Nighttime is when we lie in bed, isolated from our daily work and relationships, and thus alone before the Lord. It is when our thinking tends to reveal our real attitudes (see Psalm 4:4; Psalm 36:4), and we discover our affections more fully. It is, therefore, the time when we can see more clearly reflect on our attitude and obedience to the Lord’s word, or our sins and sinfulness. For that matter, it is the time when the Lord could catch someone out in their lack of integrity.1 So when David now says that the Lord visited him at night, he seems to be saying that the Lord could see that also at night, David was a man of integrity; he did not use his nights to hatch schemes, indulge secret sins, or pursue corruption under the cloak of darkness.2 The Lord would not find deceit or disguise in David—you will find nothing.
3 You have tried my heart, you have visited me by night, you have tested me, and you will find nothing; I have purposed that my mouth will not transgress.