Psalm 26: 1 – 12
Divine Scrutiny
A Psalm of David.
1 Vindicate me, O LORD, for I have walked in my integrity. I have also trusted in the LORD; I shall not slip. 2 Examine me, O LORD, and prove me; Try my mind and my heart. 3 For Your lovingkindness is before my eyes, and I have walked in Your truth. 4 I have not sat with idolatrous mortals, nor will I go in with hypocrites. 5 I have hated the assembly of evildoers and will not sit with the wicked. 6 I will wash my hands in innocence; So I will go about Your altar, O LORD, 7 That I may proclaim with the voice of thanksgiving, and tell of all Your wondrous works. 8 LORD, I have loved the habitation of Your house, and the place where Your glory dwells. 9 Do not gather my soul with sinners, nor my life with bloodthirsty men, 10 In whose hands is a sinister scheme, and whose right hand is full of bribes. 11 But as for me, I will walk in my integrity; Redeem me and be merciful to me. 12 My foot stands in an even place; In the congregations I will bless the LORD.
In American constitutional law, ‘strict scrutiny’ is the highest and most stringent standard of judicial review, and results in a judge striking down a law unless the government can demonstrate in court that a law or regulation: one, is necessary to a "compelling state interest"; two, that the law is "narrowly tailored" to achieving this compelling purpose; and three, that the law uses the "least restrictive means" to achieve the purpose. It is part of the hierarchy of standards that courts use to determine which is weightier, a constitutional right or principle or the government's interest against observance of the principle. The lesser standards are rational basis review and exacting or intermediate scrutiny. These standards are used to test statutes and government action at all levels of government within the United States.
The notion of "levels of judicial scrutiny” sounds intense doesn’t it? But let me mention to you that there is another form of Scrutiny that is more intense and that is ‘Divine Scrutiny’.
It is possible that we may evaluate ourselves by wrong principals. Self-examination is a good thing to do, however, but there nothing better than to ask our Holy God to help us in this endeavor. We are prone to error in every category. We are prone to be slanted in our observation of ourselves where we make excuses or allowances in areas where we should not. Only our Great God can help us properly do our own inventory.
I like what David asked our Precious Holy Father God. He states in Psalm 139 verses 23 and 24, “Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me and lead me in the way everlasting.”
In today’s Psalm we consider His Divine Scrutiny.
It should be considered that this Psalm could never have been written unless it had been preceded by Psalm 25. It was only once the question of forgiveness had been settled that the Psalmist could speak like this. For in this Psalm he approaches God with the confidence of a forgiven sinner.
‘A Psalm of David.’
In this Psalm the Psalmist testifies to YHWH that he has responded to YHWH’s covenant love and trustworthiness with a life of integrity and obedience, and he brings his life openly to God and calls on God to give him a religious checkup. He is not afraid of this because he has already prepared himself by putting right all that was wrong in his life and seeking forgiveness (‘washing his hands in innocency’). He can also declare that he has not kept bad company, whether it be religiously devious, or openly sinful, and can therefore approach God to worship Him in innocency, which he does joyously because he loves His house and the place where His glory dwells. It is on these grounds that he looks to YHWH for long life so that he might continue to worship Him.
1 Vindicate me, O LORD, for I have walked in my integrity. I have also trusted in the LORD; I shall not slip.
He is confident that having received the forgiveness that he had pleaded for in Psalm 25 he can now call on YHWH to judge him in the present as one who has been faithful and has walked in integrity. He is ready to open his whole life to YHWH’s scrutiny. And he is not afraid, because he knows that he has trusted YHWH with an unwavering trust, a trust that does not slide about in constant changeableness, ‘none of his steps will slide’ (37.31). He has turned neither to left nor right. In all this he wants YHWH to shine His light on him so that he may ‘walk in the light’ before Him.
The request to be judged is also a prayer that God will stand on his side against his adversaries (43.1). He is aware that unless YHWH is satisfied with what he is he has no right to such protection and help.
2 Examine me, O LORD, and prove me; Try my mind and my heart.
He is so confident of his current faithfulness to YHWH that he is ready to open himself for a thorough examination. ‘Examine me.’ He wants Him to test his integrity like an assayer tests the purity of metal. Jeremiah 6.27 where Jeremiah was to act as such an assayer, ‘I have made you an assayer and a tester among my people that you may know and try their way’
The word for ‘heart’ is often translated kidneys, which were the seat of the emotions, or as ‘reins’, that which controlled those emotions. The word for ‘mind’ signifies that which controls the thought and will.
We should note that he is not asking God to send him trials to test him. He has had enough of those. Rather he wants Him now to examine the results of those trials to discover that they have accomplished their purpose.
We should never pray for trials to come on us, for as Jesus stressed, our prayer should be, ‘do not bring us into trials but deliver us from evil’ (Matthew 6.13). A prayer like this in public would rightly have been dismissed as showmanship. But in private it is the sign of a genuine desire to be pleasing to God. We should all be making such a prayer on a regular basis so that God can carry out His regular ‘service’ on our lives.
3 For Your lovingkindness is before my eyes, and I have walked in Your truth.
His confidence lies in the fact that he has kept God’s covenant love firmly before his eyes, responding to it and walking in the light of His trustworthiness as the God of truth, believing wholeheartedly that He is the God Who is true and faithful.
4 I have not sat with idolatrous mortals, nor will I go in with hypocrites. 5 I have hated the assembly of evildoers and will not sit with the wicked.
because his eyes are on YHWH he has avoided contact with all those who would seek to lead him astray. He has not sat with men whose thoughts were on what is vain and useless, on what is false rather than what is true. Nor has he gone into the houses of those who hide the truth about themselves and pretend to be what they really are not (‘dissemblers’). He is straight and open and has avoided all that is doubtful and has an appearance of evil.
He hates the company of evil doers, for their ways bring dishonor on YHWH, and he will not sit with the wicked. While the first two mentioned were subtle and devious in their ways, these are openly and downright sinful. With ‘I hate the assembly of evil-doers’. It was his contemplation of YHWH that made him turn from all who did evil. The company that he preferred was that of righteous men whose hearts were fixed on YHWH.
6 I will wash my hands in innocence; So, I will go about Your altar, O LORD,
When he comes to stand around the altar with those who offer sacrifices, he prepares himself by making himself ‘innocent’ because of having had his sin dealt with by seeking God and putting it away from him. He has heeded the words of Isaiah, ‘Wash yourselves, make you clean, put away the evil of your doings from before my eyes’ (Isaiah 1.16). Now therefore he only has to ‘wash his hands’ that is deal with current sins. The washing of the hands has in mind the fact that the priests had to wash their hands and feet regularly as they operated between the altar and the holy place lest they die (Exodus 30.17-21), because of the defilement of earth contacted during that short walk.
7 That I may proclaim with the voice of thanksgiving and tell of all Your wondrous works.
And the result of his coming before YHWH fully clean will be that his voice will ring out in thanksgiving, and he will proclaim all that the Lord has done for him.
8 LORD, I have loved the habitation of Your house, and the place where Your glory dwells.
He wants YHWH to be aware of how much he loves His dwelling place, the Tabernacle, the place in which is the Ark of the covenant of YHWH, the symbolic representation of God’s glorious presence. (He loves it because it is where YHWH reveals Himself among His people and where they can meet with Him.
9 Do not gather my soul with sinners, nor my life with bloodthirsty men, 10 In whose hands is a sinister scheme, and whose right hand is full of bribes.
He prays that his soul will not be ‘snatched away’ and his life taken from him. Premature death is the lot of men of violence, and men who propagate violence, those whose ways are wicked, who constantly use underhand methods to get their way.
They were guilty of corruption and defrauding the people, and if it appears they might be caught they prevented it by the payment of bribes.
11 But as for me, I will walk in my integrity; Redeem me and be merciful to me.
the Psalmist is not like that. His back is turned on corruption, and he intends to continue walking in integrity. And so, he prays that YHWH will deliver him by an exertion of power at a cost to Himself, and will be merciful to him, so that he may prevail against those who are against him.
12 My foot stands in an even place; In the congregations I will bless the LORD.
And having the assurance of verse 11 he can declare that his foot now stands in a level place. No longer for him the valley of darkness, where danger ever lurks (23.4), or the rough paths along which it is easy to stumble, for YHWH has brought him out into a pleasant place, and among the assemblies of YHWH He will stand to bless Him.
