to be treasured whenever we are favoured with it. David speaks of it with great solemnity. The Psalmist was not content barely to speak of it; but he wrote it down in plain terms, …
Charles Hadden Spurgeon—Till He Come

Out of the Deep of Fear and Anxiety.
My heart is disquieted within me. Tearfulness and trembling are come upon me, and an horrible dread hath overwhelmed me.--Ps. lv. 4. Thou hast proved and visited my heart in the night season--Ps. xvii. 3. Nevertheless though I am sometimes afraid, yet put I my trust in Thee.--Ps. lv. 3. The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?--Ps. xxvii. 1. I sought the Lord and He heard me and delivered me from all my fear.--Ps. …
Charles Kingsley—Out of the Deep

His Journey to South Russia.
1853. The call which John Yeardley had received to visit the German colonies in South Russia, and which had lain for a long time dormant, now revived. A friend who had watched with regret his unsuccessful attempts on former journeys to enter that jealous country, and who augured from the political changes which had taken place that permission might probably now be obtained, brought the subject again under his notice. The admonition was timely and effectual. After carefully pondering the matter--with, …
John Yeardley—Memoir and Diary of John Yeardley, Minister of the Gospel

My God Will Hear Me
"Therefore will the Lord wait, that He may be gracious unto you. Blessed are all they that wait for Him. He will be very gracious unto thee at the voice of thy cry; when He shall hear it, He will answer thee."--ISA. xxx. 18, 19. "The Lord will hear when I call upon Him."--PS. iv. 3. "I have called upon Thee, for Thou wilt hear me, O God!"--PS. xvii. 6. "I will look unto the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me."--MIC. vii. 7. The power of prayer rests in the faith …
Andrew Murray—The Ministry of Intercession

How a Desolate Man Ought to Commit Himself into the Hands of God
O Lord, Holy Father, be Thou blessed now and evermore; because as Thou wilt so it is done, and what Thou doest is good. Let Thy servant rejoice in Thee, not in himself, nor in any other; because Thou alone art the true joy, Thou art my hope and my crown, Thou art my joy and my honour, O Lord. What hath Thy servant, which he received not from Thee, even without merit of his own? Thine are all things which Thou hast given, and which Thou hast made. I am poor and in misery even from my youth up,(1) …
Thomas A Kempis—Imitation of Christ

Twelfth Sunday after Trinity Gospel Transcends Law.
Text: 2 Corinthians 3, 4-11. 4 And such confidence have we through Christ to God-ward: 5 not that we are sufficient of ourselves, to account anything as from ourselves; but our sufficiency is from God; 6 who also made us sufficient as ministers of a new covenant; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life. 7 But if the ministration of death, written, and engraven on stones, came with glory, so that the children of Israel could not look stedfastly upon …
Martin Luther—Epistle Sermons, Vol. III

Seasonable Counsel: Or, Advice to Sufferers.
BY JOHN BUNYAN. London: Printed for Benjamin Alsop, at the Angel and Bible in the Poultry, 1684. ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR. THIS valuable treatise was first published in a pocket volume in 1684, and has only been reprinted in Whitfield's edition of Bunyan's works, 2 vols. folio, 1767. No man could have been better qualified to give advice to sufferers for righteousness' sake, than John Bunyan: and this work is exclusively devoted to that object. Shut up in a noisome jail, under the iron hand of …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

An Exhortation to Love God
1. An exhortation. Let me earnestly persuade all who bear the name of Christians to become lovers of God. "O love the Lord, all ye his saints" (Psalm xxxi. 23). There are but few that love God: many give Him hypocritical kisses, but few love Him. It is not so easy to love God as most imagine. The affection of love is natural, but the grace is not. Men are by nature haters of God (Rom. i. 30). The wicked would flee from God; they would neither be under His rules, nor within His reach. They fear God, …
Thomas Watson—A Divine Cordial

The Resemblance Between the Old Testament and the New.
1. Introduction, showing the necessity of proving the similarity of both dispensations in opposition to Servetus and the Anabaptists. 2. This similarity in general. Both covenants truly one, though differently administered. Three things in which they entirely agree. 3. First general similarity, or agreement--viz. that the Old Testament, equally with the New, extended its promises beyond the present life, and held out a sure hope of immortality. Reason for this resemblance. Objection answered. 4. …
John Calvin—The Institutes of the Christian Religion

Second Sunday Before Lent
Text: Second Corinthians 11, 19-33; 12, 1-9. 19 For ye bear with the foolish gladly, being wise yourselves. 20 For ye bear with a man, if he bringeth you into bondage, if he devoureth you, if he taketh you captive, if he exalteth himself, if he smiteth you on the face. 21 I speak by way of disparagement, as though we had been weak. Yet whereinsoever any is bold (I speak in foolishness), I am bold also. 22 Are they Hebrews? so am I. Are they Israelites? so am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? so am …
Martin Luther—Epistle Sermons, Vol. II

The Blessed Privilege of Seeing God Explained
They shall see God. Matthew 5:8 These words are linked to the former and they are a great incentive to heart-purity. The pure heart shall see the pure God. There is a double sight which the saints have of God. 1 In this life; that is, spiritually by the eye of faith. Faith sees God's glorious attributes in the glass of his Word. Faith beholds him showing forth himself through the lattice of his ordinances. Thus Moses saw him who was invisible (Hebrews 11:27). Believers see God's glory as it were …
Thomas Watson—The Beatitudes: An Exposition of Matthew 5:1-12

Departure from Ireland. Death and Burial at Clairvaux.
[Sidenote: 1148, May (?)] 67. (30). Being asked once, in what place, if a choice were given him, he would prefer to spend his last day--for on this subject the brothers used to ask one another what place each would select for himself--he hesitated, and made no reply. But when they insisted, he said, "If I take my departure hence[821] I shall do so nowhere more gladly than whence I may rise together with our Apostle"[822]--he referred to St. Patrick; "but if it behoves me to make a pilgrimage, and …
H. J. Lawlor—St. Bernard of Clairvaux's Life of St. Malachy of Armagh

Psalms
The piety of the Old Testament Church is reflected with more clearness and variety in the Psalter than in any other book of the Old Testament. It constitutes the response of the Church to the divine demands of prophecy, and, in a less degree, of law; or, rather, it expresses those emotions and aspirations of the universal heart which lie deeper than any formal demand. It is the speech of the soul face to face with God. Its words are as simple and unaffected as human words can be, for it is the genius …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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