Psalms 26

1 Lord, when you hand down your sentence, let it be in my favor. I have lived without blame. I have trusted in the Lord. I have never doubted him.
2 Lord, test me. Try me out. Look deep down into my heart and mind.
3 Your love is always with me. I have always lived by your truth.
4 I don't spend time with people who tell lies. I don't keep company with pretenders.
5 I hate to be with a group of sinful people. I refuse to spend time with those who are evil.
6 I wash my hands to show that I'm not guilty. Lord, I come near your altar.
7 I shout my praise to you. I tell about all the wonderful things you have done.
8 Lord, I love the house where you live. I love the place where your glory is.
9 Don't destroy me together with sinners. Don't take my life away along with murderers.
10 Their hands are always planning to do evil. Their right hands are full of money that bought them off.
11 But I live without blame. Set me free and show me your favor.
12 My feet stand on level ground. In the whole community I will praise the Lord.

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.

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

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