Psalm 26

Updated
2001-05-26; 14:33:21utc

This psalm appears to be in complete contrast with the preceding one. The theme of this poem is innocence. As we saw in psalm twenty-five, David wrestled with his ever-returning feelings of guilt, but in this Psalm he wants to be proved innocent. But wanting to prove innocence often masks a feeling of uncertainty, which is the same sentiment that was the foundation of the previous psalm. David brings up a whole series of proofs of innocence but, at the same time he wants God to confirm those. We have to be careful, however, not to approach this psalm from the wrong angle. David does not bask in his own righteousness. George Knight, in his Commentary on the Psalms, remarks correctly that verses 6 and 7 form the core of this psalm. The washbasin and the altar do not speak of a sinless nature, but of the opposite. Blood and water are symbols of cleansing, and they imply that there is sin, which has to be atoned for because it prevents fellowship with God.

So David's innocence rests on the fact that another creature paid his debt by dying in his place. This thought places the psalm in a different light. On the basis of the sacrifice that was brought on the altar, David asks God to vindicate him.

The devil has dishonored men by causing sin to enter the world through a man; but God honors the person who has been redeemed by Jesus Christ. The tension in vs. 1 is caused by the fact that David lives in a world in which one human being dishonors another. He realizes that this situation is abnormal. He has not surrendered himself to sinful desires; his trust in God kept him from this. Now he asks God for a visible demonstration of that which he knows to be true in the invisible world. He asks for his crown.

In vs. 2 he takes another step forward. Justification is the outward demonstration of the result of Jesus' dying for us. Sanctification is the inner cleansing of our lives, presented here under the symbols of the examining of heart and mind. The point is, of course, not that God would have to examine us in order to come to the conclusion that we were already pure from ourselves, but that the Holy Spirit penetrates into the depths of our being and chases away all traces of darkness, so that we have no corner in which to hide.

TLB renders the verses 1 and 2, rather beautifully: "Dismiss all the charges against me, Lord, for I have tried to keep your laws and have trusted you without wavering. Cross-examine me, O Lord, and see that this is so; test my motives and affections too."

When David says: "Your love is ever before me," he does not mark this down as his own achievement. Again, TLB expresses the thought very well with: "I have taken your loving-kindness and your truth as my ideals." The implication is that man cannot make it on his own. God's character is the standard with which we will be measured, but it is also the means of our sanctification. Our lives are transformed by the fact that we become partakers of God's nature. Peter says: "His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires."^¹

Walking in God's truth is the practical result if we concentrate upon God's goodness.

Verses 4 and 5 also contain a confession; David admits that he is not immune to pollution. If he would consort with immoral people, his own soul would be endangered, because the root of sin was still within him. This is what set our Lord Jesus Christ apart from all other human beings. Others could not contaminate him, because He had a sinless nature. He rubbed shoulders with tax collectors and sinners, and brought about their salvation. But we live under the conditions which were described by the prophet Haggai, when he said to the priests of his time: " 'If a person carries consecrated meat in the fold of his garment, and that fold touches some bread or stew, some wine, oil or other food, does it become consecrated?' The priests answered, 'No.' Then Haggai said, 'If a person defiled by contact with a dead body touches one of these things, does it become defiled?' 'Yes,' the priests replied, 'it becomes defiled.' Then Haggai said, 'So it is with this people and this nation in my sight,' declares the LORD. 'Whatever they do and whatever they offer there is defiled.' "² Jesus is the exception to this rule; His presence sanctifies us.

These verses remind us of the opening verses of the first psalm, although the love for the Word of God is not mentioned specifically.

As we mentioned earlier, vs. 6 forms the core of this psalm. David finds himself in God's presence on earth. He is at the tabernacle and stands at the altar with the washbasin, symbols of justification and sanctification. The fact that the washbasin is mentioned first would indicate that he considers himself righteous. Pilate spoiled the phrase "I wash my hands in innocence" by using those words to evade his responsibility in the crucifixion of Jesus, but the original meaning of the words is that a person is cleansed daily of his moral impurity by the working of the Holy Spirit.

Proclaiming aloud God's praise and telling of all God's wonderful deeds, while walking around the altar was not part of a prescribed ritual, but it expresses well what the Apostle Paul calls boasting in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.³

The use of the washbasin was, as far as we know, the privilege of the priests alone. So David would probably not have used the water of the basin in a literal sense, but rather he identified himself with the priests in this psalm. In his proclamation of God's praise, we can see a personal testimony; also the telling of all God's wonderful deeds may have been the facts of salvation: the story of the exodus of the people from Egypt and their conquest of the promised land. We are never redeemed alone; but we are always part of a larger group, either we belong to those who are lost, or we are part of the fellowship of those who are saved, the church of our Lord Jesus Christ. Part of David's struggle in this psalm seems to have been related to his efforts to identify with one or the other.

It seems strange that David mentioned the house of the Lord as the object of his love, instead of the person of God Himself. It must be clear, however, that the place only had significance because God dwelled there. We often associate certain places with certain experiences we had there. A return to the place of our conversion will, probably, always recall the joy of that moment. David loved God's house because that was the place where he met the Lord, and because He loved God. The place may change and eventually disappear, but God remains eternally. It is a blessing that, while we are in our bodies on earth, far away from the Lord in Heaven, we do find those points of contact, even in shadows of the heavenly reality on earth which are transient, but which remind us of eternity.

In the mist in which we live upon earth, it is sometimes difficult to distinguish this reality. David sees himself surrounded by people who do not acknowledge God in their lives, who are murderers, and who lead a life of corruption. He knows that the soul of those people will end up on the garbage dump of eternity, the Gehenna. He does not have the assurance that God will discover him in this sea of humanity and will pull him out.

The NIV renders vs. 11 with: "But I lead a blameless life." Other version, like the RSV, reads: "But as for me, I walk in my integrity." This is an interesting expression. The meaning, of course, is that a person would live in such a way that he does not incur guilt upon himself. It means a life that is, not necessarily, free of trespasses, but that is lived in the light of fellowship with God, so that cleansing from sin is a daily experience. This is what the Apostle John means when he says: "But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin."⁴

Without the key to understanding that the New Testament provides for us, we would wrongly interpret these Old Testament sayings. The Jews in Jesus' days fell into this trap. It should be clear, however, that a prayer for mercy is incongruent with a blameless life. Evidently, David's blamelessness was not the absence of guilt in the objective sense of the word, or a lack of guilt feelings, but a consciousness that he had been cleansed by factors outside himself, by the blood of the one who substituted for him.

The psalm ends with a second doxology: "My feet stand on level ground; in the great assembly I will praise the LORD." The first note of praise was intoned at the altar, and the second is placed in the future. The "level ground" is the translation of the Hebrew word b^amiyshowr, or miyshowr, which Strongs defines as "a level, i.e. a plain (often used [with the article prefix] as a properly, name of certain districts); figuratively, concord; also straightness, i.e. (figuratively) justice." It point towards the goal, which is eternal glory in God's presence. The "assembly" is the ekklesia in Heaven. David fixes his eyes here upon the consummation in which he will partake. Probably, at the moment I write this, he is heavily involved in doing this.

¹ II Pet. 1:3,4

² Hag. 2:12-14

³ See Gal. 6:14

⁴ I John 1:7