Judge me, O Lord; for I have walked in mine integrity. Psalm 26 Leading proofs of personal piety Homilist. I. A STRONG CRAVING FOR A KNOWLEDGE OF THE REAL STATE OF THE CHARACTER. "Judge me, O Lord." Implying — 1. A belief in the possibility of being self-deceived. 2. A desire to be made right, at whatever cost. II. A PRACTICAL RECOGNITION OF GOD'S MERCY. "For Thy loving kindness is before mine eyes." The life of the godly is marked by — 1. The strongest gratitude. 2. The highest courage. III. A PROFOUND CONSCIOUSNESS OF SINCERITY OF CONDUCT. "I have walked in Thy truth." The godly man hates hypocrisy and loathes shame. IV. A STRONG REPUGNANCE TO ALL UNGODLY SOCIETY, "I have not sat with vain persons," etc. 1. He declares that he never had any fellowship with them (ver. 4). 2. He expresses his hatred of them (ver. 5). 3. He prays that he may not be gathered to their company (ver. 9). Good men shun the society of the wicked, because (1) it is wrong; (2) because it is pernicious. V. A DELIGHT IN THE PUBLIC WORSHIP OF GOD. "I will wash mine hands in innocency," etc. True worship — 1. Requires personal preparation. 2. Consists in public acknowledgments. 3. Is inspired with the presence of God. VI. A FIXED DETERMINATION TO WALK EVER WITH THE HOLY. "But as for me, I will walk," etc. (vers. 11, 12). ( Homilist. ) The character of an upright man sketched by himself C. Clemence, D. D. To do this requires much introspection. Yet there may he circumstances when such work becomes necessary. I. THE PSALMIST HAD A GOOD FOUNDATION ON WHICH HIS LIFE WAS BUILT. 1. Trust in Jehovah (ver. 1). 2. God's loving kindness (ver. 5). 3. God's truth; that is, His faithfulness (ver. 3).Note: all the supports of his integrity were outside himself. Happy the man that can stay his mind on Divine faithfulness and love! If these props cease to sustain, moral and spiritual worth pine from want of motive and hope. II. THE LIFE BUILT ON THIS FOUNDATION IS WORTHY OF IMITATION. It was a life of — 1. Integrity (ver. 11). 2. Straightforward progress (ver. 1). 3. Avoiding evil associations (vers. 4, 5). 4. Cultivation of holy worship, song, and thanksgiving (vers. 6-8, 12).Note —(1) Those who have God as the support of their life will show a life worthy of such support.(2) Those who most value communion with God will most freely appreciate and cultivate the stimulus and comfort to be obtained from united worship. ( C. Clemence, D. D. ) An appeal marked by specific entreaty C. Clemence, D. D. Four lines of supplication. I. THAT GOD WOULD VINDICATE HIM AND NOT LET HIM BE MIXED UP WITH THOSE HE HATES (vers. 1, 9, 10). II. THAT GOD WOULD SEARCH AND PROVE HIM (ver. 2). III. THAT GOD WOULD PURIFY HIM (ver. 3). Upright before men, he does not pretend to be perfect before God. IV. THAT GOD WOULD ENTIRELY DELIVER HIM FROM THE SURROUNDINGS OF UNGENIAL AND UNHOLY MEN (vers. 9, 10). ( C. Clemence, D. D. ) David's appeal and its issue Bp. Wm. Nicholson. I. AN APPEAL TO GOD TO BE HIS JUDGE. II. THE CAUSES THAT INDUCED HIM TO IT. 1. His faith and confidence in God. 2. His integrity. (1) How he carried himself to men: abstaining from all association with wicked doers. (2) How to God: showing marks of his piety. III. THE PETITION. That God would not suffer him to be polluted with the conversation of wicked men, nor involved in their punishment IV. HIS GRATITUDE. He will praise the Lord in the congregations. ( Bp. Wm. Nicholson. ) David's integrity D. Caldwell, M. A. It would be madness in any man, however blameless his life may have been, to call upon God to enter into judgment with him for his offences against Him. It is, however, often otherwise in regard to many of our fellow mere We can safely invite the omniscient Judge to decide between us and them. We can say in regard to, them, as David does, "Judge me, O Lord; for I have walked in mine integrity." Though Saul sought David's life, and once with his own band hurled a javelin at him to slay him, David never for a moment swerved from the conduct of a dutiful subject, he still fought Saul's battles for him, and though Saul was pursuing him as an outlaw, spared him when it was in his power to kill him. He never raised his hand against the king, nor allowed those under his control to do so. Integrity had marked his whole conduct, so that Saul himself was obliged to acknowledge with tears, "Thou art more righteous than I; for thou hast rewarded me good, whereas I have rewarded thee evil." So should it be with the Christian always. He should never allow the injustice of others to mar his integrity. Principle, not passion, should be the pole star of his course. ( D. Caldwell, M. A. ) Examine me, O Lord, and prove me; try my reins and my heart. Psalm 26:2 Our need of Divine scrutiny S. Morell. I. IT IS POSSIBLE THAT WE MAY TRY OURSELVES BY FALSE PRINCIPLES. Self-examination is an all-important duty, but when we have searched most diligently we need that God should examine us. Now, we are prone to err in regard to our repentance, our faith, and our obedience — these which are the grand requisites for salvation. II. WE ARE PRONE TO BE PARTIAL TO OURSELVES, — to make allowances where we should not. III. AND OUR MOTIVES IN OUR CONDUCT ARE SO DIFFICULT TO ASCERTAIN BY ANY BUT GOD. IV. AND WHEN WE DISCOVER IMPERFECTIONS WE CANNOT CORRECT THEM, even by that Divine grace which He is willing to bestow. V. THE DIVINE JUDGMENT will determine the decisions of the last day. What we think, or our fellow men believe, will not avail then. VI. WHAT IS NEEDED TO PREPARE FOR HEAVEN. ( S. Morell. ) Examinations D. Davies. (A talk with children): — As a rule, children are not very anxious for examinations. They do not see what possible good can come out of them. If most of them had their wishes, they never would have one at all. Yet in days to come these children will see that of all things that they did in their school days perhaps the most important were these very examinations. Now, David here asked God to examine him; he asked a very keen examiner to take the task in hand. He knew what that meant: he knew that no weakness, no ignorance, no sin would remain hidden; but that everything would be known, not only to God, but also largely to David himself. And that was one of the reasons why he wanted to he examined. I. NOW, OBSERVE THAT THE WORD "EXAMINE" HERE IS A VERY FORCIBLE WORD. It means "to examine by fire," and, therefore, by that which shall burn up all the dross, and only leave behind that which can pass through fire. Again, the word "try" is further expressive. The Hebrew word means "melting by fire"; in other words, it means "examine by fire to the point of melting." Thus the examination the Psalmist asked for was an examination by fire — an examination that should burn away everything that was impure. II. THE RESULT OF AN EXAMINATION TO A LARGE EXTENT IS TO MAKE ONE KNOW ONESELF. If it were not for the examinations which children get, some of them would get, very conceited, and would think that they knew everything. When anyone begins a study he is convinced in a week or so that he knows all about it. If you see him again in a twelvemonth he begins to doubt it; but if you see him in two years be is quite convinced he knows very little. Now, examinations are very helpful in that way. The condition of learning is just to learn, first of all, that we know next to nothing, and thus to be dissatisfied with ourselves. Then, and then only, we shall make an effort. III. FAILURE IN EXAMINATION HAS VERY OFTEN LED TO DETERMINATION on the part of a boy or girl never to fail again; thus failure has been one of the greatest blessings they have had in life. David felt sure that if God examined him he would know very much more of his own poor miserable self than he did before, and some path of sin which had escaped his notice would be revealed to him. Indeed, he was anxious that the Lord should not conceal from him anything that was evil in him. To be conscious of one's error is the first step necessary to avoid repeating it. IV. Again, there was another feeling on the part of David, namely, that thorough as God was as an examiner, and thorough as the exposure would be by such an examination, GOD WAS NEVERTHELESS VERY KIND; for David says in the following verse, "For Thy loving kindnesses are before mine eyes." Our best loved teachers have been those who, though they saw all our failings, all our mistakes, very clearly, yet did not hold us up to ridicule, but sympathised with our difficulties and put the best construction on all our actions. So it is with our Lord. He knows our hearts, and reads every thought before we express it in words. Hidden desires are all known to Him. But then, He is so kind, so loving, so forgiving, we can leave ourselves in His hands. ( D. Davies. ) Self-examination examined Horace Bushnell, D. D. Self-examination is to many disciples a kind of first point in practical religion. It is heard and read on all sides. But there are only two Scripture passages which can be at all cited for it, one of which ( 2 Corinthians 13:5 ) certainly has no such meaning; and the other ( 1 Corinthians 11:28 ) carries no sufficient authority for the practice. Scripture sends us to God: "Examine me, O Lord"; "Search me, O God"; "The Lord trieth the heart." I. GOD CERTAINLY CAN EXAMINE US, and we cannot in any but the most superficial and incomplete sense examine ourselves. For — 1. Our memory is too short and scant to recall or restore the conception of one in a hundred million of the acts that make up our lives. 2. Even if we could recall them, everyone, we could never go over the survey of such vast materials, so as to form any judgment of them or of ourselves. 3. And since the understanding of our present state is impossible without understanding all the causes in our action that have fashioned the character and shaped its figure, our faculty is even shorter here than before. Omniscience only is equal to the task. II. IN WHAT IS FREQUENTLY UNDERSTOOD BY SELF-EXAMINATION THERE IS SOMETHING MISTAKEN OR DECEITFUL which needs to be carefully resisted. 1. It is a kind of artificial state, in which the soul is drawn off from its objects and works, and its calls of love and sacrifice, to engage itself in acts of self-inspection. 2. He may even be so engrossed in self-examination as to become morbidly selfish in it; for nothing is more selfish than to be always boring into one's self. III. HOW MUCH IS IMPLIED IN A HEARTY WILLINGNESS OR DESIRE TO HAVE GOD EXAMINE US AND PROVE US. A mind seeking after truth, ready to receive it; more, a soul already found to be in God's friendship, sealed with the witness of His acceptance. IV. THERE IS A WAY OF COMING AT THE VERDICT OF GOD WHATEVER IT MAY BE. God designs always to give us the benefit of His own knowledge of our state. He never intended us for, and never puts us to, the task of testing our. selves. He expects to do this for us. We are complete only in Him. He is, and is ever to be, our Light, and we only know ourselves in Him. God is manifested in the consciousness of them that love Him and are right towards Him. They will know God by an immediate knowledge or revelation. They will have His Spirit witnessing with theirs. God has planned our life so as to bring us into a perception of the many defects and errors lurking in us, and to set us in the same judgment of them that He has Himself, proving us at every turn, trying even the reins and heart, that our most secret things may be revealed. If there should be any legitimate place for self-examination it is in the field where we go to discover our faults and the sins that require to be forsaken or put away. ( Horace Bushnell, D. D. ) Morbid self-inspection kills love Horace Bushnell, D. D. Many years ago I knew an excellent much esteemed Christian mother, who had become morbidly introverted, and could not find her love to God. Seeing at once that she was stifling it by her own self-inspecting engrossment, which would not allow her to so much as think of God's loveliness, I said to her, "But you love your son, you have no doubt of that." "Of course I love him, why should I not?" To show her, then, how she was killing her love to God, I said, "But take one week now for the trial, and make thorough examination of your love to your son, and it will be strange if, at the end of the week, you do not tell me that you have serious doubt of it." I returned at the time, to be dreadfully shocked by my too cruel experiment. "No," she said, "I do not love him;" I abhor him. She was fallen off the edge, and her self-examination was become her insanity! ( Horace Bushnell, D. D. ) God trying the reins and the heart Horace Bushnell, D. D. It is wonderful to see with what skill God has adjusted all our experiences, in this mortal life, so as to make us sensible of our errors and defects. As the invisible ink is brought out in a distinct colour by holding what is written to the fire, so God brings out all our faults and our sins by the scorches of experience through which we are ever passing in the fiery trials of life. If we are proud, He has a way to make us see it, and to break down our pride. If we cherish any subtle grudge or animosity, He will somehow call it out and make us see it. If we are selfish, or covetous, or jealous, or frivolous, or captious, or self-indulgent, or sensual, or self-confident, or fanatical, or self-righteous, or partial, or obstinate, or prejudiced, or uncharitable, or censorious, — whatever fault we have in us, whether it be in the mind, or the head, or the body, or I might almost say the bones, no matter how subtle, or how ingeniously covered it may be, He has us in the furnace of trial and correction, where He is turning us round and round, lifting us in prosperity, crushing us in adversity, subduing us with affliction, tempting out our faults and then chastising them. humbling us, correcting us, softening, tempering, soothing, fortifying, refining, healing, and so managing us, as to detect all our drossy and bad qualities, and separate them from us. He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver, and allows nothing to escape either His discovery or our correction. No self-examination we could make would discover, at all, what He is continually bringing to the light, and exposing to our detection. ( Horace Bushnell, D. D. ) For Thy loving kindness is before mine eyes; and I have walked in Thy truth. Psalm 26:8 The loving kindness of the Lord contemplated James Henderson, D. D. I. We have A PLEASANT OBJECT OF CONTEMPLATION — the loving kindness of the Lord. God has ever been manifesting this. In creation, especially in the creation of man. Other principles came afterwards into operation. God must be just as well as beneficent. Hence man, when he sinned, had to feel the effects of God's sore displeasure. But it is only when this is viewed in its connection with a dispensation of mercy, and as designed to lead us to repentance, that it can be regarded as manifesting His loving kindness. It is not merely forbearance — the patience which endures for a season the vessels of wrath, and which must at last give way to the growing vengeance provoked by their iniquities. It is the pitying tenderness with which our miseries and dangers are regarded, the redeeming love which would rescue us from them all, and receive and cherish us again as dear children, and delight in us at all times to do us good. Therefore consider — 1. What has been done to render the exercise of mercy consistent with justice. See this in the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. What is it that arrests the attention and draws to itself the rapt admiration of the disciple whom Jesus loved? "Herein," he exclaims, "is love; not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to he the propitiation for our sins." Did he overlook the other doings of God, in which He has shown His goodness to the children of men? No; but he felt that this transcends them all. In this he saw most clearly that God is love. 2. Think on the fruits of this loving kindness. Our mercies temporal and spiritual stretch on through all eternity. Notice also its spontaneous character, and its constancy. II. THE MANNER IN WHICH IT SHOULD BE BEFORE OUR EYES. 1. As the frequent subject of our thought. 2. As the sure ground of our hope. 3. As the motive of our praise. ( James Henderson, D. D. ) Think well and do well David is labouring under the fear that he should be judged and condemned with the ungodly. He therefore urges reasons wherefore this should not be so. And this amongst the rest, that his thoughts were upon the loving kindness of God. "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he," We may form a better judgment of ourselves, probably, from the tenor of our thoughts than from any other evidence. If our thoughts all go downward, downward we ourselves are going. But if there be some breathings towards the heavenly, then may we have hope that we also are ascending towards the heavenly places and shall dwell in them hereafter. David could urge, besides the secret evidence of his devout thoughts, the public proof of his holy acts — "I have walked in Thy truth." The two must go together to become valid evidence. FRUITFUL SUBJECT. "Thy loving kindness is before mine eyes." It is exceedingly profitable for the Christian to have always some subject of thought upon his mind. When the mind does not receive holy matters to feed upon, as a rule it preys upon itself; like certain of our bodily organs which, if not supplied with nutritive matter, will soon begin to devour their own tissues. The mind when it eats into itself forms doubts, suspicions, complaints; and nine out of ten of the doubts and fears of God's people come from two things — walking at a distance from God, and want of spiritual nutriment for the soul. A powerful stream of holy contemplation will scour the thoughts and bear away the foul deposits of unholy thought. Now, David's theme here is a rightful subject for meditation. It is our bounden duty to think much upon God's loving kindness. And it is a good subject, and wide, and pleasing. Very plain too, and suitable and seasonable for us all. II. A LIFE ORDERED BY A RIGHT RULE. "I have walked in Thy truth." He means, "I have tried to order my religion according to the truth God has revealed." Can we all say that? Do not most of us worship God in the way, and because it is the way, our forefathers did? We are of one mind with the old Saxon king who, when he was about to be baptized, stood with one leg in the water and inquired of the bishop, "Where do you, say my ancestors are gone? They knew nothing about your Christianity. All cast into hell," said the bishop. "Well, then," said this fine old Conservative, "I will go with them; I should not like to be parted from my kith and kin." Very much of this principle rules our country still. David means, next, that he had walked according to God's law. "I have walked in Thy truth." But — III. SEE THE LINK WHICH BINDS THE TWO PARTS OF THE TEXT TOGETHER. The one has been the consequence of the other. Because I thought much of Thy love, therefore I walked in Thy truth. Our thoughts greatly influence our actions. You cannot send the mind up the chimney and expect it to come down white. Whatever road the thoughts traverse, all the faculties of manhood will go after them. But there are some men who separate these things. There are some men who think, or say they think, of God's loving kindness, but do not walk in God's truth. What do we say of men who make the doctrines of grace an excuse for licentiousness? Paul said, "Their damnation is just." Others there are who say they walk in God's truth, but His loving kindness is never before their eyes. They boast of their character, but they never think of God's grace. They are Pharisees; they know not what spirit they are of. Let us remember that when we get dull in the practical part of religion, the best way of revival is to think more of the loving kindness of God. ( C. H. Spurgeon . ) An encouraging contemplation W. Jay. I. AS A SUBJECT OF CONTEMPLATION. David said, "My meditation of Him shall be sweet." II. AS THE SOURCE OF ENCOURAGEMENT. How often we need this — under a sense of guilt; in our afflictions. III. AS AN INCITEMENT TO PRAISE. "How lamentable," says Leighton, "is it that a world so full of God's mercy should be so empty of His glory!" IV. AS AN EXAMPLE FOR OUR IMITATION. There have been those who have sought to resemble Him. ( W. Jay. ) The manifestness of Divine benignity Homilist. "God is beauty and love," says ; and these words are echoed by all whose. spiritual vision is not dimmed by sensual feeling and sceptical thought. What is meant by Divine goodness or benignity? Not good-doing, but good-being — goodness of nature. I. GOD'S BENIGNITY IS A FACT EVER BEFORE THE EYES OF MAN'S INVESTIGATING INTELLECT. Man's logical pathway to this great idea is by three grand stages. 1. The master disposition of a moral being is ever the essence of his moral character. The varied impulses of the soul have been resolved into two grand dispositions — the good-seeking and the self-seeking. With a change of the presiding disposition there comes a thorough revolution of character. 2. The master disposition of an absolutely competent being is always expressed in the general tendency of his works. God is such a being; He has all wisdom, all power; and we are authorised to look upon the universe as the expression of His heart. 3. The general tendency of the universe is to produce happiness. And this general impression is confirmed by all scientific research, which demonstrates that the organisation of all sentient beings is contrived for happiness; and that the external sphere of every such being contains full provision for its happiness. But how comes it, then, that there is so much suffering in the world? (1) Sufferings form a small item compared with enjoyments. (2) It subserves benevolent ends. II. IT IS A FACT EVER BEFORE THE EVE OF MAN'S GENERAL CONSCIOUSNESS. And universal man believes in it with a faith underlying all the phenomena of life. There is — 1. A universally felt responsibility for moral evil. 2. A universally felt appreciation of benignity as the essence of excellence. 3. A universally felt obligation to worship. 4. A universally felt desire for continued existence. III. IT IS A FACT EVER BEFORE THE EYE OF MAN'S BIBLICAL FAITH. The Scriptures reveal the goodness of God as — 1. Conferring blessings of a transcendent character. 2. Conferring these blessings on those who justly deserved His displeasure. 3. Conferring them by means of the most stupendous sacrifice. "He spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all." That God should have bestowed any favour upon sinful creatures and enemies is a wonderful display of goodness; but that He should have made such a sacrifice "passeth knowledge." More, He makes us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. His goodness is His glory. Faith in His goodness — (1) Is essential to spiritual union; (2) is the necessary condition of spiritual culture; (3) is the solving principle of all intellectual difficulties touching His government; (4) is the under foundation of all our hope. ( Homilist. ) The loving kindness and truth of God T. Cruso. I. WHAT WE ARE TO UNDERSTAND BY THIS. 1. It may be taken for either an essential perfection in God, or some external dispensation of good from God. In the former sense, Psalm 51:1 ; in the latter, Psalm 42:8 . In both senses here. 2. It displays and exerts itself in many acts of providence, but especially in Christ, and the vouchsafement of spiritual and eternal blessings by Him ( Joel 2:13 ; Titus 3:4 ). 3. It may be considered as respecting others or ourselves ( Ephesians 5:25 ; Galatians 2:20 ). II. WHAT IT IS FOR GOD'S LOVING KINDNESS TO BE BEFORE OUR EYES. 1. Duly to apprehend it. 2. To believe it, and be persuaded of it ( John 8:56 ; Hebrews 11:13 ). 3. To esteem and prize it ( Psalm 36:7 ). 4. To consider it, and be seriously reminded of it ( Exodus 20:20 ; Song of Solomon 1:4 ). III. WHAT IS MEANT BY GOD'S TRUTH. 1. His immutable faithfulness ( Psalm 89:49 ; Psalm 94:4 ). 2. His Word ( Psalm 119:142 ). 3. The sincerity of those that belong to Him ( Psalm 51:6 ). IV. WHAT IT IS TO WALK IN HIS TRUTH. 1. To place our firm reliance on the faithfulness of God. 2. To attend strictly to the Word of God, both its doctrinal and practical parts. 3. To be upright in our way, in opposition to that walking in craftiness which is the celebrated policy of the children of this world. 4. Perseverance in this course. ( T. Cruso. ) I have not sat with vain persons. Psalm 26:4, 5 Separate, yet near A. Maclaren, D. D. The eyes which have God's loving kindness ever before them are endowed with penetrative clearness of vision into the true hollowness of most of the objects pursued by men, and with a terrible sagacity which detects hypocrisy and shame. Association with such men is necessary, and leaven must be in contact with dough in order to do its transforming work; but it is impossible for a man whose heart is truly in touch with God not to feel ill at ease when brought into contact with those who have no share in his deepest convictions and emotions No doubt separateness from evil-doers is but part of a godly man's duty, and has often been exaggerated into selfish withdrawal front a world which needs good men's presence all the more the worse it is; but it is a part of his duty: "Come out from among them and be separate" is not yet an abrogated command No man will ever mingle with "men of vanity" so as to draw them from the shadows of earth to the substance in God, unless his loving association with them rests on profound revulsion from their principles of action. None comes so near to sinful men as the sinless Christ; and if He had not been ever "separate from sinners" He would never have been near enough to redeem them. We may safely imitate His free companionship, which earned Hint the glorious name of their Friend, if we imitate His remoteness from their evil. ( A. Maclaren, D. D. ) I have hated the congregation of evil-doers. With wicked men, but not of them D. Caldwell, M. A. Although, when driven into exile, everyone that was in distress, in debt, etc., gathered themselves unto David, and he became a captain over them, — he never led them against his king and country, but only against their enemies; and in time changed the most reckless and turbulent of men into the best of soldiers and citizens. There is no place where the sincere Christian cannot make his influence felt for good: in the army, in the navy, in trade, at the bar, on the bench, in the halls of legislation, and everywhere; not by sacrificing, but by maintaining and exhibiting his principles in his spirit and conduct. ( D. Caldwell, M. A. ) I will wash mine hands in innocency: so will I compass Thine altar, O Lord. Psalm 26:6, 7 Purity of heart and life I. WHAT THIS RESOLUTION IMPLIES. 1. All apprehension of the holiness of God. 2. The condition — holiness — in which alone he could have communion with God. 3. Great desire for it. 4. Willing to give up all that stood in his way, all sin, especially. II. WHAT IS IMPLIED IN KEEPING SUCH RESOLUTION. 1. Renunciation of present sin. 2. Repentance for what is past. 3. Restitution and confession. 4. Regard to the rights of others in all respects — plain honest dealing and kindness.Oh, the endless tricks of selfishness, and the endless subterfuges with which men excuse themselves; and yet so much piety in the midst of it all. Sometimes it is that persons would not on any account stay away from church on the Sabbath, but they would cheat you in their business on the Monday if they had an opportunity of doing so. Suppose you say, well, I am seeking to get money that I may give it to the missionary cause! Let me tell you that a man might as well fit out a pirate ship for the same purpose! You take advantage, lie and cheat, to get money for God! Well, when you have got the money so for God; just go into your closet, lay the money down, and say, "Lord, Thou knowest how I got this money today: there was a man came into my shop and wanted a certain article, and I had not what he wanted, but I had one not so good, but I managed to get him to take it, and I charged hint a little more than it was worth, because! wanted to give something to the missionary cause!" Now, would that be washing the hands in innocency? Would an infinitely holy God accept such an offering? Judge ye! III. We now pass to show that BOTH THE RESOLUTION AND THE KEEPING OF IT ARE INDISPENSABLE CONDITIONS OF ACCEPTANCE WITH GOD. When we talk of persons being justified by faith we always mean that faith implies repentance, making restitution, obedience, and holiness of heart. The faith that takes hold on Christ implies all this. We are justified by faith; but it is the faith of obedience to God, the faith which leads to sanctification, the faith which works by love and purifies the heart, the faith that overcomes the world. Ah, the faith that overcomes the world, that's the faith to mark an honest man! No man has faith that justifies him who has not faith that makes him honest. If you are not honest you have not faith; in God's sense of the term you have not the faith of the Gospel. Now, suppose that every person in this house were at this moment willing to do as the Psalmist did, and were to come right out and say, "I will wash my hands in innocency" — what is there to hinder? ( C. G. Finney . ) Preparation for Divine worship P. Mearns. "Innocency" does not here imply moral perfection. David was innocent of the charges advanced against him by his enemies, the aiders and abettors of Absalom's rebellion; but he was not morally pure as was the God he worshipped. He desired, therefore, that God would try his reins and his heart, so that he might know and confess his sin. Washing the hands, as emblematic of purity and innocence, was enjoined on the priests, to typify that inward holiness which alone rendered service acceptable to God; and also on the elders of the city nearest to which the body of a homicide was found. Viewed in the light of these two ceremonials, David's words may here be regarded as a protestation of innocency in reference to the more outward sense by which religion is dishonoured, and a declaration of sincerity in worship. It was then he would draw near to the altar in company with the worshippers who gathered round it. As the pious Israelite looked towards the altar, so the Christian turned his thoughts to the Redeemer whom God has set forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood. It was David's chief joy to visit the habitation of God's house, the place where His honour dwelt. With a like devout joy should we enter His sanctuary, and especially when we approach His holy table, and preparation for this worship should engage the Christian's prayerful attention. I. ITS NECESSITY MAY BE ARGUED FROM SCRIPTURE. Jacob was commanded to go from Shechem to Bethel to fulfil his vow; and for this he and his household prepared by purifying themselves and putting away the strange gods from among them. When before Sinai, Moses was instructed to sanctify the people and prepare them for God's presence on the mount. There is, too, that solemn preparation for the Passover after Hezekiah had reformed the temple services, when its observance had to be delayed because some had come up to the feast without the prescribed purification of previous religious services. II. IT MAY BE ARGUED ALSO FROM THE NATURE OF THE THING. God is the infinitely high and holy One, and if before His throne the angels veil their faces, how reverently should we enter His gates and fall at His footstool! We must approach unto His presence with humility, penitence, and prayer. His presence there is assured; for He cannot lie. Love should be present in all our worship, and especially at that memorial of the atoning sacrifice of our Redeemer to whom we owe so much. ( P. Mearns. ) The devout worshipper W. G. Barrett. With all his disadvantages and drawbacks, David was the "man after God's own heart." If he sinned, and that exceedingly before the Lord, we know how thoroughly he repented. One feature in his character is very noticeable — his love for the house of God. I. DAVID'S PREPARATION FOR THE HOUSE OF THE LORD. Though an exile in the land of the Philistines, banished from the service and worship of the sanctuary, surrounded by those who would watch every action and note each shortcoming, he yet resolved to give them no opportunity of triumphing over him. A lesson for Christian worshippers. 1. Such p

Benson Commentary Psalm 26:1 A Psalm of David. Judge me, O LORD; for I have walked in mine integrity: I have trusted also in the LORD; therefore I shall not slide. Psalm 26:1 . Judge me, O Lord — Plead my cause, or, give sentence for me. I can obtain no right from men. The supreme and subordinate magistrates are my implacable and resolved enemies: do thou, therefore, do me justice against them. For I have walked in my integrity — Though they accuse me of many crimes, they can prove none of them, and thou and mine own conscience, and theirs also, are witnesses for me, that my conduct toward them hath been innocent and unblameable. I have trusted also in the Lord — I have committed my cause and affairs to thee, as to a just and merciful Father, and my hope and trust are fixed upon thee alone. Therefore I shall not slide — Thou wilt not deceive my trust, but wilt uphold me against all my enemies, for thou hast promised to save those that trust in thee. Psalm 26:2 Examine me, O LORD, and prove me; try my reins and my heart. Psalm 26:2-3 . Examine me, and prove me — Because it is possible I may deceive myself, and be partial in my cause, or, at least, mine enemies will so judge of me: I appeal to thee, O thou Judge of hearts, and beg that thou wouldst search and try me by such ways and means as thou seest fit, and make me known to myself and to the world, and convince mine enemies of mine integrity. For thy lovingkindness is before mine eyes — I have a true and deep sense of thy loving-kindness upon my heart, by which I have been obliged, and in a manner constrained to love and obey thee, and, in all things, to approve my heart and ways to thee, and consequently to abstain from all such evil practices as mine enemies charge me with. And hence it is, that I dare appeal to thee with this confidence. My experience of and trust in thy goodness fully satisfy me that I do not need to use, and so supports me that I do not use, any indirect or irregular courses for my relief. I have walked in thy truth — That is, according to thy word, believing its promises, and observing its precepts and directions; and not according to the course of this world. Psalm 26:3 For thy lovingkindness is before mine eyes: and I have walked in thy truth. Psalm 26:4 I have not sat with vain persons, neither will I go in with dissemblers. Psalm 26:4-5 . I have not sat with vain persons — That is, chosen or used to converse with them. I have been so far from an approbation or imitation of their wicked courses, that I have avoided even their company; and, if I accidentally came into it, yet I would not continue in it; neither will I go in with dissemblers — That is, into their company, or with design to join in their counsels or courses. The word ?????? , nagnalamim, here rendered dissemblers, signifies those that hide themselves; that is, cover their crafty and wicked designs with fair pretences. I have hated the congregation of evil-doers — I have a dislike to all such persons, and avoid meeting and joining with them in their assemblies and consultations. Psalm 26:5 I have hated the congregation of evil doers; and will not sit with the wicked. Psalm 26:6 I will wash mine hands in innocency: so will I compass thine altar, O LORD: Psalm 26:6-7 . I will wash my hands in innocency — “It was a common custom among all the Jews to wash before prayers; but the priests, in particular, were not to perform any sacred office in the sanctuary till they had poured water out of the laver, and washed their hands in it. David here alludes to this custom. But, because those outward ablutions might still leave impurities within, which all the water in the world could not wash away, he here declares that he would wash his hands in innocency itself, which he elsewhere calls the cleanness of his hands.” — Dodd. See note on Psalm 18:24 . The word ????? , nikajon, here rendered innocency, more properly signifies cleanness, or purity. He seems to mean by the expression integrity, or a pure conscience, as if he had said, I will not do, as my hypocritical enemies do, who content themselves with those outward washings of their hands or bodies prescribed in the law, while their hearts and lives are filthy and abominable: but I have washed my hands, and withal purged my heart and conscience from dead works: so will I compass thine altar — That is, approach to thy altar with my sacrifices; which I could not do with any comfort or confidence, if I were conscious to myself of those crimes whereof mine enemies accuse me. Respecting the phrase of compassing the altar, see note on Psalm 7:7 . That I may publish — May proclaim, namely, thy wondrous works, as it here follows; with the voice of thanksgiving — Accompanying my sacrifices with my own solemn thanksgivings and songs of praise. Psalm 26:7 That I may publish with the voice of thanksgiving, and tell of all thy wondrous works. Psalm 26:8 LORD, I have loved the habitation of thy house, and the place where thine honour dwelleth. Psalm 26:8 . I have loved the habitation of thy house — That is, thy sanctuary and worship, which is an evidence of my piety to thee, as I have given many proofs of my justice and integrity toward men. Nothing is more grievous to me than to be hindered from seeing and serving thee in thy house. Where thy honour dwelleth — Hebrew, ?????? , chebodeka, thy glory, meaning either, 1st, The ark, so called 1 Samuel 4:22 ; Psalm 78:61 ; or, 2d, God’s glorious and gracious presence, or the manifestation of his glory, namely, of his glorious power, faithfulness, and goodness. Observe, reader, all that truly love God, truly love his ordinances; and they therefore love them, because in them God manifests his honour and glory, and they have an opportunity of honouring and glorifying him. And while their delighting to approach him, and having communion with him, is a constant source of pleasure to them, it is also a comfortable evidence of their integrity, and a comfortable earnest of their endless felicity. Psalm 26:9 Gather not my soul with sinners, nor my life with bloody men: Psalm 26:9-10 . Gather not my soul — That is, my life, as it is explained in the next clause; with sinners — Profligate and obstinate sinners, as the following words describe them, such being often called sinners by way of eminence. Do not bind me up in the same bundle, nor put me in the same accursed and miserable condition with them. Seeing I have loved thy house and worship, and endeavoured to serve thee acceptably, not only with ceremonial cleanness, but with moral purity of heart and life, do not deal with me as thou wilt with those that are filled with ungodliness and unrighteousness; do not destroy me with them, the righteous with the wicked; but save me in the common calamity, as thou hast been wont to do in such cases. In whose hands is mischief — Who not only imagine mischief in their hearts, but persist in it, and execute it with their hands. And their right hand — Which should be stretched out to execute justice and punish offenders; is full of bribes — By which they are induced to pervert justice, acquit the guilty, and punish the innocent. Psalm 26:10 In whose hands is mischief, and their right hand is full of bribes. Psalm 26:11 But as for me, I will walk in mine integrity: redeem me, and be merciful unto me. Psalm 26:12 My foot standeth in an even place: in the congregations will I bless the LORD. Psalm 26:12 . My foot standeth in an even place — Hebrew, ??????? , bemishor, in rectitude. I stand upon a sure and solid foundation, being under the protection of God’s promise and his almighty and watchful providence. Or the sense may be, I do and will persist in my plain, righteous, and straight course of life, not using those frauds and wicked arts, and perverse and crooked paths, which mine enemies choose and walk in. And, thus understood, it is the same thing with his walking in his integrity, expressed in the foregoing verse and Psalm 26:1 . In the congregations will I bless the Lord — I will not only privately acknowledge, but publicly, and in the assemblies of thy people, celebrate thy praise. Benson Commentary on the Old and New Testaments Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com . Used by Permission.

Expositor's Bible Commentary Psalm 26:1 A Psalm of David. Judge me, O LORD; for I have walked in mine integrity: I have trusted also in the LORD; therefore I shall not slide. Psalm 26:1-12 THE image of "the way" which is characteristic of Psalm 25:1-22 reappears in a modified form in this psalm, which speaks of "walking in integrity" and truth and of "feet standing in an even place." Other resemblances to the preceding psalm are the use of "redeem," "be merciful"; the references to God’s lovingkindness and truth, in which the psalmist walks, and to his own integrity. These similarities may or may not indicate common authorship, but probably guided the compilers in placing the psalm here. It has not clear marks of date or of the writer’s circumstances. Its two ground tones are profession of integrity and of revulsion from the society of the wicked and prayer for vindication of innocence by the fact of deliverance. The verses are usually grouped in couples, but with some irregularity. The two keynotes are both struck in the first group of three verses, in which Psalm 26:2 and Psalm 26:3 are substantially an expansion of Psalm 26:1 . The prayer, "Judge me," asks for a Divine act of deliverance based upon a Divine recognition of the psalmist’s sincerity and unwavering trust. Both the prayer and its ground are startling. It grates upon ears accustomed to the tone of the New Testament that a suppliant should allege his single eyed simplicity and steadfast faith as pleas with God, and the strange tone sounds on through the whole psalm. The threefold prayer in Psalm 26:2 courts Divine scrutiny, as conscious of innocence, and bares, the inmost recesses of affection and impulse for testing, proving by circumstances, and smelting by any fire. The psalmist is ready for the ordeal, because he has kept God’s "lovingkindness" steadily in sight through all the glamour of earthly brightnesses, and his outward life has been all, as it were, transacted in the sphere of God’s truthfulness; i.e. , the inward contemplation of His mercy and faithfulness has been the active principle of his life. Such self-consciousness is strange enough to us, but, strange as it is, it cannot fairly be stigmatised as Pharisaic self-righteousness. The psalmist knows that all goodness comes from God, and he clings to God in childlike trust. The humblest Christian heart might venture in similar language to declare its recoil from evil-doers and its deepest spring of action as being trust. Such professions are not inconsistent with consciousness of sin, which is, in fact, often associated with them in other psalms ( Psalm 25:20-21 ; Psalm 7:11 ; Psalms 7:18). They do indicate a lower stage of religious development, a less keen sense of sinfulness and of sins. a less clear recognition of the worthlessness before God of all man’s goodness, than belong to Christian feeling. The same language when spoken at one stage of revelation may be childlike and lowly, and be swelling arrogance and self-righteous self-ignorance, if spoken at another. Such high and sweet communion cannot but breed profound distaste for the society of evildoers. The eyes which have God’s lovingkindness ever before them are endowed with penetrative clearness of vision into the true hollowness of most of the objects pursued by men, and with a terrible sagacity which detects hypocrisy and shams. Association with such men is necessary, else we must needs go out of the world, and leaven must be in contact with dough in order to do its transforming work; but it is impossible for a man whose heart is truly in touch with God not to feel ill at ease when brought into contact with those who have no share in his deepest convictions and emotions. "Men of vanity" is a general designation for the ungodly, pronouncing on every such life the sentence that it is devoted to empty unrealities and partakes of the nature of that to which it is given up. One who has Jehovah’s lovingkindness before his eyes cannot "sit" with such men in friendly association, as if sharing their ways of thinking, nor "go" with them in their course of conduct. "Those who mask themselves" are another class, namely hypocrites who conceal their pursuit of vanity under the show of religion. The psalmist’s revulsion is intensified in Psalm 26:5 into "hate," because the evil-doers and sinners spoken of there are of a deeper tint of blackness, and are banded together in a "congregation," the opposite and parody of the assemblies of the righteous, whom he feels to be his kindred. No doubt separateness from evil-doers is but part of a godly man’s duty, and has often been exaggerated into selfish withdrawal, from a world which needs good men’s presence all the more the worse it is; but it is a part of his duty, and "Come out from among them and be separate" is not yet an abrogated command. No man will ever mingle with "men of vanity," so as to draw them from the shadows of earth to the substance in God, unless his loving association with them rests on profound revulsion from their principles of action. None comes so near to sinful men as the sinless Christ; and if He had not been ever "separate from sinners," He would never have been near enough to redeem them. We may safely imitate His free companionship, which earned Him His glorious name of their Friend, if we imitate His remoteness from their evil. From the uncongenial companionship of the wicked the psalmist’s yearnings instinctively turn to his heart’s home, the sanctuary. The more a man feels out of sympathy with a godless world, the more longingly he presses into the depths of communion with God; and, conversely, the more he feels at home in still communion, the more does the tumult of sense-bound crowds grate on his soul. The psalmist, then, in the next group of verses ( Psalm 26:6-7 ), opposes access to the house of God and the solemn joy of thankful praises sounding there to the loathed consorting with evil. He will not sit with men of vanity because he will enter the sanctuary. Outward participation in its worship may be included in his vows and wishes, but the tone of the verses rather points to a symbolical use of the externalities of ritual. Cleansing the hands alludes to priestly lustration; compassing the altar is not known to have been a Jewish practice, and probably is to be taken as simply a picturesque way of describing himself as one of the joyous circle of worshippers; the sacrifice is praise. The psalmist rises to the height of the true Israelite’s priestly vocation, and ritual has become transparent to him. None the less may he have clung to the outwardnesses of ceremonial worship, because he apprehended them in their highest significance and had learned that the qualification of the worshipper was purity, and the best offering praise. Well for those who, like him, are driven to the sanctuary by the revulsion from vanities and from those who pursue them! Psalm 26:8 is closely connected with the two preceding, but is perhaps best united with the following verse, as being the ground of the prayer there. Hate of the congregation of evil-doers has love to God’s house for its complement or foundation. The measure of attachment is that of detachment. The designations of the sanctuary in Psalm 26:8 show the aspects in which it drew the psalmist’s love. It was "the shelter of Thy house," where he could hide himself from the strife of tongues and escape the pain of herding with evil-doers: it was "the place of the dwelling of Thy glory." the abode of that symbol of Divine presence which flamed between the cherubim and lit the darkness of the innermost shrine. Because the sinner felt his true home to be there, he prayed that his soul might not be gathered with sinners, i.e. , that he might not be involved in their fate. He has had no fellowship with them in their evil, and therefore he asks that he may be separate from them in their punishment. To "gather the soul" is equivalent to taking away the life. God’s judgments sort out characters and bring like to like, as the tares are bound in bundles or as, with so different a purpose, Christ made the multitudes sit down by companies on the green sward. General judgments are not indiscriminate. The prayer of the psalmist may not have looked beyond exemption from calamities or from death, but the essence of the faith which it expresses is eternally true: that distinction of attitude towards God and goodness must secure distinction of lot, even though external circumstances are identical. The same things are not the same to men so profoundly different. The picture of the evil-doers from whom the psalmist recoils is darker in these last verses than before. It is evidently a portrait and points to a state of society in winch violence, outrage, and corruption were rampant. The psalmist washed his hands in innocency, but these men had violence and bribes in theirs. They were therefore persons in authority, prostituting justice. The description fits too many periods too well to give a clue to the date of the psalm. Once more the consciousness of difference and the resolve not to be like such men break forth in the closing couple of verses. The psalm began with the profession that he had walked in his integrity; it ends with the vow that he will. It had begun with the prayer "Judge me"; it ends with the expansion of it into "Redeem me"- i.e. , from existing dangers, from evildoers, or from their fate-and "Be gracious unto me," the positive side of the same petition. 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 hold up is as rash as the prayer without the resolve is vain. But if these two 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 had 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. Gladdened by it, the psalmist is sure that his desire of compassing God’s altar with praise will be fulfilled, and that, instead of compulsory association with the "congregation of evil-doers," he will bless Jehovah "in the congregations" where His name is loved and find himself among those who, like himself, delight in His praise. The Expositor's Bible Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com . Used by Permission.