Psalm 26:1-6

1 Clear my name, God; I've kept an honest shop. I've thrown in my lot with you, God, and I'm not budging.

2 Examine me, God, from head to foot, order your battery of tests. Make sure I'm fit inside and out

3 So I never lose sight of your love, But keep in step with you, never missing a beat.

4 I don't hang out with tricksters, I don't pal around with thugs;

5 I hate that pack of gangsters, I don't deal with double-dealers.

6 I scrub my hands with purest soap, then join hands with the others in the great circle, dancing around your altar, God,

Psalm 26:1-6 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.