Psalm 26

1 Judge me, O Lord; for I have walked in my innocence: and hoping in the Lord I shall not be moved.

2 Prove me, O Lord, and try me; purify as with fire my reins and my heart.

3 For thy mercy is before mine eyes: and I am well pleased with thy truth.

4 I have not sat with the council of vanity, and will in nowise enter in with transgressors.

5 I have hated the assembly of wicked doers; and will not sit with ungodly men.

6 I will wash my hands in innocency, and compass thine altar, O Lord:

7 to hear the voice of praise, and to declare all thy wonderful works.

8 O Lord, I have loved the beauty of thy house, and the place of the tabernacle of thy glory.

9 Destroy not my soul together with the ungodly, nor my life with bloody men:

10 in whose hands are iniquities, and their right hand is filled with bribes.

11 But I have walked in my innocence: redeem me, and have mercy upon me.

12 My foot stands in an even place: in the congregations will I bless thee, O Lord.

Psalm 26 Meaning and Commentary

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.