PSALM 26
A Prayer for Divine Examination and Vindication
Psalm 26:1
BIBLE TEXT: "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 KJV)
BIBLE TWEET: For those who truly trust in the Lord, integrity is not just a principle, but a practice. It is steady and sturdy shoe leather that keeps them from slipping and sliding.
BIBLE TAKEAWAY: It’s impossible to slide into sin whenever you’re trusting in the Lord, for all disobedience is simply disbelief in action. For instance, why would anyone steal unless they doubt that God can supply and satisfy?
Psalm 26:2
BIBLE TEXT: "Examine me, O Lord, and prove me; try my reins and my heart." (Psalm 26:2 KJV)
BIBLE TWEET: Only the clearest conscience, one genuinely guiltless, can courageously call for the searchlight of such divine scrutiny.
BIBLE TAKEAWAY: To live confidently in Christ, which is critical for every Christian, especially in these chaotic times, we must live with an uncondemning heart. (1 John 3:21)
Psalm 26:3
BIBLE TEXT: "For thy lovingkindness is before mine eyes: and I have walked in thy truth." (Psalm 26:3 KJV)
BIBLE TWEET: To keep God’s lovingkindness ever before our eyes is to keep ourselves ever walking in His truth.
BIBLE TAKEAWAY: It is God’s unfailing love for us that keeps us from being unfaithful to Him, since we’ll never wish to let down someone who loves us so much.
Psalm 26:4-5
BIBLE TEXT: "I have not sat with vain persons, neither will I go in with dissemblers. I have hated the congregation of evil doers; and will not sit with the wicked." (Psalm 26:4-5 KJV)
BIBLE TWEET: We, like David, should be circumspect in choosing our company, being careful to never chum with worldlings, hypocrites, heretics, or the heinous.
BIBLE TAKEAWAY: To heartedly love good is to so intensely hate evil that you will part company with all of its practitioners.
Psalm 26:6
BIBLE TEXT: "I will wash mine hands in innocency: so will I compass thine altar, O Lord." (Psalm 26:6 KJV)
BIBLE TWEET: It is not just the priests of God who are required to have clean hands at the altar of God, but the praisers of God as well.
BIBLE TAKEAWAY: It is holy hands that are to be lifted up in your praise of God and in your prayers to God. (1 Timothy 2:8)
Psalm 26:7
BIBLE TEXT: "That I may publish with the voice of thanksgiving, and tell of all thy wondrous works." (Psalm 26:7 KJV)
BIBLE TWEET: No saint of God should ever be tongue-tied when it comes to their thanksgiving to God or their testimony for God.
BIBLE TAKEAWAY: How can God’s people help but publish God’s wondrous works to the people of this world? (Acts 4:20)
Psalm 26:8
BIBLE TEXT: "Lord, I have loved the habitation of thy house, and the place where thine honour dwelleth." (Psalm 26:8 KJV)
BIBLE TWEET: If it is not inhabited by God nor honoring to God, it is no house of God.
BIBLE TAKEAWAY: “The less Holy Spirit we have, the more cake and coffee we need to keep the church going.” (Reinhard Bonnke)
Psalm 26:9-10
BIBLE TEXT: "Gather not my soul with sinners, nor my life with bloody men: In whose hands is mischief, and their right hand is full of bribes." (Psalm 26:9-10 KJV)
BIBLE TWEET: Those who gather with sinners in the here-and-now will be gathered up with them by God in the hereafter.
BIBLE TAKEAWAY: What a contrast is found here between the Koran and the Bible. Whereas the Koran teaches its adherents to be bloody men, the Bible not only bans its adherents from being bloody men, but also from having anything to do with them.
Psalm 26:11
BIBLE TEXT: "But as for me, I will walk in mine integrity: redeem me, and be merciful unto me." (Psalm 26:11 KJV)
BIBLE TWEET: Not only must we vow to be saints among men, but we must at the same time bow as sinners before God.
BIBLE TAKEAWAY: Although we must be resolved to walk in integrity, we must also realize that our integrity is a result of our redemption and made possible by God’s mercy.
Psalm 26:12
BIBLE TEXT: "My foot standeth in an even place: in the congregations will I bless the Lord." (Psalm 26:12 KJV)
BIBLE TWEET: The song in our hearts is made possible by the sure footing of Scripture’s promises and sound doctrine.
BIBLE TAKEAWAY: It is on the solid ground of Scripture that the saints stand and sing their songs of praise to God.