Examine me, O Lord, and prove me; Try my mind and my heart.
Parallel translations
- WEB Examine me, Yahweh, and prove me. Try my heart and my mind.
- KJV Examine me, O LORD, and prove me; try my reins and my heart.
- BSB Test me, O LORD, and try me; examine my heart and mind.
- NASB Examine me, Lord, and put me to the test; Refine my mind and my heart.
- NLT Put me on trial, Lord, and cross-examine me. Test my motives and my heart.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
David invites God to examine, prove, and test his heart and mind. He welcomes divine scrutiny of his inmost being.
Overview
Confident in his sincerity, David asks God to search and test his deepest thoughts and affections. This is a bold yet humble willingness to be examined by the One who sees all. It reflects the heart that desires to be cleansed, anticipating the believer's prayer for God to search and purify, as accomplished through the refining work of Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Ps 139:23–24Search me, God, and know my heart. Try me, and know my thoughts.
- Ps 7:9Oh let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end, but establish the righteous; their minds and hearts are searched by the righteous God.
- Ps 17:3You 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.
- Zech 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 will hear them. I will say, ‘It is my people;’ and they will say, ‘Yahweh is my God.’”
- Job 13:23How many are my iniquities and sins? Make me know my disobedience and my sin.
- Ps 66:10For you, God, have tested us. You have refined us, as silver is refined.
- Jer 20:12But, Yahweh of Armies, who tests the righteous, who sees the heart and the mind, let me see your vengeance on them; for to you I have revealed my cause.
- Job 31:4–6Doesn’t he see my ways, and count all my steps?
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.
How Psalms 26:2 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.