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Psalm 17:4
As for the deeds of men, by the word of your lips, I have kept myself from the ways of the violent.
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.
6I have called on you, for you will answer me, God. Turn your ear to me. Hear my speech.
Notice
“The ways of the violent” names a path David has refused, and he credits God’s spoken word with shaping that refusal.
Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.
Where do you see “the ways of the violent” treated as a path worth following?
Write on thisWhich words of God have helped you refuse a harmful course of action, if any?
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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
Galatians 5:19Now the deeds of the flesh are obvious, which are: adultery, sexual immorality, uncleanness, lustfulness,Both address human deeds, though Psalm 17 names violence while Galatians names sexual sins in the verse supplied.
Psalm 18:21For I have kept the ways of the LORD, and have not wickedly departed from my God.Both describe faithfulness through the language of ways kept or refused, with God as the standard for conduct.
1 John 4:5They are of the world. Therefore they speak of the world, and the world hears them.Both connect words with human conduct, though John describes worldly speech and Psalm 17 credits God’s speech with restraint.
1 John 5:18We know that whoever is born of God doesn’t sin, but he who was born of God keeps himself, and the evil one doesn’t touch him.Both speak of keeping oneself from evil, with Psalm 17 naming violence and John speaking of sin and the evil one.
Psalm 119:9–11How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word.Both connect keeping one’s way free from evil with living according to God’s word.
1 Peter 5:8Be sober and self-controlled. Be watchful. Your adversary, the devil, walks around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.Both concern guarding one’s conduct amid danger, though Peter names the devil and Psalm 17 names the ways of violent people.
1 Corinthians 3:3for you are still fleshly. For insofar as there is jealousy, strife, and factions among you, aren’t you fleshly, and don’t you walk in the ways of men?Both use human ways as a description of wrong conduct: violence in the psalm, jealousy and division in Corinthians.
John 8:23He said to them, “You are from beneath. I am from above. You are of this world. I am not of this world.The connection is limited: both distinguish what belongs to God from the human world, but John speaks of origin rather than conduct.
Matthew 4:10Then Jesus said to him, “Get behind me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and you shall serve him only.’”David credits God’s word with his refusal of violence; Jesus cites what is written when rejecting Satan.
Matthew 4:7Jesus said to him, “Again, it is written, ‘You shall not test the Lord, your God.’”Both connect God’s words with refusing a wrong course: David avoids violence, and Jesus cites the command against testing God.
Revelation 12:11They overcame him because of the Lamb’s blood, and because of the word of their testimony. They didn’t love their life, even to death.Both mention a word in resisting evil, though the psalm names God’s speech and Revelation names the believers’ testimony.
Ephesians 6:17And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God;Both present God’s word as help against evil: restraint from violent ways in the psalm, the Spirit’s sword in Ephesians.
Where this verse fits
Temptation. injustice and anger. sermon or Bible study notes.
One step
Something small to carry out of this verse
Encouragement
Other people’s deeds need not set the course for yours. David names God’s word as his help in refusing the violent path.
Now put it in your words.
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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).