Psalm 26
Our Vindication and Our True Home
Can we with any confidence say we belong in the presence of God? Can we with a straight face say we stand before the omniscient Judge with a clean record? Can we say the words of the Psalm below with a clear conscience?
Yes we can make these words our own. The sensitive soul will look in at their own heart and shrink back. But the believing soul will look outwards to someone greater and step forward.
For to sing and pray this truly, we sing and pray this with the living King, Christ Jesus. In him, we are righteous and his reality becomes our own.
Of David.
1 Vindicate me, LORD,
for I have led a blameless life;
I have trusted in the LORD
and have not faltered.
2 Test me, LORD, and try me,
examine my heart and my mind;
3 for I have always been mindful of your unfailing love
and have lived in reliance on your faithfulness.4 I do not sit with the deceitful,
nor do I associate with hypocrites.
5 I abhor the assembly of evildoers
and refuse to sit with the wicked.
6 I wash my hands in innocence,
and go about your altar, LORD,
7 proclaiming aloud your praise
and telling of all your wonderful deeds.8 LORD, I love the house where you live,
the place where your glory dwells.
9 Do not take away my soul along with sinners,
my life with those who are bloodthirsty,
10 in whose hands are wicked schemes,
whose right hands are full of bribes.
11 I lead a blameless life;
deliver me and be merciful to me.12 My feet stand on level ground;
in the great congregation I will praise the LORD.
As we read this Psalm, we must be aware of the chorus of whispers which prompt David’s petition in this opening verse. The King prays to be vindicated from the lies of the enemy. He seeks God’s verdict of innocence from the charges of the enemy.
They question his worthiness to live before and with God. So he opens up his whole life before the microscope, assured that God will find heart, mind and eyes fixed on the steadfast love of the LORD (2-3). The King’s enemies imply that the he has strayed from the Way. But he is confident God will confirm he has stayed true to the Word.
This was the reality for the Son of David, the Lord Jesus. His detractors alleged that he was a glutton and drunkard for he ate and drank with the undesirable. Yet his devotion and obedience to his Heavenly Father was ultimately undeniable. He stood with a clean conscience before his God.
It was also the case for the churches Peter wrote to, who were alleged to be subverting the Empire. For while they submitted to their masters and every human institution, they would only bow the knee to the everlasting King, Jesus. They were castigated and slandered, but Peter urged them to stay on the straight and narrow way (1 Peter 2.20).
And this can happen to us as well. We can hear the whispers of the Deceiver who claims we have no case to bring before God. He lies with great cunning and persuasion that we still stand under the condemnation of God.
But as David said, he walks in line with the promises of God, in “reliance on his faithfulness.”
Therefore, David states categorically his abhorrence of the “assembly of evildoers” (5). This is a deep seated and vehement opposition. How could someone who has so cherished the word of God commit themselves to something opposed to the LORD? There can be no grey areas on this. The people of God must hate sin.
But this does not mean that God’s King refused to be with sinners. Jesus was known to spend time with tax collectors, sinful women, drunkards, social outcasts and no hopers (Luke 15.2). He received them when everyone else rejected them. He welcomed them when other worried about being seen with them.
More wonderfully, Christ was numbered with the transgressors (Luke 20.37). In his death, he was the Man of Sorrows, the innocent one who died for the guilty. It was through the cross that the righteous one was made sin and the sinners were declared righteous.
What David means here is that the King refuses to corrupt himself in the ways of the wicked. He will not follow their ways. He hates their assembly for it is set against God.
Instead, he loves to be in the presence of the living God. His burning desire is to worship the LORD in the splendour of his holiness. He knows that the end of the path the unrighteous take leads to death. Yet the end for those who stand on the word of God is to be enveloped by the glory of God, embraced by his grace.
This is the yearning of the believer’s heart. To dwell in the enteral city of God, in the place being prepared by Jesus where he ascended after his resurrection (John 14.3).
Jesus, the true King, was numbered with the transgressors but his prayer was heard. He is not swept away finally with the sinners (9). For his final resting place was not six feet under. The tomb was emptied. He was released from death’s clutches. He was raised to everlasting life. And so it is for all who believe in the gospel.
Therefore we can say the words of this Psalm. We know that we have nothing to hide from God that has not been cleansed already by the grace of Christ. We need not fear judgement for the gospel declares “there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Rom 8.1).
Therefore, with the King, we tell of the LORD’s “wonderful deeds” (7), blessing his name with the joyful chorus of the great, heavenly and eternal congregation (12).
Glory be to the Father, the just judge who vindicates those who seek refuge in Christ.
Glory be to the Son, who rejects sin in his righteousness yet welcomes sinners in his grace.
Glory be to the Spirit, who dwells in the new temple, the body of believers.
Ever three and ever One.