Bible Quiz – Psalm 17 (MCQs)

 

Bible Quiz – Psalm 17 (MCQs) 

Why This Is Not a Normal Bible Quiz

This is not a memory-based or devotional quiz.

This quiz series is designed for advanced Bible students, teachers, seminarians, pastors, and serious readers of Scripture who are willing to slow down, think canonically, and resist surface-level answers.

Psalm 17 is often misunderstood because it appears to assert righteousness, while other biblical texts—especially Romans 3—declare universal sinfulness. Rather than smoothing over this tension, this quiz forces you to confront it.

 

You will encounter:

Apparent contradictions

Familiar verses used in unfamiliar ways

Questions where multiple answers sound correct—but only one survives close textual, theological, and canonical scrutiny

If you rush, you will fail.

If you proof-text, you will be trapped.

If you read carefully, Scripture will interpret Scripture.

 

🧭 How to Use This Quiz (IMPORTANT)

Before you begin:

✔️ Read Psalm 17 slowly (preferably more than once)

✔️ Keep a Bible open (cross-references matter)

✔️ Do not assume New Testament categories automatically apply to Old Testament texts

✔️ Pay attention to genre (prayer, law, doctrine, poetry, argument)

This quiz rewards biblical theology, not isolated verses.

 

🧠 Quiz Structure & Instructions by Section

 

⚖️ Section 1: Textual & Covenantal Precision (Psalm 17)

What this section tests:

Literary genre (legal appeal vs confession)

Covenant language

Ethical integrity vs sinless perfection

📌 Instruction:

Answer based on what Psalm 17 actually claims, not what later theology eventually explains.

 

🧨 Section 2: Cross-Reference Trap Rounds

(Psalm 17 × Job × Proverbs × New Testament)

What this section tests:

Whether you can distinguish similar language from identical theology

Whether you can spot false parallels

Whether you know when Scripture is echoing—and when it is contrasting

📌 Instruction:

Do not choose the verse that sounds closest.

Choose the verse that matches function, scope, and intent.

 

⚔️ Section 3: Psalm 17 vs Romans 3 — “Righteousness” Clash

What this section tests:

Forensic righteousness vs covenant faithfulness

Ethical obedience vs judicial justification

Old Testament lived integrity vs New Testament universal indictment

📌 Instruction:

Assume both texts are inspired and true.

Your task is not to choose sides—but to avoid collapsing categories.

 

🧩 Scoring Guidance (Optional for Readers)

0–40% → Devotional familiarity, not yet theological precision

50–70% → Strong Bible knowledge, needs canonical refinement

80–90% → Advanced interpretive skill

100% → Scholar-level reading (rare)

 

⚠️ Common Mistakes This Quiz Exposes

Confusing integrity with justification

Importing Pauline theology into Davidic prayer without transition

Treating poetry as systematic doctrine

Ignoring who is speaking, to whom, and in what setting

 

📖 Bible Quiz: Psalm 17 (MCQs)

 

1. How does Psalm 17 begin?

A. “The LORD is my shepherd…”

B. “Hear a just cause, O LORD…”

C. “Blessed is the man…”

D. “Out of the depths have I cried…”

✅ Correct Answer: B

📜 Reference – Psalm 17:1 (KJV):

“Hear the right, O LORD, attend unto my cry, give ear unto my prayer, that goeth not out of feigned lips.”

 

2. What does David ask God to examine in verse 3?

A. His enemies

B. His sacrifices

C. His heart

D. His words

✅ Correct Answer: C

📜 Reference – Psalm 17:3 (KJV):

“Thou hast proved mine heart; thou hast visited me in the night; thou hast tried me, and shalt find nothing; I am purposed that my mouth shall not transgress.”

 

3. According to Psalm 17:4, what has kept David from the paths of the destroyer?

A. The law of Moses

B. His own wisdom

C. The fear of punishment

D. The word of God

✅ Correct Answer: D

📜 Reference – Psalm 17:4 (KJV):

“Concerning the works of men, by the word of thy lips I have kept me from the paths of the destroyer.”

 

4. What does David ask God to show “marvellously” in verse 7?

A. His power

B. His mercy

C. His lovingkindness

D. His righteousness

✅ Correct Answer: C

📜 Reference – Psalm 17:7 (KJV):

“Shew thy marvellous lovingkindness, O thou that savest by thy right hand them which put their trust in thee from those that rise up against them.”

 

5. In Psalm 17:8, how does David ask God to protect him?

A. As a shield in battle

B. As a fortress on a hill

C. As a lion guards its cub

D. As the apple of the eye

✅ Correct Answer: D

📜 Reference – Psalm 17:8 (KJV):

“Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of thy wings,”

 

6. What imagery is used to describe David’s enemies in verse 12?

A. A raging storm

B. A roaring lion

C. A consuming fire

D. A sharp sword

✅ Correct Answer: B

📜 Reference – Psalm 17:12 (KJV):

“Like as a lion that is greedy of his prey, and as it were a young lion lurking in secret places.”

 

7. What does David ask the LORD to do to the wicked in verse 13?

A. Forgive them

B. Teach them

C. Arise and disappoint them

D. Convert them

✅ Correct Answer: C

📜 Reference – Psalm 17:13 (KJV):

“Arise, O LORD, disappoint him, cast him down: deliver my soul from the wicked, which is thy sword:”

 

8. What ultimate hope does David express in the final verse of Psalm 17?

A. Long life on earth

B. Victory over enemies

C. Satisfaction in God’s presence

D. Wealth and prosperity

✅ Correct Answer: C

📜 Reference – Psalm 17:15 (KJV):

“As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness.”

 

9. What contrasts David with “men of the world” in Psalm 17?

A. Military strength

B. Earthly portion vs. eternal vision

C. Education and knowledge

D. Social status

✅ Correct Answer: B

📜 Reference – Psalm 17:14–15 (KJV):

“From men which are thy hand, O LORD, from men of the world, which have their portion in this life… As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness…”

 

10. What theme best summarizes Psalm 17?

A. Praise for creation

B. Confession of sin

C. A plea for divine justice and protection

D. Celebration of kingship

✅ Correct Answer: C

📜 Reference – Psalm 17 (Overall Theme):

David presents a righteous plea, seeks God’s protection, contrasts worldly reward with eternal satisfaction, and trusts in divine justice.

 

🔥 EXTREME / SCHOLAR-LEVEL BIBLE QUIZ

 

🧠 ROUND I — TEXTUAL PRECISION (Hebrew & Poetic Detail)

1. In Psalm 17:1, which Hebrew term emphasizes legal righteousness rather than emotional distress?

A. צַעֲקָה (tsaʿăqāh) – cry

B. תְּפִלָּה (tefillāh) – prayer

C. צֶדֶק (ṣedeq) – justice/righteous cause

D. אֲזִינָה (ʾăzînâ) – give ear

✅ Correct Answer: C

📜 Psalm 17:1 (KJV):

“Hear the right, O LORD, attend unto my cry, give ear unto my prayer, that goeth not out of feigned lips.”

🔎 Scholarly Note: David frames his prayer as a forensic appeal, not a lament.

 

2. What forensic action does Psalm 17:2 request from God?

A. Private vindication

B. Angelic intervention

C. A verdict issued from God’s presence

D. Immediate destruction of enemies

✅ Correct Answer: C

📜 Psalm 17:2 (KJV):

“Let my sentence come forth from thy presence; let thine eyes behold the things that are equal.”

 

⚖️ ROUND II — MORAL TESTING & COVENANT FIDELITY

3. Which phrase in Psalm 17:3 implies nocturnal divine examination?

A. “Thou hast tried me”

B. “Visited me in the night”

C. “Purposed in my mouth”

D. “Shalt find nothing”

✅ Correct Answer: B

📜 Psalm 17:3 (KJV):

“Thou hast proved mine heart; thou hast visited me in the night…”

📌 Insight: Night visitation echoes Job 4:13 and Psalm 16:7.

 

4. What theological tension does Psalm 17:3 create when compared with Psalm 51?

A. Kingship vs. priesthood

B. Wisdom vs. law

C. Claimed integrity vs. confessed sinfulness

D. Faith vs. works

✅ Correct Answer: C

📜 Psalm 17:3 vs. Psalm 51:3 (KJV):

“Thou hast tried me, and shalt find nothing…”

“For I acknowledge my transgressions…”

🧠 Scholar Trap: Psalm 17 asserts covenant faithfulness, not sinless perfection.

 

🛤️ ROUND III — ETHICS, WORD, AND RESTRAINT

5. What restrains David from “the paths of the destroyer” (v.4)?

A. Personal discipline

B. Fear of judgment

C. The written law

D. The spoken word of God

✅ Correct Answer: D

📜 Psalm 17:4 (KJV):

“…by the word of thy lips I have kept me from the paths of the destroyer.”

📚 Intertext: Anticipates Matthew 4:4.

 

6. Psalm 17:5 uses which metaphor for ethical stability?

A. Armor

B. Fortress

C. Unslipping feet

D. Straight paths

✅ Correct Answer: C

📜 Psalm 17:5 (KJV):

“Hold up my goings in thy paths, that my footsteps slip not.”

 

🛡️ ROUND IV — IMAGERY & COVENANT INTIMACY

7. “Apple of the eye” (v.8) most directly connects to which Mosaic text?

A. Exodus 19

B. Deuteronomy 32

C. Leviticus 16

D. Numbers 6

✅ Correct Answer: B

📜 Psalm 17:8 & Deuteronomy 32:10 (KJV):

“…he kept him as the apple of his eye.”

 

8. “Shadow of thy wings” primarily evokes which setting?

A. Creation

B. Wilderness journey

C. Temple sanctuary

D. Battlefield imagery

✅ Correct Answer: C

📜 Psalm 17:8 (KJV):

“Hide me under the shadow of thy wings.”

🕍 Hint: Cherubim imagery (Exodus 25:20).

 

🦁 ROUND V — ENEMY PORTRAIT & JUDGMENT

9. What literary function does the lion imagery in Psalm 17:12 serve?

A. Emotional exaggeration

B. Royal symbolism

C. Predatory inevitability

D. Military might

✅ Correct Answer: C

📜 Psalm 17:12 (KJV):

“Like as a lion that is greedy of his prey…”

 

10. Psalm 17:13 portrays the wicked as what in God’s hand?

A. Fire

B. Rod

C. Sword

D. Net

✅ Correct Answer: C

📜 Psalm 17:13 (KJV):

“…deliver my soul from the wicked, which is thy sword.”

📖 Parallel: Isaiah 10:5.

 

🌍 ROUND VI — ESCHATOLOGY & WORLDVIEW CONTRAST

11. What defines “men of the world” in Psalm 17?

A. Political power

B. Religious hypocrisy

C. Temporal inheritance

D. Moral corruption

✅ Correct Answer: C

📜 Psalm 17:14 (KJV):

“…men of the world, which have their portion in this life…”

 

12. Psalm 17:15 anticipates which later theological development?

A. Resurrection hope

B. Temple worship

C. Messianic kingship

D. Angelology

✅ Correct Answer: A

📜 Psalm 17:15 (KJV):

“I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness.”

📌 Deep Link: Daniel 12:2; 1 John 3:2.

 

🏆 FINAL SCHOLAR CHALLENGE

13. Which statement best summarizes Psalm 17’s theology?

A. Righteousness guarantees prosperity

B. God favors emotional prayer

C. Covenant fidelity appeals to divine justice

D. Judgment is delayed indefinitely

✅ Correct Answer: C

 

🧨 CROSS-REFERENCE TRAP QUIZ

Psalm 17 × Job × Proverbs × New Testament

 

⚖️ TRAP ROUND I — CLAIMED INNOCENCE (Psalm 17 vs Job)

1. Psalm 17:3 claims God will “find nothing.” Which Job passage creates the strongest theological tension—but not contradiction—with this claim?

A. Job 1:1

B. Job 9:20

C. Job 27:6

D. Job 31:1

✅ Correct Answer: B

📜 Job 9:20 (KJV):

“If I justify myself, mine own mouth shall condemn me…”

🧠 Trap Explained:

Job 1:1 and 27:6 echo integrity. Job 9:20, however, confronts the danger of self-vindication, forcing readers to interpret Psalm 17 as covenantal innocence, not absolute sinlessness.

 

🧪 TRAP ROUND II — NOCTURNAL TESTING (Psalm 17 vs Job)

2. Psalm 17:3 says God “visited me in the night.” Which Job verse uses similar language but flips the emotional tone?

A. Job 4:13

B. Job 7:18

C. Job 33:15

D. Job 38:1

✅ Correct Answer: B

📜 Job 7:18 (KJV):

“And that thou shouldest visit him every morning, and try him every moment?”

🧠 Trap:

Job 4:13 and 33:15 mention night visions, but Job 7:18 reframes divine visitation as burdensome scrutiny, unlike Psalm 17’s confident testing.

 

🛤️ TRAP ROUND III — THE PATHS OF THE DESTROYER (Psalm 17 vs Proverbs)

3. Psalm 17:4 claims avoidance of “the paths of the destroyer.” Which Proverbs text is closest linguistically but not ethically identical?

A. Proverbs 2:15

B. Proverbs 4:14

C. Proverbs 7:27

D. Proverbs 16:17

✅ Correct Answer: A

📜 Proverbs 2:15 (KJV):

“Whose ways are crooked, and they froward in their paths:”

🧠 Trap Explanation:

Proverbs 4:14 and 16:17 align ethically. Proverbs 2:15 sounds similar linguistically but focuses on moral perversity, not violent destruction implied in Psalm 17.

 

🛡️ TRAP ROUND IV — WORD AS RESTRAINT (Psalm 17 vs NT)

4. Which NT passage most precisely parallels Psalm 17:4 (“by the word of thy lips”)?

A. Romans 7:7

B. Matthew 4:4

C. Hebrews 4:12

D. James 1:22

✅ Correct Answer: B

📜 Matthew 4:4 (KJV):

“Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.”

🧠 Trap:

Hebrews 4:12 discusses the word’s power; Matthew 4:4 shows the word actively restraining evil paths, matching Psalm 17.

 

👁️ TRAP ROUND V — APPLE OF THE EYE (Psalm 17 vs Proverbs)

5. Which Proverbs verse looks identical to Psalm 17:8 but shifts the object of protection?

A. Proverbs 7:2

B. Proverbs 20:27

C. Proverbs 4:23

D. Proverbs 30:5

✅ Correct Answer: A

📜 Proverbs 7:2 (KJV):

“Keep my commandments, and live; and my law as the apple of thine eye.”

🧠 Trap:

Psalm 17:8 is relational and covenantal. Proverbs 7:2 is instructional, transferring the metaphor to Torah obedience.

 

🦁 TRAP ROUND VI — PREDATORY ENEMY (Psalm 17 vs Job & NT)

6. Which verse seems closest to Psalm 17:12’s lion imagery but alters the identity of the predator?

A. Job 10:16

B. Psalm 22:13

C. 1 Peter 5:8

D. Amos 3:8

✅ Correct Answer: C

📜 1 Peter 5:8 (KJV):

“Your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion…”

🧠 Trap:

Psalm 17’s lion is human oppression. 1 Peter 5:8 shifts the threat to satanic agency, changing the theology of conflict.

 

🌍 TRAP ROUND VII — WORLDLY PORTION (Psalm 17 vs Proverbs & NT)

7. Which passage appears to contradict Psalm 17:14 but actually reinforces it through contrast?

A. Proverbs 10:22

B. Luke 12:15

C. Job 21:7

D. Ecclesiastes 5:19

✅ Correct Answer: C

📜 Job 21:7 (KJV):

“Wherefore do the wicked live, become old, yea, are mighty in power?”

🧠 Trap:

Job 21:7 exposes the temporary prosperity of the wicked, which Psalm 17 critiques as their only portion.

 

🌅 FINAL TRAP — AWAKENING & LIKENESS (Psalm 17 vs NT)

8. Which NT verse most dangerously tempts readers into over-spiritualizing Psalm 17:15?

A. Romans 8:29

B. 2 Corinthians 3:18

C. 1 John 3:2

D. Philippians 3:21

✅ Correct Answer: B

📜 2 Corinthians 3:18 (KJV):

“…are changed into the same image from glory to glory…”

🧠 Trap Explained:

2 Corinthians 3:18 focuses on present transformation, while Psalm 17:15 points toward eschatological awakening—more closely aligned with 1 John 3:2.

 

Psalm 17 must be read as a covenant lawsuit, not a claim of sinless perfection—

anchored in Torah, tested like Job, and fulfilled in resurrection theology.

 

⚔️ PSALM 17 vs ROMANS 3

🔥 THE GREAT “RIGHTEOUSNESS” CLASH QUIZ

 

⚖️ ROUND I — CLAIM OF RIGHTEOUSNESS (APPARENT CONTRADICTION)

1. Psalm 17:1 opens with “Hear the right (צֶדֶק).” Romans 3:10 declares “There is none righteous.” Which statement best resolves the tension?

A. David contradicts Paul

B. Paul corrects David

C. David speaks of covenantal integrity; Paul of universal moral status

D. Both exaggerate for rhetorical effect

✅ Correct Answer: C

📜 Psalm 17:1 (KJV):

“Hear the right, O LORD…”

📜 Romans 3:10 (KJV):

“As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one.”

🧠 Scholar Trap:

Psalm 17 is a legal appeal within the covenant; Romans 3 is a universal indictment of humanity.

 

🧪 ROUND II — DIVINE TESTING VS UNIVERSAL FAILURE

2. Psalm 17:3 says God “shall find nothing.” Romans 3:20 says “no flesh shall be justified.” What category mistake causes confusion here?

A. Confusing law and gospel

B. Confusing ethical testing with forensic justification

C. Confusing Old and New Testaments

D. Confusing Israel and Gentiles

✅ Correct Answer: B

📜 Psalm 17:3 (KJV):

“…and shalt find nothing…”

📜 Romans 3:20 (KJV):

“Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified…”

🧠 Key Insight:

Psalm 17 speaks of examined faithfulness; Romans 3 speaks of courtroom acquittal before God.

 

📜 ROUND III — THE LAW: DEFENSE OR CONDEMNATION?

3. In Psalm 17:4, the “word of thy lips” restrains evil. In Romans 3:19, the law silences mouths. What differs?

A. The authority of the law

B. The audience of the law

C. The function of the law

D. The content of the law

✅ Correct Answer: C

📜 Psalm 17:4 (KJV):

“…by the word of thy lips I have kept me from the paths of the destroyer.”

📜 Romans 3:19 (KJV):

“…that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.”

🧠 Trap:

Same law—different judicial moment. Psalm: guidance. Romans: indictment.

 

🛡️ ROUND IV — PERSONAL INTEGRITY VS UNIVERSAL GUILT

4. Which statement best explains how Psalm 17:5 (“my footsteps slip not”) coexists with Romans 3:12 (“they are all gone out of the way”)?

A. David excludes himself from humanity

B. Romans 3 exaggerates

C. Psalm 17 describes lived obedience; Romans 3 describes representative guilt

D. David speaks metaphorically

✅ Correct Answer: C

📜 Psalm 17:5 (KJV):

“…that my footsteps slip not.”

📜 Romans 3:12 (KJV):

“They are all gone out of the way…”

🧠 Scholar-Level Resolution:

Romans 3 uses Psalm citations corporately, not autobiographically.

 

🦁 ROUND V — THE ENEMY PROBLEM

5. Psalm 17 identifies external enemies; Romans 3 identifies an internal problem. What is the key theological shift?

A. From political to spiritual

B. From Israel to Gentiles

C. From oppression to depravity

D. From poetry to doctrine

✅ Correct Answer: C

📜 Psalm 17:13 (KJV):

“Deliver my soul from the wicked…”

📜 Romans 3:23 (KJV):

“For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.”

🧠 Trap:

Psalm 17’s threat is outside the righteous; Romans 3’s threat is inside all humanity.

 

🌍 ROUND VI — WORLDLY PORTION VS GRACE

6. Psalm 17:14 contrasts “men of the world” with the righteous. Romans 3:9 levels everyone. What doctrine emerges?

A. Election

B. Total depravity

C. Justification by faith

D. Progressive sanctification

✅ Correct Answer: B

📜 Psalm 17:14 (KJV):

“…men of the world, which have their portion in this life…”

📜 Romans 3:9 (KJV):

“…for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin.”

🧠 Key Clash:

Psalm 17 distinguishes life orientation; Romans 3 diagnoses human nature.

 

🌅 ROUND VII — SEEING GOD VS BEING JUSTIFIED

7. Psalm 17:15 promises seeing God in righteousness. Romans 3:24 explains how righteousness is obtained. What is the relationship?

A. Psalm 17 contradicts Romans

B. Psalm 17 assumes imputed righteousness

C. Psalm 17 anticipates Romans’ solution

D. Psalm 17 is purely poetic

✅ Correct Answer: C

📜 Psalm 17:15 (KJV):

“I will behold thy face in righteousness…”

📜 Romans 3:24 (KJV):

“Being justified freely by his grace…”

🧠 Canonical Insight:

Psalm 17 expects righteousness; Romans 3 explains its source.

 

🏁 FINAL SCHOLAR TRAP

8. Which statement best harmonizes Psalm 17 and Romans 3 without flattening either?

A. David was righteous; others are not

B. Paul redefines righteousness completely

C. Covenant faithfulness cannot justify, but it can appeal

D. Law obedience saves temporarily

✅ Correct Answer: C

 

Psalm 17 is a covenant lawsuit rooted in lived faithfulness.

Romans 3 is a cosmic courtroom verdict exposing universal guilt.

They clash only when genre, scope, and judicial timing are ignored.

 

If this quiz stretched you, confused you, or exposed gaps—that’s the point.

👉 Share this quiz with a Bible study group, seminary friend, or pastor

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Read deeply. Think carefully. Let Scripture challenge you.