Psalms 26

A Prayer for Vindication

1

Of David.

1 Judge me, O Yahweh, because I have walked in my integrity, and I have trusted Yahweh and not wavered.
2 Prove me, O Yahweh, and test me. Try my {innermost being} and my {mind}.
3 Because your loyal love [is] before my eyes, and I walk about in your faithfulness.
4 I do not sit with deceitful people, nor will I go about with hypocrites.
5 I hate [the] crowd of evildoers, and with [the] wicked I will not sit.
6 I will wash my hands in innocence, and I will walk about your altar, O Yahweh,
7 to declare with a voice of thanksgiving, and tell of all your wondrous deeds.
8 O Yahweh, I love [the] dwelling of your house, and {the place where your glory abides}.
9 Do not destroy me with [the] sinners, nor my life with men of bloodshed,
10 in whose hands [is] an evil plan, and whose right hand is full of bribes.
11 But as for me, I will walk in my integrity. Redeem me and be gracious to me.
12 My foot stands on level ground. In assemblies I will bless Yahweh.

Psalms 26 Commentary

Chapter 26

David, in this psalm, appeals to God touching his integrity.

- David here, by the Spirit of prophecy, speaks of himself as a type of Christ, of whom what he here says of his spotless innocence was fully and eminently true, and of Christ only, and to Him we may apply it. We are complete in him. The man that walks in his integrity, yet trusting wholly in the grace of God, is in a state of acceptance, according to the covenant of which Jesus was the Mediator, in virtue of his spotless obedience even unto death. This man desires to have his inmost soul searched and proved by the Lord. He is aware of the deceitfulness of his own heart; he desires to detect and mortify every sin; and he longs to be satisfied of his being a true believer, and to practise the holy commands of God. Great care to avoid bad company, is both a good evidence of our integrity, and a good means to keep us in it. Hypocrites and dissemblers may be found attending on God's ordinances; but it is a good sign of sincerity, if we attend upon them, as the psalmist here tells us he did, in the exercise of repentance and conscientious obedience. He feels his ground firm under him; and, as he delights in blessing the Lord with his congregations on earth, he trusts that shortly he shall join the great assembly in heaven, in singing praises to God and to the Lamb for evermore.

Footnotes 7

  • [a]. The Hebrew Bible counts the superscription as the first verse of the psalm
  • [b]. Literally "kidneys," the locus of intense thoughts and emotions in biblical Hebrew
  • [c]. Literally "heart"
  • [d]. Or "temple"
  • [e]. Literally "the place of the dwelling place of your glory"
  • [f]. Or "gather my soul [for judgment]"
  • [g]. Hebrew "bribe"

Chapter Summary

Psalm of David. The occasion of this psalm seems to be the quarrel between Saul and David, the former listening to calumnies and reproaches cast upon the latter, and persecuting him in a violent manner. The argument of it is the same, in a great measure, with the seventh psalm, and is an appeal made to God, the Judge of the whole earth, by the psalmist, for his innocence and integrity; Theodoret thinks it was written by David when he fled from Saul.

Psalms 26 Commentaries

Scripture quotations marked (LEB) are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.