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Psalm Twenty-six
New King James Version (NKJV)
INTRODUCTION TO Psalm 26
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.
Psalm 26:1 Vindicate
me, O Lord,
For I have walked in my integrity. I have also trusted in the Lord; I shall not
slip.
YLT
1By David. Judge me, O
Jehovah, for I in mine integrity have walked, And in Jehovah I have trusted, I
slide not.
Judge me, O Lord,.... Meaning
not that God would enter into judgment with him, in respect to the
justification of his person in his sight, which he knew was not by his own
righteousness and integrity, but by the righteousness of God; but his view is,
to the justification of his cause before men; and particularly to the
difference between Saul and him; and entreats that God would interpose, take
his cause in hand, judge between them, and vindicate him;
for I have walked in mine integrity; or
"perfection"F15בתמי "in
perfectione mea", Pagninus, Montanus, Vatablus; so the Targum, Ainsworth.
not that he thought himself free from sin; this would be contrary to the
complaints, confessions, and petitions frequently made by him; but that in the
affair with which he was accused, of seeking Saul's harm, 1 Samuel 24:9; he
was quite innocent: by his "integrity" he means the purity of his
intentions and designs; the uprightness of his conduct, the simplicity and
sincerity of his conduct towards all men, and especially his fidelity to his
prince; but though he knew nothing by himself, and could not charge himself
with any wrong action in this respect, and therefore ought to be acquitted
before men; yet he did not expect hereby to be justified in the sight of God;
I have trusted also in the Lord; not in himself, in the
sincerity of his heart, and the uprightness of his life; nor did he trust to
the goodness of his cause; but he committed it to the Lord, who judgeth
righteously; and trusted in him that he should not be ashamed and confounded:
this shows from whence his integrity sprung, even from faith unfeigned; for,
where that is true and genuine, there are works of righteousness, and integrity
of life;
therefore I shall not
slide; these words may be connected with the former, thus; "I have
trusted also in the Lord, that I shall not slide"F16לא אמעד "me non
vacillaturum", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator. ; that is, shall not
fail in judgment, or lose the cause; but shall stand and carry it, and not be
confounded or condemned. Our version supplies the word "therefore",
making these words to be an inference from the former, that because he trusted
in the Lord, therefore he should not slide, slip, and fall; not but that true
believers may not only have their feet well nigh slipped, but altogether; yea,
fall, and that sometimes into great sins, to the breaking of their bones; but
then they shall not totally and finally fall; for they stand by faith, and are
kept through it by the power of God. The words may be considered as a prayer,
"let me not slide"F17"Ne nutare me patiaris",
Gejerus. ; being sensible of his own weakness, and of the necessity of being
upheld in his uprightness, and in the ways of the Lord by him, that his
footsteps might not slip; for though he walked in his uprightness, he was not
self-sufficient and self-confident, but dependent on the Lord.
Psalm 26:2 2 Examine me, O Lord, and prove me;
Try my mind and my heart.
YLT
2Try me, O Jehovah, and
prove me, Purified [are] my reins and my heart.
Examine me, O Lord,.... His
cause, his integrity, and trust in the Lord, as silver and gold are examined by
the touchstone, the word of God, which is the standard of faith and practice;
and prove me; or "tempt me"F18נסני "tenta me", Pagninus, Montanus, Junius &
Tremellius, &c. ; as Abraham was tempted by the Lord; and his faith in him,
and fear of him, and love to him, were proved to be true and genuine;
try my reins and my heart; the thoughts, desires,
and affections of it, as gold and silver are tried in the furnace; and so God
sometimes tries the faith and patience of his people by afflictive providences;
and this examination, probation, and trial, are made by him, not for his own
sake, who knows the hearts and ways of all men; but for the sake of others, to
make known either to themselves or others the truth of grace that is in them,
and the uprightness of their hearts and ways; and it was on this account the
psalmist desired to pass under such an examination.
Psalm 26:3 3 For Your lovingkindness is
before my eyes, And I have walked in Your truth.
YLT
3For Thy kindness [is]
before mine eyes, And I have walked habitually in Thy truth.
For thy lovingkindness is
before mine eyes,.... The special lovingkindness of God, shown in the choice of
him in Christ, in the provision of a Saviour for him, and in the effectual
calling of him; which lovingkindness is unmerited, free, and sovereign, is from
everlasting and to everlasting; it is better than life, excellent beyond expression,
and marvellous: and this may be said to be "before his eyes";
because it was now in sight; he had a comfortable view of interest in it, and
was persuaded nothing should separate him from it; it was upon his heart, shed
abroad in it, and he was affected with it; it was in his mind, and in his
thoughts, and they were employed about it; he had it in remembrance, and was
comfortably refreshed with it: and this he mentions as the reason of his laying
his cause before the Lord, as the ground of his trust in him, and why he
desired to be examined, proved, and tried by him;
and I have walked in thy truth; by faith in Christ, who
is the truth of all promises, prophecies, types, and figures; in the word of
truth, by abiding by it, and walking according to it; and in the truth of
worship, in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord; and to walk herein
he used himself to, and was constant in, as the wordF19התהלכתי "ambulavi indesinenter et sedulo",
Gejerus; so Junius & Tremellius, Piscator. signifies: and nothing more
engages to walk on in Christ, as he has been received and to walk as becomes
his Gospel, and in all holy conversation and godliness, than the love of God
manifested to the soul; this being set continually before our eyes encourages
faith and hope, and influences a holy life and cheerful obedience to the will
of God.
Psalm 26:4 4 I have not sat with
idolatrous mortals, Nor will I go in with hypocrites.
YLT
4I have not sat with vain
men, And with dissemblers I enter not.
I have not sat with vain persons,.... Or "men of
vanity"F20עם מתי
שוא "cum hominibus vanitatis", Gejerus,
Michaelis. ; who are full of it; who are addicted to the vanities of the world;
who pursue the riches, honours, pleasures, and profits of it; which is no other
than walking in a vain show: whose thoughts, words, and actions are vain; who
are vainly puffed up in their fleshly mind, and walk in the vanity of it; who
take the name of God in vain, and whose common discourse is foolish, frothy,
light, and empty; and who are men of a vain conversation, and are rash, imprudent,
and deceitful: men of bad principles may very well go by this name, who are
vain and unruly talkers, and whose doctrines are doctrines of vanity, and no
other than vain babbling; and also men guilty of idolatrous practices, who
observe lying vanities, and worship them, and lift up their souls unto them;
with such vain men, in any of these senses, the psalmist would have nothing to
do; he would not keep company with them, nor have any communion, consultation,
and conversation with them; it may be, he may have some respect to the men that
were about Saul, to whom such a character agreed; or he may say this, and what
follows, to remove a calumny cast upon him and his friends; as if they that
were with him were such men as here described, and in Psalm 26:5;
neither will I go in with dissemblers: or
"hidden" or "unknown" personsF21עם נעלמים "cum
occultis", Vatablus, Michaelis; "absconditis", Gejerus; so
Ainsworth. , who lie in private lurking places, to murder the innocent, or
secretly take away the good names and characters of men, and it is not known
who they are; or who commit sin secretly; go into secret places to do their
works in the dark, and hide themselves to do evil; as the Targum, Jarchi,
Kimchi, and Ben Melech, interpret it; who love darkness rather than light,
because their deeds are evil; or who cover themselves with lying and flattering
words, that it is not known what their real intentions be; they speak one
thing, and mean another; are an assembly of treacherous men: such are all
deceitful workers, who lie in wait to deceive, and walk in craftiness; and
hypocrites, who have the form of religion, but are strangers to the power of
it; and who are to be turned away from, and avoided; the houses, assemblies,
cabals, and company of such, are to be shunned; see Genesis 49:6; or
such as are "signed", or "marked"; that is, infamous
personsF23Vide Schultens de def. Hod. ling. Heb. s. 188. .
Psalm 26:5 5 I have hated the assembly
of evildoers, And will not sit with the wicked.
YLT
5I have hated the assembly
of evil doers, And with the wicked I sit not.
I have hated the
congregation of evildoers,.... That do harm to the persons,
characters, or properties of men; and who meet together in bodies, to consult
and form schemes to do mischief, and have their assemblies to encourage each
other in it; these, their works and actions, the psalmist hated, though not
their persons; and showed his displicency at them, and dislike and
disapprobation of them, by absenting from them; see Jeremiah 15:17;
and will not sit with the wicked; ungodly and unrighteous
men, sons of Belial; for with such what fellowship and concord can there be? 2 Corinthians 6:14;
the wordF24רשע "significat inquietum
esse, ceu patet ex", Isa. xlviii. 22. Gejerus. signifies restless and
uneasy persons, who cannot rest unless they do mischief; are like the troubled
sea, continually casting up mire and dirt, Isaiah 57:20; now,
by all this the psalmist means not that good men should have no manner of
conversation with the men of the world: for then, as the apostle says, we must
needs go out of the world, 1 Corinthians 5:9.
Conversation in civil things, in matters of trade and business, is lawful;
though all unnecessary conversation in things of civil life is to be shunned;
no more should be had than what natural relation and the business of life
require; but all conversation in things criminal is to be avoided; company is
not to be kept with them, so as to join them in anything sinful; this is to
harden them in their evil ways, and it brings into danger and into disgrace: a
man is known and is judged of by the company that he keeps; and evil
communications corrupt good manners.
Psalm 26:6 6 I will wash my hands in
innocence; So I will go about Your altar, O Lord,
YLT
6I wash in innocency my
hands, And I compass Thine altar, O Jehovah.
I will wash my hands in
innocency,.... The Vulgate Latin version renders it, "among innocent
persons"; men of a holy harmless life and conversation; with these he
determined to converse in common, and not with such as before described; or the
sense is, that he would wash his hands, in token of his innocence, integrity,
and uprightness, he had before spoke of, and of his having nothing to do with
such evil men as now mentioned; see Deuteronomy 21:6;
"hands" are the instrument of action, and to "wash" them
may design the performance of good works, Job 9:30; and to do
this "in innocency", or "purity", may signify the
performance of them from a pure heart, a good conscience, and faith unfeigned;
and particularly may have some respect to the lifting up of holy hands in
prayer to God, previous to public worship; there seems to be an allusion to the
priests washing their hands before they offered sacrifice, Exodus 30:19;
so will I compass thine altar, O Lord; frequent the
house of God, where the altar was, and constantly attend the worship and
ordinances of God; the work of the altar being put for the whole of divine service;
the altar of burnt offering is here meant, which was a type of Christ; see Hebrews 13:10;
reference is had to the priests at the altar, who used to go round it, when
they laid the sacrifice on the altar, and bound it to the horns of it, at the
four corners, and there sprinkled and poured out the blood; compare Psalm 43:4; in
order to which they washed their hands, as before; and in later times it was
usual with the HeathensF25"----pura cum veste venito, et
manibus puris sumite fontis aquam, nunc lavabo ut rem divinam faciam",
Tibull. l. 2. eleg. 1. Plantus in Aullular. Act. 3. Sc. 6. Vide Homer. Odyss,
12. v. 336, 337. to wash their hands before divine service.
Psalm 26:7 7 That I may proclaim with
the voice of thanksgiving, And tell of all Your wondrous works.
YLT
7To sound with a voice of
confession, And to recount all Thy wonders.
That I may publish with
the voice of thanksgiving,.... Or "cause to hear with the voice
of confession"F26בקול תודה "voce confessionis", Montanus, Cocceius,
Gejerus, Michaelis; so Ainsworth. : the meaning is, that the view of the psalmist,
in compassing the altar of God in the manner he proposed, was not to offer upon
it any slain beast; but to offer the sacrifices of praise upon that altar,
which sanctifies the gift, and from whence they come with acceptance to God;
even for all mercies, both temporal and spiritual, and that with a confession
and acknowledgment of sin and unworthiness; all this is agreeable to the will
of God; it is well pleasing in his sight, what glorifies him, and is but our
reasonable service;
and tell of all thy wondrous works; of creation and
providence; and especially of grace and redemption; this is the business of
saints in God's house below, and will be their employment in heaven to all
eternity. Jarchi on the place says, that this song of praise has in it what
relates to future times, to Gog, to the days of the Messiah, and to the world
to come.
Psalm 26:8 8 Lord,
I have loved the habitation of Your house, And the place where Your glory
dwells.
YLT
8Jehovah, I have loved the
habitation of Thy house, And the place of the tabernacle of Thine honour.
Lord, I have loved the
habitation of thy house,.... Meaning the tabernacle, for as yet the temple was not built;
which was an habitation for the saints, where they chose to dwell, and reckoned
it their happiness, and was the habitation of the Lord himself: the sanctuary
was built for that purpose; and between the cherubim, over the mercy seat, he
took up his residence; hence it follows,
and the place where thine honour dwelleth: or
"glory"F1כבוכך "gloria
tua", Musculus, Piscator; "tabernaculum gloriae tuae", Junius
& Tremellius, Cocceius, Gejerus; so Ainsworth. : when the tabernacle was
set up, the glory of the Lord filled it, as it did the temple, when it was
dedicated, Exodus 40:35. The
psalmist expresses his love to this place, in opposition to the, congregation
of evildoers, which he hated, Psalm 26:5; and to
remove a calumny from him, that being among the Philistines, and at a distance
from the house of God, his affections were alienated from it; whereas it was
his greatest concern that he was debarred the privileges of it; see Psalm 42:1;
besides, he had showed his great regard to it by his constant attendance before
his exile, as he did after it, Psalm 42:3; and it
was out of pure love to the worship of God, and with real pleasure and delight,
that he did attend; and not through custom, and in mere form, Psalm 122:1. The
Lord's house is loved by his people, because of his word and ordinances, which
are ministered there, and because of his presence in it: or else what was
typified by the tabernacle in here designed; either the tabernacle of Christ's
human nature, called the true tabernacle, Hebrews 8:2; in
which the fulness of the Godhead dwells; which the Son of God, the brightness
of his Father's glory, inhabits; and in the redemption and salvation wrought
out in it the glory of all the divine attributes is displayed; and Christ
incarnate is the mercy seat from which God communes with his people, and is
their way of access unto him, and whereby they have fellowship with him; and
who is loved by the saints sincerely, above all creatures and things, and in
the most ardent and affectionate manner: or heaven itself, of which the
tabernacle was a figure, Hebrews 9:24; which
is the habitation of the holiness and glory of God, and in which are many
mansions or dwelling places for his people; and is the continuing city they
seek, the heavenly and better country they are desirous of, and where their
hearts and affections are; because there their God, their Saviour, and their
treasure be; which sense seems to be confirmed by what follows.
Psalm 26:9 9 Do not gather my soul with
sinners, Nor my life with bloodthirsty men,
YLT
9Do not gather with sinners
my soul, And with men of blood my life,
Gather not my soul with
sinners,.... Profligate and abandoned ones, such as are notoriously
profane, and who live and die impenitent ones; otherwise all men are sinners:
the sense is, either that he desires that he might not, by any means, be
brought into the company of such persons, be joined unto them, and have a
conversation with them, which would be uncomfortable, dishonourable, and
dangerous; or that God would not destroy him with them; and that he might not
die the death of the wicked, nor be gathered with them at death: death is often
expressed by a man's being gathered to his people, and to his fathers; see 2 Kings 22:20; the
body is gathered to the grave, the soul returns to God that gave it, and has
its place assigned by him; the souls of the righteous are gathered into heaven,
Christ's garner; the souls of the wicked into hell; the psalmist deprecates
being gathered with them;
nor my life with bloody men; that thirst after blood,
lie in wait for it, shed it, and are drunk with it, as the antichristian party;
these God abhors and detests; nor shall they live out half their days, and
their end is miserable.
Psalm 26:10 10 In whose hands is a
sinister scheme, And whose right hand is full of bribes.
YLT
10In whose hand [is] a wicked
device, And their right hand [is] full of bribes.
In whose hands is
mischief,.... Every abominable wickedness; as idolatry, adultery, murder,
&c. the word signifies and is sometimes used for mischief conceived in the
mind, artificially devised and contrived there; here mischief committed, the
hand being the instrument of action, and intends whatever is prejudicial to the
person, character, and properties of men;
and their right hand is full of bribes; whereby the
eyes of judges are blinded, the words of the righteous perverted, men's persons
respected, and judgment wrested, Deuteronomy 16:19.
Psalm 26:11 11 But as for me, I will walk
in my integrity; Redeem me and be merciful to me.
YLT
11And I, in mine integrity I
walk, Redeem me, and favour me.
But as for me, I will walk
in mine integrity,.... In which he had hitherto walked, Psalm 26:1; or it
may express his faith, that after he was gathered by death he should walk in
uprightness and righteousness, in purity and perfection, with Christ in white,
and behold the face of God in righteousness; see Isaiah 57:1;
redeem me; from the vain conversation of the wicked, from all troubles, and
out of the hands of all enemies;
and be merciful unto me; who was now in distress,
being persecuted by Saul, and at a distance from the house of God: this shows
that mercy is the source and spring of redemption, both temporal and spiritual;
and that the psalmist did not trust in and depend upon his present upright walk
and conversation, but in redemption by Christ, and upon the mercy of God in
Christ.
Psalm 26:12 12 My foot stands in an even
place; In the congregations I will bless the Lord.
YLT
12My foot hath stood in
uprightness, In assemblies I bless Jehovah!
My foot standeth in an
even place,.... Or "in a plain"F2במישור
"in plano", Musculus, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Cocceius,
Michaelis; "in planitie", Gejerus. ; in a sure place; on Christ the
sure foundation, and who is the plain way and path to eternal life; see Psalm 27:11; or in
the ways and worship of God, prescribed by his word; and so denotes
steadfastness and continuance in them;
in the congregations will I bless the Lord; in the
assemblies of the saints, in the churches of Christ below, and in the great
congregation above, in the general assembly and church of the firstborn; where
it is the work of saints now, and will be hereafter, to praise the Lord, for
all his mercies temporal and spiritual.
──《John Gill’s
Exposition of the Bible》