Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 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.
3. Thou hast tried mine heart (Psa 7:9; Psa 11:4-5); thou hast visited me in the night, when men’s thoughts range unrestrainedly, and they appear in their true colours (Psa 36:4); thou hast proved or refined me (Psa 66:10), and findest nothing, no dross of evil purpose. But see next note.
I am purposed &c.] A difficult and much disputed clause. The A.V., retained in R.V. text, follows the Massoretic accents. It is however better to connect this and the preceding clause thus:
Thou hast proved me, and findest no evil purpose in me;
My mouth doth not transgress.
In thought, word, and deed ( Psa 17:4), he has nothing to fear from the Divine scrutiny.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
3 5. The bold language of a good conscience. See Introd. p. lxxxvii. Cp. Act 23:1; Act 24:16.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
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 Psa 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 – tsaraph – 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.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Psa 17:3
Thou hast visited me in the night.
Gods visitations in the night
God has two daily messengers of His love for men, bringing to them His gifts of love–Day and Night. Let us think of His visitations to us by night, when we are still and when He would have us reflect. The Psalm is evidently an evening Psalm.
I. How well it is that the day should close with reflection, that God should visit us thus. Rest alone would be a visitation from God, His gift. But sleep is the better when we pass to it from prayer. If a knock comes to the door at night when all is quiet how it startles us. In the day we should not notice it, but at night we needs must. And Christ may say, I came in the day but was not heard; behold, I now stand at the door and knock. It is well to reflect at the close of each day on each day. In the bustle of business we do not understand the meaning of our life. Perhaps we never shall till the bustle of all lifes days is done and we stand on the safe and quiet shore of eternity. There are, too, our own ways that need to be understood. Conscience needs to be quickened, and one day it will be. Just as the manipulations of the photographer in the dark chamber bring forth a picture which has been burnt into the plate by rays o flight before, that when completed it may be brought to light again, and men may see what manner of men they were; so in the dark chambers of the dead, in the hidden spirit world, there shall be a quickening of conscience. And God has given to us the darkness of night in which, away from busy life, we may bring forth the pictures of the day that are imprinted on conscience. Cultivate this photography of life.
II. And there is the night of trouble. God visits those who trust Him then. Let there be also in this night reflection, review. Memory is given us that we may not depend for happiness on the present. And review in this night your conduct in your joys. Ah, who is worthy of their joy? Be willing then to bear the night. Gods blessings come in the night, so says a German proverb. There is no night in which God is not near us. No, not the last eventide, the darkest of all In Christ we need not foal (T. Gasquoine, B. A.)
The religious aspects of night
There is no necessary contrast between what are called the scientific and the religious aspects of nature. Science keeps its eye upon the facts of nature, carefully verifies and measures them, and seeks to discover their exact relations to each other. Religion, too, is interested in nature, and behind each natural fact sees chiefly Him to whom both effect and cause are traceable. Religion is more necessary to us men than science, and therefore God has taught us religion first of all. The succession of day and night will illustrate what I am saying. We know the physical causes of night, but it has another and a higher meaning, and this is hinted at in our text. The religious aspects of night are many. It strikes us first of all–
I. As an interruption. It breaks in upon and suspends all human occupation. At the very least eight hours in the twenty-four, a quarter of a century in the life of a man of seventy-five, are withdrawn from the demands of labour, And as each day the shadow of night creeping around the world advances, millions of human workers hail the approaching pause in toil which is thus mercifully imposed upon them. Man might have been so fashioned as not to need this, but this enforced suspension of activity cannot but suggest a meaning. It suggests not merely the limited stock of strength at our disposal which needs thus often to be refreshed and replenished, but it also reminds us that we have a higher life than that of the activity of the day, and which shall last when all belonging to this shall have passed away.
II. Night suggests danger. The daylight is of itself protection. When it is withdrawn much becomes possible which it forbids. Night is the opportunity of wild beasts and of evil men. They ply their trade during its dark and silent hours. And thus St. Paul describes the workers of darkness as unfruitful. Our Lord compares the unexpectedness of His second coming as a thief in the night. If, indeed, St. Paul were to visit London on the afternoon of a bank holiday, it is to be feared that he would have to reconsider his remark that they that be drunken are drunken in the night. Still, on the whole, the night is the season of peril and disaster. We yet need to pray God that He would protect us from all perils and dangers of this night. For notwithstanding brilliantly lighted streets and well organised police there are yet special perils–such as those of fire in our large and lofty houses, from which the tenants of rude huts and shepherds cabins would find ready escape. It is with civilised as with savage man, God is, in the last resort, our only Protector.
III. Night is a time during which God often speaks to the soul of man. No believer in Gods existence can reasonably deny that He can communicate with the mind of man. We think sleeplessness a great misfortune, but it may be a great blessing. For never does God speak more solemnly, more persuasively to the human soul, than in the waking hours of night. Then conscience has a chance; we listen and hear no other voice. Conscience revives the past, and the eye of sense rests upon no object which can compete with and efface the awful impression. Then religion asserts its empire, and we acknowledge to ourselves with sorrow how much we have forgotten or despised that had the first of all claims upon us. See the many references in the Psalms to these holy uses of the night. One practical lesson, at least, we may remember as bearing upon this subject–the duty of storing the mind while we are yet comparatively young and strong with that which in the hours of sleeplessness and pain will enable us to rise up to God. A mind thus well stored need never fear that the waking hours of night are lost. (Canon Liddon.)
I am purposed that my mouth shall not transgress.—
Restraining the tongue
Such was the pious resolution of the Psalmist when the tongues of his enemies were transgressing both against him and his God. Silence would produce the better effect, both on his own mind and on his enemies.
I. The evil which the psalmist dreaded. Transgressing with his tongue. The tongue, indeed, is only the channel through which the depravity of the heart proceeds, but it is a channel of remarkable facility. It is liable to transgress–
1. Against God. By murmuring at the providence of God.
2. Against mankind. There are cruel expressions of malice and revenge sometimes uttered by one man against another to ruin his character. There are those who injure religion and their character by a propensity to speak with levity or bitterness. There are those who transgress by flattery-an evil more injurious than the keenest reproach sometimes.
II. The best means of avoiding this evil. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man. What does this purpose imply?
1. A serious regard to Divine inspection and authority.
2. Attention to the state of the heart.
3. We should aim to cultivate religious knowledge, and promote, at every proper opportunity, religious conversation. The most likely way to preserve the tongue from evil is to employ it in what is valuable and useful Prepared by the secret exercises of piety and devotion, we shall enjoy the full delights of domestic and social life without injury and without remorse. (Homilist.)
The mouth kept front transgression
A friend of Archbishop Leighton said that, in free and frequent intercourse with him for twenty-two years, I never knew him say an idle word, or a word that had not a direct tendency to edification; and I never once saw him in any other temper but that I wished to be in at the last moment of my life.
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 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] 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.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Proved, or searched, or tried it, by many and sore temptations and afflictions, whereby the sincerity or hypocrisy of mens hearts are easily and commonly discovered, and especially by thy all-seeing eye. And that is my great comfort, that thou art witness of my innocency.
Thou hast visited me; thou hast made an inspection and inquiry into my heart.
In the night; either,
1. Metaphorically, i.e. in the time of trouble. Or,
2. Properly; when mens minds being freed from the encumbrance and distraction of business, and from the presence and society of men, (which either lays a restraint upon them, or tempts them to use dissimulation,) do act most vigorously and freely, either upon good or evil, according to their several inclinations.
Thou hast tried me, accurately and severely, as goldsmiths do metals.
Shalt find nothing, i.e. nothing of unrighteousness. Heb. shalt not find, to wit, that whereof mine enemies accuse me, namely, hypocrisy towards thee, and evil design against Saul, covered under fair pretences, as they allege. So this general phrase is to be limited from the context, as other generals most frequently are. For he was so far from thinking himself sinless, that he often acknowledgeth his many and great sins, and particularly, that if God should enter into judgment with him, and be severe to mark iniquities, no living man could be justified, or stand before him, Psa 130:3; 143:2.
I am purposed, or, I have resolved upon deliberation, as the word implies, that my mouth shall not transgress; I am so far from practising against Sauls life, as they charge me, that I will not wrong him so much as in a word. Some join these words with the next foregoing, and render the place thus, That which I have thought, my mouth shall not transgress, or rather, hath not transgressed, i.e. my thoughts and words always agree together. I abhor falsehood and dissimulation.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
3. proved . . . visited . . .triedHis character was most rigidly tested, at all times, andby all methods, affliction and others (Ps7:10).
purposed that, c.or,my mouth does not exceed my purpose I am sincere.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole 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, De 8:2; sometimes by suffering false prophets and false teachers to be among them, De 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, Jud 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, Isa 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, Ps 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 Ps 7:3. This is true of Christ in the fullest sense; no iniquity was ever found in him by God, by men or devils, Joh 14:30 1Pe 2:22; and also of his people, as considered in him, being justified by his righteousness, and washed in his blood, Jer 50:20; though otherwise, as considered in themselves, they themselves find sin and corruption abounding in them, Ro 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, Ps 39:9; so Christ submitted himself patiently to the will of God without repining, and when reviled by men reviled not again, Lu 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 Ps 39:1.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
David refers to the divine testing and illumination of the inward parts, which he has experienced in himself, in support of his sincerity. The preterites in Psa 17:3 express the divine acts that preceded the result , viz., the testing He has instituted, which is referred to in and also as a trying of gold by fire, and in as an investigation (Job 7:18). The result of the close scrutiny to which God has subjected him in the night, when the bottom of a man’s heart is at once made manifest, whether it be in his thoughts when awake or in the dream and fancies of the sleeper, was and is this, that He does not find, viz., anything whatever to punish in him, anything that is separated as dross from the gold. To the mind of the New Testament believer with his deep, and as it were microscopically penetrating, insight into the depth of sin, such a confession concerning himself would be more difficult than to the mind of an Old Testament saint. For a separation and disunion of flesh and spirit, which was unknown in the same degree to the Old Testament, has been accomplished in the New Testament consciousness by the facts and operations of redemption revealed in the New Testament; although at the same time it must be remembered that in such confessions the Old Testament consciousness does not claim to be clear from sins, but only from a conscious love of sin, and from a self-love that is hostile to God.
With David begins his confession of how Jahve found him to be, instead of finding anything punishable in him. This word is either an infinitive like (Psa 77:10) with the regular ultima accentuation, formed after the manner of the verbs, – in accordance with which Hitzig renders it: my thinking does not overstep my mouth, – or even 1 pers. praet., which is properly Milel, but does also occur as Milra, e.g., Deu 32:41; Isa 44:16 (vid., on Job 19:17), – according to which Bttcher translates: should I think anything evil, it dare not pass beyond my mouth, – or (since may denote the determination that precedes the act, e.g., Jer 4:28; Lam 2:17): I have determined my mouth shall not transgress. This last rendering is opposed by the fact, that by itself in the ethical signification “to transgress” (cf. post-biblical ) is not the usage of the biblical Hebrew, and that when stand close together, is presumptively the object. We therefore give the preference to Bttcher’s explanation, which renders as a hypothetical perfect and is favoured by Pro 30:32 (which is to be translated: and if thou thinkest evil, (lay) thy hand on thy mouth!). Nevertheless is not the expression of a fact, but of a purpose, as the combination of with the future requires it to be taken. The psalmist is able to testify of himself that he so keeps evil thoughts in subjection within him, even when they may arise, that they do not pass beyond his mouth, much less that he should put them into action. But perhaps the psalmist wrote originally, “my reflecting does not go beyond Thy commandment” (according to Num 22:18; 1Sa 15:24; Pro 8:29), – a meaning better suited, as a result of the search, to the nightly investigation. The of fo need not be the of reference (as to); it is that of the state or condition, as in Psa 32:6; Psa 69:22. , as perhaps also in Job 31:33; Hos 6:7 (if is not there the name of the first man), means, men as they are by nature and habit. does not admit of being connected with : at the doings of the world contrary to Thy revealed will (Hofmann and others); for cannot mean: to act contrary to any one, but only: to work upon any one, Job 35:6. These words must therefore be regarded as a closer definition, placed first, of the which follows: in connection with the doings of men, by virtue of the divine commandment, he has taken care of the paths of the oppressor, viz., not to go in them; 1Sa 25:21 is an instance in support of this rendering, where , as in Job 2:6, means: I have kept (Nabal’s possession), not seizing upon it myself. Jerome correctly translates vias latronis ; for signifies one who breaks in, i.e., one who does damage intentionally and by violence. The confession concerning himself is still continued in Psa 17:5, for the inf. absol. , if taken as imperative would express a prayer for constancy, that is alien to the circumstances described. The perfect after is also against such a rendering. It must therefore be taken as inf. historicus, and explained according to Job 23:11, cf. Psa 41:13. The noun following the inf. absol., which is usually the object, is the subject in this instance, as, e.g., in Job 40:2; Pro 17:12; Ecc 4:2, and frequently. It is , and not , (a step) never having the dageshed, except in Psa 17:11 and Job 31:7.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
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, Lord, who understandest all the secret affections and thoughts of my heart, even as it is thy peculiar prerogative to try men, knowest very well that I am not a double man, and do not cherish any deceit within. What David intended to express is certainly very evident. As he was unjustly and falsely charged with crime, and could obtain neither justice nor humanity at the hands of men, he appeals to God, requesting he would become judge in the matter. (346) But not to do this rashly, he subjects himself to an impartial examination, seeing God, whose prerogative it is to search the secret recesses of the heart, cannot be deceived by the external appearance. The time when he declares God to have visited him is during the night, because, when a man is withdrawn from the presence of his fellow-creatures, he sees more clearly his sins, which otherwise would be hidden from his view; just as, on the contrary, the sight of men affects us with shame, and this is, as it were, a veil before our eyes, which prevents us from deliberately examining our faults. It is, therefore, as if David had said, O Lord, since the darkness of the night discovers the conscience more fully, all coverings being then taken away, and since, at that season, the affections, either good or bad, according to men’s inclinations, manifest themselves more freely, when there is no person present to witness and pronounce judgment upon them; if thou then examinest me, there will be found neither disguise nor deceit in my heart. (347) Hence we conclude how great was David’s integrity, seeing that, when purposely and leisurely taking account of his inmost thoughts, he presents himself so boldly, to be tried by the judgment of God. And he not only declares himself to be innocent of outward crimes, but also free from all secret malice. So far from cherishing malicious designs, while he covered them over with fair pretences, as his enemies alleged, he protests that his words were a frank and undisguised representation of what was passing in his heart: My thought shall not pass beyond my mouth. Our thought is said to pass beyond our mouth when, for the purpose of deceiving, the mind thinks differently from what the tongue expresses. (348) The word זמה, zimmah, which we have translated simply thought, may also be taken in a bad sense for deceitful and malicious devices.
(346) “ Le requerant d’en vouloir estre le juge.” — Fr.
(347) “ Il ne sera trouve desguisement ne fraude quelconque en mon coeur.” — Fr.
(348) This is the sense put upon this last clause by the learned Castellio, who translates it thus:- “ Non deprehendes me aliud in pectore, aliud in ore habere.” “Thou shalt not find me to have one thing in my breast and another in my mouth.”
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(3) In the night (as Psa. 16:7).The time of calm reflection and self-examination. Some, however, taking this verse in connection with Psa. 17:15, think the poem was composed at night.
I am purposed.The Hebrew word presents a difficulty. It is better to take it as a nouncounsels, and here, as generally, evil counselsand join it to the preceding, not (as in the Authorised Version) the following words.
Thou hast proved my heart,
Thou hast visited me in the night,
Thou hast found no malice in me,
My mouth doth not transgress, or
It (malice) doth not pass my mouth.
I offendthat is, neither in thought nor word. The LXX., Vulg., Syr., Chald., and Arab. versions support this arrangement.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
3. Proved mine heart He accepts his afflictions as tests of his sincerity. The word prove is applied to the trying of metals. Jer 9:7; Zec 13:9.
In the night See Psa 16:7.
Tried A word of similar import to “proved,” in previous line. Thou hast purified me. Psa 66:10; Isa 48:10.
Shalt find nothing No dross, no concealed iniquity upon which to ground condemnation. See Joh 14:30.
My mouth shall not transgress I will not speak otherwise than I think and purpose. My heart and my lips shall be alike pure.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘You have proved my heart, you have visited me in the night,
You have tried me, and find nothing,
I am determined that my mouth shall not transgress.’
‘You have proved my heart.’ That is, have tried it and tested it and found out the truth about it.
‘You have visited me in the night.’ The night is the time when men can be alone and the truth can come out. It is at night that a man’s thoughts roam freely and people consider mischief (Psa 36:4). It is also possible that when seeking a solution in a case the judge would visit a man at night when, alone together in privacy, he may be able to discover the truth. Compare how Nicodemus came to Jesus by night in order to find the truth (Joh 3:1). But YHWH has visited him and tried him then and found nothing. Indeed he is determined that nothing that he says will suggest transgression against God’s Law and against His requirements.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Psa 17:3. Thou hast visited me in the night “Thou hast been present with me in my greatest privacies; to discover whether, in my retirement from the eyes of men, I was forming any evil designs, or indulging any mischievous imaginations.” The last clause of this verse is obscure. David here is thought by many interpreters to hint at what passed in the camp of Saul, when Abishai would have killed him, but was prevented by David, 1Sa 26:9.; and the sense will be clearer, if the first words of this verse be added to the former, as they actually are in the LXX. Then the sense will be; “I have purposed that my mouth shall not offend, concerning men’s works;” i.e. “I am so far from doing any wicked thing, that I will keep a strict watch, even over my words; and, though my enemies persecute me ever so much by their evil deeds, I am resolved that they shall not tempt me to speak evil. And as to what I said of my innocence, in respect of any wicked overt-act, this is one remarkable instance of it, that, when I had my enemy in my power, by attending to and obeying thy commandments, O God, the words of thy lips, I preserved my innocence in that great trial of it, and kept me from the ways of that destroyer, Abishai.” Then the next verse follows naturally; in which he beseeches God to keep him in this righteous course: Hold up my goings, &c.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Psa 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.
Ver. 3. Thou hast proved my heart ] And knowest me to be no dissembler and traitor, as they wrongfully charge me, while they muse as they use.
Thou hast visited me in the night
Thou hast tried me
And shall find nothing
I am purposed that my mouth shall not transgress find nothing. None but Christ could say this. See Joh 14:30.
proved: Psa 11:5, Psa 26:2, Psa 66:10, Psa 139:1, Job 23:10, Zec 13:9, Mal 3:2, 1Co 4:4, 1Pe 1:7
thou hast: Psa 16:7, Job 24:14, Hos 7:6, Mic 2:1, Act 16:9, Act 18:9, Act 18:10
shalt: Psa 7:4, Psa 44:17-21, 1Sa 24:10, 1Sa 24:12, 1Sa 26:11, 1Sa 26:23, 2Co 1:12
I am: Psa 39:1, Psa 119:106, Pro 13:3, Act 11:23, Jam 3:2
Reciprocal: 1Sa 12:5 – in my hand 1Sa 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 Psa 7:8 – according Psa 7:9 – for Psa 18:23 – upright Psa 69:5 – and my sins Psa 94:9 – hear Psa 139:24 – And see Psa 141:3 – Set a watch Psa 142:3 – then thou Pro 5:21 – General Pro 24:12 – doth not he that Jer 12:3 – knowest Jer 15:15 – thou Jer 20:12 – that Mat 6:4 – seeth Joh 21:17 – thou knowest that 1Co 8:3 – is 2Co 13:5 – Examine 1Th 2:4 – but God
Psa 17:3. Thou hast proved mine heart Or searched, or tried it, by many temptations and afflictions; by which the sincerity or hypocrisy of mens hearts is discovered, and especially is manifest to thy all-seeing eye. Thou hast visited me in the night Thou hast been present with me in my greatest privacies; to discover whether, in my retirement from the eyes of men, in the night season, when secrecy and solitude prompt the hypocrite to sin, I was forming any evil designs, or indulging any mischievous imaginations. Thou hast tried me Accurately and severely, as goldsmiths do metals. And shalt find nothing Nothing of unrighteousness in me. In the Hebrew it is only, Thou shalt not find; namely, that whereof my enemies accuse me, whether hypocrisy toward thee, or evil designs against Saul, covered with fair pretences. I am purposed I have resolved upon deliberation, as the word here used implies; that my mouth shall not transgress I am so far from taking any measures, or practising any thing against Sauls life, as they charge me, that I will not wrong him so much as in word. Or, more generally, and without any particular reference to Saul, I am so far from doing any wicked thing, that I will keep a strict watch even over my words; and though mine enemies persecute me ever so much by their evil deeds, I am resolved they shall not tempt me to speak evil. Observe, reader, he does not say, I hope my mouth shall not transgress, or I wish it may not, but I am fully purposed that it shall not. With this bridle he kept it, Psa 39:2. Constant resolution and watchfulness against the sins of the tongue will be a good evidence of our integrity. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, Jas 3:2.
17:3 Thou hast {c} proved mine heart; thou hast visited [me] in the night; thou hast tried me, [and] shalt find nothing; I am purposed [that] my {d} mouth shall not transgress.
(c) When your Spirit examined my conscience.
(d) I was innocent toward my enemy both in deed and thought.
David was not asking for acceptance by God because of his own righteousness. He claimed that in the present conflict, in which evil people were opposing him, he had done nothing worthy of their antagonism. God had examined David’s attitudes, as well as his actions, and had no basis for condemning him. Furthermore, David had previously made a strong commitment not to sin.
". . . he requests God to ’test’ his ’heart’ (see Psa 7:9), i.e., to put him through every conceivable examination. The probing (bahan, see Psa 7:9) of ’the heart’ (Psa 17:3 a) is a determination of the purity and integrity of the heart. Even as silver and gold underwent a refining process and were tested until the smith was satisfied with the purity of these precious metals, so the psalmist asks for an examination of his purity of devotion to God." [Note: VanGemeren, p. 162.]
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)