of David
1. Judge me, Yahweh,
For I in my integrity have walked,
And in Yahweh I have trusted.
I will not slip.
2. Examine me, Yahweh, and test me.
Refine my kidneys and my heart.
3. For Your lovingkindness is in front of my eyes,
And I have walked about in Your truth.
4. I have not sat with men of vanity,
And with those who dissemble I will not go.
5. I have hated the congregation of those who do evil,
And with the wicked I will not sit.
6. I will wash my palms in innocence,
And I will go around Your altar, Yahweh,
7. To cause to hear with the voice of thanksgiving,
And to recount all Your wonders.
8. Yahweh, I have loved the habitation of Your house,
And the place of the dwelling of Your glory.
9. Do not let my soul be gathered with sinners,
And with mortals of blood my life,
10. In whose hands is mischief,
And their right hand is full of a bribe.
11. And I, I will walk in my integrity.
Redeem me and be gracious to me.
12. My foot has stood in a level place.
In the congregations I will bless Yahweh.
Psalm 26 is the prayer of a righteous man for Yahweh to judge his cause and vindicate him. Judge me (v. 1), examine, test and refine me (v. 2). Do not gather my soul with sinners (v. 9). He claims to have walked righteously in the past: I have walked in my integrity, trusted in Yahweh (v. 1), walked in Your truth (v. 3), not sat with men of vanity (v. 4), hated the congregation of evildoers (v. 5), and loved the house of God (v. 8). He also promises to continue in such ways in the future: I will not slip (v. 1), go with dissemblers (v. 4), or sit with the wicked (v. 5). I will wash my hands in innocence, go about Your altars (v. 6), tell Your wonders (v. 7), walk in my integrity (v. 11), and bless Yahweh (v. 12). There is no consciousness of sin throughout.
How can David, who committed adultery with Bathsheba, murdered Uriah, numbered the people in pride, and failed his children so miserably, claim such righteousness? Only because he depends on the lovingkindness and faithfulness of the Lord (v. 3) and looks to Him for redemption and grace (v. 11). His conscience is free from dead works, and he knows in himself the sanctifying power of the Spirit of God–“Create in me a clean heart, O God” (Ps. 51:10).
And this great confidence can be his only because there is a redeemer coming whose righteous life will be exactly as described in this psalm. His integrity will be entirely unimpeachable, His trust complete, His righteousness perfect. He will stand spotless in the judgment of God and will communicate the perfection of His righteousness to David and all those who put their trust in Him.
Jesus, standing before the leaders of the Jews, before Pilate and Herod, cried: “Judge me, Yahweh, For I have walked in my integrity… I have loved the habitation of Your house, And the place of the dwelling of Your glory.” Though He received condemnation, it was for our faults rather than His own.
But there is another Christological perspective here. The Father has committed all judgment to the Son, and in this psalm we look to that Son who was judged for us to be our judge and vindicate us by His own enduring of judgment and shedding of blood. “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and gave His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”
So we sing this psalm with and to our Lord Jesus Christ. There is no other way, for in ourselves we fully deserve to be gathered with sinners and mortals of blood. But in Him we can claim to be different from those whose right hand is full of a bribe. He enables our presence at the altar to cause to hear with the voice of thanksgiving, and He makes our foot stand on level ground, there to bless the Lord with Him.