Psalms 17:3

“Thou hast proved mine heart, etc.] 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, (<050802>Deuteronomy 8:2,16); sometimes by suffering false prophets and false teachers to be among them, (<051303>Deuteronomy 13:3); and sometimes by leaving corruptions in them, and them to their…”

“proved . . . visited . . . tried--His character was most rigidly tested, at all times, and by all methods, affliction and others (Psa 7:10). purposed that, &c.--or, my mouth does not exceed my purpose; I am sincere.”

“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…”

“Proved - Or, searched or tried it, by many temptations and afflictions. Night - When mens minds being freed from the distraction of business, and from the society of men, they act more vigorously and freely, according to their several inclinations. Tried - As gold - smiths do metals. Nothing - Nothing of unrighteousness. Purposed - I have resolved, upon deliberation, as the word implies. Mouth - I am so far from practising against Saul's life, as they charge me, that I will not wrong him so much as in a word. Psalms 17:4”

“17:3-5 The psalmist declares his innocence (17:1) and commits himself to integrity by being open to God’s examination. 17:3 Though he is not perfect, the psalmist commits himself to the Lord. He does not want to sin through deception, flattery, or gossip (see 10:7; 15:2-3; 17:1).”

“proved: Psa 11:5, Psa 26:2, Psa 66:10, Psa 139:1; Job 23:10; Zac 13:9; Mal 3:2; Co1 4:4; Pe1 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; Sa1 24:10, Sa1 24:12, Sa1 26:11, Sa1 26:23; Co2 1:12 I am: Psa 39:1, Psa 119:106; Pro 13:3; Act 11:23; Jam 3:2 Psalms 17:4”

“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 בּל־תּמצא, viz., the testing He has instituted, which is referred to in צרפתּני and also בּחנתּ as a trying of gold by fire, and in פּקד 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…”