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Psalm 26

Plea for Justice and Declaration of Righteousness

Of David.

Vindicate me, O L ord,

for I have walked in my integrity,

and I have trusted in the L ord without wavering.

Prove me, O L ord, and try me;

test my heart and mind.

For your steadfast love is before my eyes,

and I walk in faithfulness to you.

I do not sit with the worthless,

nor do I consort with hypocrites;

I hate the company of evildoers,

and will not sit with the wicked.

I wash my hands in innocence,

and go around your altar, O L ord,

singing aloud a song of thanksgiving,

and telling all your wondrous deeds.

O L ord, I love the house in which you dwell,

and the place where your glory abides.

Do not sweep me away with sinners,

nor my life with the bloodthirsty,

those in whose hands are evil devices,

and whose right hands are full of bribes.

But as for me, I walk in my integrity;

redeem me, and be gracious to me.

My foot stands on level ground;

in the great congregation I will bless the L ord.

New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

4. I have not sat with vain men. He again declares the very great dissimilarity which existed between him and his adversaries. For the contrast is always to be observed, that wicked men, by all the harm and mischief they wrought against him, could never drive him from the path of rectitude. This verse might likewise be joined with the former, as if completing the sentence, in this way, That David, by confiding in the favor of God, had withdrawn himself from deceivers. The words, sitting and walking, denote sharing in counsel and fellowship in working, according to what is said in the first psalm. David denies that he had any intercourse with vain and deceitful men. And certainly the best remedy to recall and save us from the assembly of the wicked is to fix our eyes upon God’s goodness; for he who walks in the confidence of God’s protection, committing all events to his providence, will never imitate their deceitfulness. Those whom he denominates in the first clause, men of vanity, he soon after terms נעלמים, naälamim, that is, close and wrapped up in craftiness. ⁵⁶⁹⁵⁶⁹ Horsley renders the word, “Those who seek concealment.” In like manner, the Chaldee paraphrases it, “They that hide themselves that they may do evil.” For in this consists the vanity of dissimulation, that deceitful men conceal in their hearts another thing than that which their tongues declare. It is, however, absurd to derive this word from עלם, alam, to play, for it is out of place here to compare their impostures to children’s play. I confess, indeed, that those who give themselves to craftiness are mockers; but why have recourse to such a forced exposition, when it is plain that the word shows the source from which all lying and deceit proceed? Thus faith, which steadily looks to God’s promises, is aptly opposed to all the crooked and iniquitous counsels in which unbelief involves us as often as we ascribe not proper honor to the guardianship of God. David teaches, by his own example, that we have not the slightest cause to fear that our integrity will make us a prey to the ungodly, when God promises us safety under his hand. The children of God, indeed, are prudent, but their prudence is altogether different from that of the flesh. Under the guidance and government of the Holy Spirit, they take every necessary precaution against snares, but in such a manner as not to practice any craftiness.

⁵⁶⁹ Horsley renders the word, “Those who seek concealment.” In like manner, the Chaldee paraphrases it, “They that hide themselves that they may do evil.”