Psalm 26 - Judge me, O Lord, for I have walked
A very sweet psalm of the working together of works and faith.
v1 - I am afraid to pray for the Lord to judge, examine, prove and try me because I am afraid of suffering. But I realize it is far far better to have the Lord judge us now than when He returns, when it will cost much more suffering for less transformation ( Matt 25:1-12). I would not compose such a prayer on my own, but I enjoy praying David's prayer, singing it over and over.
Such a prayer will drive me to have my own integrity in the Lord and to walk in it. Such a prayer and walk will cause us not to backslide and make us worthy to escape the great tribulation and stand before Jesus ( Lk 21:36). By this kind of daily prayer we buy the Holy Spirit as the annointing oil now, and the Lord knows us in an intimate way ( Matt 25:3-12; Jer 12:3; 1 Sam 17:39).
When we pray for the Lord to judge us now, we should give Him a reason: "For I have walked in my integrity, and I have put my trust in the Lord." If His judging me should cause me suffering, still I have it settled in my heart that I will not be offended.
This psalm begins and ends ( v11) with "my integrity". I do not like to mention "my integrity" to the Lord in prayer for fear of being self-righteous. However, each one of us needs to have integrity that is our own because we daily walk in it in dependence upon the Lord. It is right to mention this before the Lord to have the Lord expose it whether it is really my integrity or my pride or self-righteousness.
v2 - Not only judge me, but also examine me, prove me, and try my reins and my heart. The Hebrew word bachan, "examine", is used for refining gold ( Job23:10;etc).
The Hebrew word tsaraph, "try", is used for refining of silver ( Zech 13:9; etc).
The Hebrew word nasah, "prove", means to put to the test ( Gen 22:1; etc). It is often used negatively of man testing God ( Ps 95:9). The corresponding Greek word is used in the NT of satan as the tempter ( Matt 4:3; 1 Thes 3:5).
The Lord said that we should pray to not enter into temptation ( Matt 6:13; 26:41). This agrees with prayers in the Old Testament ( Prov 30:7-9; Ps 13:4). We should realize that we are weak and if put into a tempting situation we may sin. So we should flee such situations and pray to be kept from them.
The prayer here is not for the Lord to put us in a temptation to sin, but to prove whether what I think I have of the Lord is real. We do not ask for suffering, but we give the Lord the freedom to do what He knows is best for us, knowing that the Lord knows what we are able to take ( 1 Cor 10:13).
The Greek and old English words for "temptation" have 2 meanings: 1) to find out the real nature of something; and 2) to entice to sin. When we pray to not be led into temptation, it is the 2nd meaning. The Hebrew word only has the 1st meaning.
v3 - As in v1, David gives the Lord reasons for examining, proving and trying him: "Because Your mercy is before my eyes, and I have walked in Your truth." Mercy and truth always go together ( Ps 25:10).
In v1 David puts together something of works, "walked in my integrity" with something of faith, "trusted in the Lord". Here it is the same except that the faith item, "before my eyes is Your mercy", comes before the works item, "in Your truth I have walked". Works should cause us to trust in the Lord more substantially. Seeing the Lord's mercy causes us to walk more deeply according to His truth. David also does the same in the final verses of the psalm ( v11).
v4-5-The company we keep strongly effects our faith and our works ( 1 Cor 15:33). After a while we will become numb to the disingenuity.
Both v4 and v5 1st state what David has done in the past, and then what he will do in the future.
We should not mingle with those who are called Christians who practice these wicked things ( 1 Cor 5:9-13). In 2006 my church went through a damaging split. One side sued the other side in a number of localities. I refrained from shaking the hand of the Christian leader who took a leading role in those lawsuits. He was my friend, but by my not shaking his hand, I wanted him to know that he is not approved by God ( 1 Cor 6:1-10).
Later I had the opportunity to tell him why I did not shake his hand. He did not agree that he had done wrong, and we just agreed to disagree. After that I felt there was no reason not to shake his hand anymore, since I had told him what he had done wrong. I leave it to be his responsibility to the Lord, and we are friends again.
v7 - "To" tells us that this is the purpose of the consecration and crossing out in the preceding verse.
To speak with the voice of thanksgiving is more important than what we actually say, providing it is truth. This verse does not tell us what David would publish, just that he would do it with the voice of thanksgiving.
The "and" beginning the 2nd 1/2 of the verse means that this is something additional to the 1st 1/2 of the verse. The verse does not say that David told all the Lord's wonders with the voice of thanksgiving, but that he spoke with the voice of thanksgiving AND in addition to that he also told all the Lord's wonders.
v8 - From verses 4-5 one might think we should be loners. No! We need the Lord's house. We should love the Lord and His house, which is His church, practically and locally ( 1 John 4:20).
The Hebrew verb "dwelling" here is the root of the word Shekinah.
vv 9-10 - A church can become like this. Evil devices such as excommunication for an unscriptural reason, slanders, peer pressure, fear, superstitions and even lawsuits can be used by religious people to hold their group together or to keep their leadership position ( Jn 9:34-35; 3 Jn 10).
We should pray to the Lord to keep us out of such a gathering and not trust in our own discernment. If we trust in our own discernment we will likely reject the Lord's house because the altar is there to cross us out ( v6).
v11-12 - This psalm ends as it began except that v1 is past tense and this verse is present/future. The Lord does not want us to forget this message.
If we have purposed to walk in our integrity, we will find grace from God. It is not that we earn the grace, but that we will put the grace to good use.
"He who purposes to walk uprightly has the right to expect God's delivering and giving hand to be extended to him. The resolve to walk uprightly unaccompanied with the prayer for that hand to uphold is as rash as the prayer without the resolve is vain. But if these 2 go together, quiet confidence will steal into the heart; and though there be no change in circumstances, the mood of mind will be so soothed and lightened that the suppliant will feel that he has suddenly emerged from the steep gorge where he has been struggling and shut up, and stands on the level ground of the 'shining table-lands, whereof our God Himself is sun and moon.' Such peaceful foretaste of coming security is the forerunner which visits the faithful heart." - Alexander MacLaren, The Book of Psalms.
-copyright Steve Miller 2010
updated 7/9/2010
written 6/25/2010
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Psalm 26 through David
1 Judge me, O my LORD, for I have walked,
walked in my integrity,
and I have put my trust in the LORD.
I'll not slide away from Thee.
2 Examine me, O LORD, and prove me.
Try my reins, and my heart try
3 for before my eyes is Your mercy,
and in Your truth have walked I.
4 I have not sat with men of falsehood,
nor go in with hypocrites .
5 I've hated the evil assembly
and won't sit with the wicked.
6 In innocence I wash my hands and
turn, LORD, unto Your altar
7 to make heard with voice of thanksgiving
and to tell all Your wonders.
8 LORD, I have loved the habitation
of Your house and the place where
Your Shekinah glory is dwelling
for You have set Your Name there.
9 With sinners do not gather my soul
nor my life with bloody men,
10 in whose hands are an evil device,
and a bribe filled their right hand,
11 and I walk in my integrity.
Redeem and give grace to me.
12 My foot, it has stood in uprightness.
LORD I bless in assemblies.
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Lk 21:34 But take heed to yourselves lest perhaps your hearts be weighed down with debauchery and drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day come upon you suddenly as a snare. 35 For it will come in upon all those dwelling on the face of all the earth. 36 But be watchful at every time, beseeching that you would prevail to escape all these things which are about to happen and stand before the Son of Man.
Matt 25:1 At that time the kingdom of the heavens will be likened to ten virgins, who took their lamps and went forth to meet the bridegroom. 2 And five of them were foolish and five were prudent. 3 For the foolish, when they took their lamps, did not take oil with them; 4 But the prudent took oil in their vessels with their lamps. 5 And while the bridegroom delayed, they all became drowsy and slept. 6 But at midnight there was a cry, Behold, the bridegroom! Go forth to meet him! 7 Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their own lamps. 8 And the foolish said to the prudent, Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out. 9 But the prudent answered, saying, Perhaps there will not be enough for us and for you; go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves. 10 And as they were going away to buy, the bridegroom came; and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast. And the door was shut. 11 And later the rest of the virgins came also, saying, Lord, lord, open to us! 12 But he answered and said, Truly I say to you, I do not know you.
Jer 12:3 But thou, O LORD, knowest me: thou hast seen me, and tried mine heart toward thee: pull them out like sheep for the slaughter, and prepare them for the day of slaughter.
1Sa 17:39 And David girded his sword upon his armour, and he assayed to go; for he had not proved it. And David said unto Saul, I cannot go with these; for I have not proved them. And David put them off him.
Job 23:10 But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.
Zec 13:9 And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine <tsaraph> them as silver is refined <tsaraph>, and will try <bachan> them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God.
1Ch 29:17 I know also, my God, that thou triest the heart, and hast pleasure in uprightness. As for me, in the uprightness of mine heart I have willingly offered all these things: and now have I seen with joy thy people, which are present here, to offer willingly unto thee.
Ps 7:9 Oh let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end; but establish the just: for the righteous God trieth the hearts and reins.
11:4 The LORD is in his holy temple, the LORD’S throne is in heaven: his eyes behold, his eyelids try, the children of men. 5 The LORD trieth the righteous: but the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth.
17:3 Thou hast proved mine heart; thou hast visited me in the night; thou hast tried <tsaraph> me, and shalt find nothing; I am purposed that my mouth shall not transgress.
81:7 Thou calledst in trouble, and I delivered thee; I answered thee in the secret place of thunder: I proved thee at the waters of Meribah. Selah.
139:23 Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:
Pr 17:3 The fining pot is for silver, and the furnace for gold: but the LORD trieth the hearts.
Jer 11:20 But, O LORD of hosts, that judgest righteously, that triest the reins and the heart, let me see thy vengeance on them: for unto thee have I revealed my cause.
20:12 But, O LORD of hosts, that triest the righteous, and seest the reins and the heart, let me see thy vengeance on them: for unto thee have I opened my cause.
17:10 I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.
Ge 22:1 And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am.
Heb 11:17 By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son,
Ex 15:25 And he cried unto the LORD; and the LORD shewed him a tree, which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet: there he made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there he proved them,
16:4 Then said the LORD unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no.
20:20 And Moses said unto the people, Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not.
De 8:2 And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no.
8:16 Who fed thee in the wilderness with manna, which thy fathers knew not, that he might humble thee, and that he might prove thee, to do thee good at thy latter end;
13:3 Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
33:8 And of Levi he said, Let thy Thummim and thy Urim be with thy holy one, whom thou didst prove at Massah, and with whom thou didst strive at the waters of Meribah;
Jud 2:22 That through them I may prove Israel, whether they will keep the way of the LORD to walk therein, as their fathers did keep it, or not.
3:1 Now these are the nations which the LORD left, to prove Israel by them, even as many of Israel as had not known all the wars of Canaan;
4 And they were to prove Israel by them, to know whether they would hearken unto the commandments of the LORD, which he commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses.
2Ch 32:31 Howbeit in the business of the ambassadors of the princes of Babylon, who sent unto him to enquire of the wonder that was done in the land, God left him, to try him, that he might know all that was in his heart.
Da 1:12 Prove thy servants, I beseech thee, ten days; and let them give us pulse to eat, and water to drink.
14 So he consented to them in this matter, and proved them ten days.
Joh 6:6 And this he said to prove him: for he himself knew what he would do.
Rev 2:10 (AV) Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.
3:10 Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.
Ps 95:9 When your fathers tempted <nasah> me, proved <bachan> me , and saw my work.
1Co 10:13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
2Pet 2:9 The Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished:
Zec 13:9 And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine <tsaraph> them as silver is refined <tsaraph>, and will try <bachan> them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God.
Mal 3:2 But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner’s fire, and like fullers’ soap: 3 And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness.
Ps 12:6 The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.
18:30 As for God, his way is perfect: the word of the LORD is tried: he is a buckler to all those that trust in him.
2Sa 22:31 As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the LORD is tried: he is a buckler to all them that trust in him.
Ps 66:10 For thou, O God, hast proved <bachan> us: thou hast tried us, as silver is tried.
105:19 Until the time that his word came: the word of the LORD tried him.
119:140 Thy word is very pure <tsaraph>: therefore thy servant loveth it.
Pr 25:4 Take away the dross from the silver, and there shall come forth a vessel for the finer <tsaraph>.
30:5 Every word of God is pure <tsaraph>: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him.
Isa 1:25 And I will turn my hand upon thee, and purely purge away thy dross, and take away all thy tin:
48:10 Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.
Jud 7:4 And the LORD said unto Gideon, The people are yet too many; bring them down unto the water, and I will try them for thee there: and it shall be, that of whom I say unto thee, This shall go with thee, the same shall go with thee; and of whomsoever I say unto thee, This shall not go with thee, the same shall not go.
Jer 9:7 Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, Behold, I will melt them, and try <bachan> them; for how shall I do for the daughter of my people?
Da 11:35 And some of them of understanding shall fall, to try them, and to purge, and to make them white, even to the time of the end: because it is yet for a time appointed.
12:10 Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand.
Matthew 4:3 And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.
1 Thessalonians 3:5 For this cause, when I could no longer forbear, I sent to know your faith, lest by some means the tempter have tempted you, and our labour be in vain.
Matthew 6:13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
26:41 Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.
Proverbs 30:7-9 7 Two things have I required of thee; deny me them not before I die: 8 Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me: 9 Lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the LORD? or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain.
1 Timothy 6:9 But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.
Ps 13:4 Lest my adver-sary should say,
I have prevailed o'er him today;
Lest the ones that are troubling me
rejoice when I am moved from Thee.
Ps 25:10 All the paths of the Lord
are mercy and truth
unto such as keep
His covenant and testimonies,
1 Corinthians 5:9-13 9 I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators: 10 Yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or with idolaters; for then must ye needs go out of the world. 11 But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat. 12 For what have I to do to judge them also that are without? do not ye judge them that are within? 13 But them that are without God judgeth. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person.
1 Cor 6:1 Does any one of you who has a case against another dare to be judged before the unrighteous and not before the saints? 2 Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is judged by you, are you unworthy of the smallest judgments? 3 Do you not know that we will judge angels, not to mention things of this life? 4 If then you hold judgments over things of this life, do you seat as judges those who are of no account in the church? 5 I say this to your shame. So there is no one wise among you, who will be able to discern between his brothers? 6 But brother goes to court with brother, and this before unbelievers. 7 Already then it is altogether a defeat to you that you have lawsuits with one another. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be defrauded? 8 But you wrong and defraud, and this your brothers. 9 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be led astray; neither fornicators nor idolaters nor adulterers nor effeminate nor homosexuals 10 Nor thieves nor the covetous, not drunkards, not revilers, not the rapacious will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And these things were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.
1 Cor 15:33 Do not be deceived: Evil companionships corrupt good morals.
Rom 12:1 I exhort you therefore, brothers, through the compassions of God to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, well pleasing to God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And do not be fashioned according to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of the mind that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and well pleasing and perfect.
James 2:21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works in that he offered up Isaac his son upon the altar ? 22 You see that faith worked together with his works, and by these works faith was perfected.
1 John 4:20 If anyone says, I love God, and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother, whom he has seen , cannot love God, whom he has not seen . 21 And this commandment we have from Him, that he who loves God love his brother also. 5:1 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been begotten of God, and everyone who loves Him who has begotten loves him also who has been begotten of Him. 2 In this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and do His commandments.
Jn 9:34 They answered and said to him, You were wholly born in sins, and you are teaching us? And they cast him out. 35 Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and He found him and said, Do you believe into the Son of God?
3 Jn 10 For this reason, if I come, I will bring to remembrance his works which he does, babbling against us with evil words; and not being satisfied with these, neither does he himself receive the brothers, and those intending to do so he forbids and casts out of the church.
-copyright Steve Miller 2010
written 6/25/2010
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