Psalm 26 A Psalm of David with Commentaries by Dennis Edwards
Psalm 26:1 Judge me, O Lord; for I have walked in my integrity: I have trusted also in
the Lord; therefore, I shall not slide.
David was being falsely accused by King Saul of conspiring against
him, of seeking to “lie in wait” to kill Saul and take the kingdom
from him. Saul, also, accused the High Priest of being in league with David. “Why have you conspired against me, you and the son of Jesse…that he should rise against me, to lie in wait, as at this day?” 1 Samuel 22:13.
It is the enemy of our soul who is the accuser of the saints, “who accuses them night and day before our God,” Revelation 12:10b. Though our adversary accuses us, we
have “overcome him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word
of our testimony,” Revelation 12:11a. Our testimony is that we
have believed on the name of the only begotten Son of God, “and have not denied His name,” Revelation 3:8b.
Because we have not denied His name, “but have kept the word of His patience,” in other words, we have kept His word even under ridicule and
persecution; “He also will keep us from the hour of temptation, which
shall come upon the whole world, to try them that dwell upon the earth,” Revelation 3:10.
It is God that will “keep us from falling, and present
us faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy,” Jude 24, because we are washed in His blood and “have loved not our lives even unto death, Revelation 12:11b.
“These are they which came out of great tribulation, and
have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb,” Revelation 7:14b. It is “the blood of Jesus Christ His Son
(that) cleanses us from all sin,” 1 John 1:7.
We that have believed and obeyed can “be confident of this very thing, that He which has begun a good
work in us will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ,” Philippians 1:6. “And I give unto them eternal life;
and no man is able to pluck them out of My hand. My Father, which gave them
(to) Me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of My Father’s hand,” John 10:28-29.
Psalm 26:2 Examine me, O Lord, and prove me; try my reins and my heart.
David wants to be examined by God,
and not by the false judgments of man.
Psalm 26:3 For Your lovingkindness is before my eyes:
and I have walked in Your truth.
David knows and has experienced God’s loving-kindness and faithfulness. “It is of the LORD's mercies that we are
not consumed, Because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning:
Great is thy faithfulness.”
Lamentations 3:22-23 David has walked in God’s truth by
meditating of God’s
word day and night, Psalm 1:2. “Your word is true from the beginning,” Psalm
119:160a. Jesus prayed to His Father, “Sanctify them through Your truth, Your
word is truth,”
John 1717. It is by continuing in God’s word that we know the truth and it is
the truth that sets us free, John 8:31-32. We are freed from the philosophies
and vain deceit of this world, from the traditions of men, and from the false belief
systems of the world that are contrary to Christ,”
Colossians 2:8, through following the light of God’s word..
Psalm 26:4-5 I have not sat with vain persons, neither will I go in with
dissemblers. I have hated the congregation of
evil doers; and will not sit with the wicked.
We are in the world, but not of
the world. We must not conform to the fashions of the world, but to the word of
God. Jesus prayed, “I pray not that You should take them out of the world,
but that You should keep them from the evil,” John 17:15. Jesus told His
disciples, “If you were of the world, the world would love you: but
because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world,
therefore the world hates you,” John 15:19.
But God has sent us into the world
to be a witness, to let our lights so shine before men that they may see our
good works and glorify our Father which is in heaven, Matthew 5:16.
Jesus told us we “are the salt of the earth.” He said, “but if the salt has lost its savour, wherewith shall it
be salted? It is good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under
foot of men,” Matthew 5:13.
Salt in the time of Christ
preserved fish and meat for later consumption. The salt kept fish and meat from
going rotten. If we, God’s people, lose our Godly convictions, which help preserve
the world from sin, we have lost our usefulness for God. The world goes
downhill, because we don’t stand up for Jesus. We conform
to the world, instead of convicting the world of their sin. We become lukewarm
and God warns us, “I will spew you out of My mouth,” Revelation 3:16.
Psalm 26:6-7 I will wash my hands in innocence: so, will I compass Your altar, O Lord: That I
may publish with the voice of thanksgiving, and tell of all Your wondrous works.
The gospel or “good news” is that we have been freed from the guilt and the power
of sin and of darkness and have been translated into the kingdom of God’s dear Son, in whom we have redemption through His blood, even the
forgiveness of (our) sins, Colossians 1:13. Therefore, we can sing and
rejoice in such a wonderful salvation for neither sin nor death have dominion
over us, Romans 6. “For the wages of sin is death, but
the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord,” Romans 6:23.
Psalm 26:8 Lord, I have loved the habitation of Your house, and the place where Your honour dwells.
Jesus said, “Where two or three are together in My name, there am I in the
midst of them,” Matthew 18:20. Please do “not forsake the assembling of yourselves together as some do, but
exhort one another: and so much the more, as you see the day approaching,” Hebrews 10:25. We should love to commune with God with other believers as often as possible.
Under future persecution it may be impossible.
Psalm 26:9-10 Gather not my soul with sinners, nor my life with bloody men: In
whose hands is mischief, and their right hand is full of bribes.
The ungodly rich of the world use
their money to corrupt judgment and rule nations. “For your merchants were the great men of the earth; for by their
sorceries were all nations deceived,” Revelation 18:23b. “Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the
judgment seat? Do not they blaspheme that worthy name by which you are called? James
2:6b-7. Though the ungodly rich conspire against God, and against the Godly, God shall have them
in derision and vex them in His sore displeasure and wrath in the last days, Psalm
2:4-5. “Vengeance is mine; I will repay,
says the Lord,” Romans 12:19b.
Psalm 26:11-12 But as for me, I will walk in my integrity: redeem me, and be
merciful unto me. My foot stands in an
even place: in the congregations will I bless the Lord.
David knows it is God’s redeeming power and mercy that keeps him. We know the same. “It is God that is able to keep you from falling, and to
present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy,” Jude 24. Therefore, we can sing and rejoice, for it is the joy of
the Lord, the joy of our salvation, the joy of knowing our sins have been
forgiven through Christ’s sacrifice on the cross; that gives us the strength to
carry on. “I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me,” Philippians 4:13. “Nothing in my hands I bring.
Simply to Your Cross I cling,” Augustus Montague Toplady
(1740-1778). Let us cling to the cross and find
fulness of joy! Amen?
Rock of Ages, cleft for
me, Let me hide myself in Thee;
Let the water and the blood, From Thy riven side which flowed,
Be of sin the double cure, Save me from its guilt and power.
Not the labour of my
hands, Can fulfil Thy law’s demands;
Could my zeal no respite know, Could my tears forever flow,
All could never sin erase, Thou must save, and save by grace.
Nothing in my hands I
bring, Simply to Thy cross I cling;
Naked, come to Thee for dress, Helpless, look to Thee for grace:
Foul, I to the fountain fly, Wash me, Saviour, or I die.
While I draw this
fleeting breath, When my eyes shall close in death,
When I soar to worlds unknown, See Thee on Thy judgment throne,
Rock of Ages, cleft for me, Let me hide myself in Thee.
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