Read
Psalm 17:3
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.
1A Prayer by David. Hear, LORD, my righteous plea. Give ear to my prayer that doesn’t go out of deceitful lips.
2Let my sentence come out of your presence. Let your eyes look on equity.
3You 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.
4As for the deeds of men, by the word of your lips, I have kept myself from the ways of the violent.
5My steps have held fast to your paths. My feet have not slipped.
Notice
God's testing reaches David's heart in the night, and David answers with a firm resolve about the words that will leave his mouth.
Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.
What part of your speech needs the resolve David expresses here?
Write on thisHow does David's confidence under God's testing affect your own prayers for a fair hearing?
Write on thisConnect
Where else Scripture says this
12 passages readers most often link with this verse, and the thread each one shares with it.
This verse's connections, by chapterThe Bible's strongest chapter linksHover or tap a book to trace it
Psalm 139:1For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by David. LORD, you have searched me, and you know me.Both prayers address God as one who has searched the speaker and knows what is within.
1 Corinthians 8:3But anyone who loves God is known by him.Both passages speak of being known by God, though Corinthians names love for God and David speaks of testing.
Job 23:10But he knows the way that I take. When he has tried me, I will come out like gold.David and Job both speak with confidence about God's testing, David describing a completed test and Job anticipating its outcome.
Psalm 139:24See if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way.Both prayers bring the speaker's conduct under God's scrutiny, with Psalm 139 also asking for his guidance.
Psalm 16:7I will bless the LORD, who has given me counsel. Yes, my heart instructs me in the night seasons.Both psalms name the heart and the night as part of the speaker's dealings with God.
Acts 11:23who, when he had come, and had seen the grace of God, was glad. He exhorted them all, that with purpose of heart they should remain near to the Lord.David's resolve to obey and Barnabas's exhortation to remain near the Lord both concern a settled purpose toward God.
Psalm 26:2Examine me, LORD, and prove me. Try my heart and my mind.Both prayers speak of God proving and trying the heart, one recounting that testing and the other requesting it.
2 Corinthians 13:5Examine your own selves, whether you are in the faith. Test your own selves. Or don’t you know about your own selves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless …Both texts concern examination, though David speaks of God's testing and Paul directs believers to test themselves concerning faith.
Malachi 3:2“But who can endure the day of his coming? And who will stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire, and like launderers’ soap;The shared thread is divine scrutiny: David describes being tried, while Malachi depicts the coming one through refining and cleansing images.
Jeremiah 50:20In those days, and in that time,” says the LORD, “the iniquity of Israel will be sought for, and there will be none, also the sins of Judah, and they won’t be …Both describe a search that finds no wrongdoing; Jeremiah names God's pardon, while David presents his heart as tested.
Zechariah 13:9I will bring the third part into the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will test them like gold is tested. They will call on my name, and I …Both passages describe God testing people who address him, with Zechariah comparing that testing to the refining of precious metals.
Proverbs 13:3He who guards his mouth guards his soul. One who opens wide his lips comes to ruin.David resolves that his mouth will not disobey, and Proverbs speaks of the protection that comes from guarding the mouth.
Where this verse fits
Work conflict. injustice and anger. temptation.
One step
Something small to carry out of this verse
Encouragement
A plea for a fair hearing can include a resolve to guard your speech. David brings his claim of innocence before God, whose testing reaches the heart.
Now put it in your words.
Start an entry on Psalm 17:3. Write what it stirs. Psalmlog sets your words beside Scripture and gives you one next step. Your first entry is free, no account needed.
Keep goingPsalm 17 · the whole chapter with its connection mapPsalms · every chapterBuild a reading plan through Psalms
Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).