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 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.