"Of David.
1 Vindicate me, O Lord,
for I have walked in my integrity,
and I have trusted in the Lord without wavering.
2 Prove me, O Lord, and try me;
test my heart and my mind.
3 For your steadfast love is before my eyes,
and I walk in your faithfulness.
4 I do not sit with men of falsehood,
nor do I consort with hypocrites.
5 I hate the assembly of evildoers,
and I will not sit with the wicked.
6 I wash my hands in innocence
and go around your altar, O Lord,
7 proclaiming thanksgiving aloud,
and telling all your wondrous deeds.
8 O Lord, I love the habitation of your house
and the place where your glory dwells.
9 Do not sweep my soul away with sinners,
nor my life with bloodthirsty men,
10 in whose hands are evil devices,
and whose right hands are full of bribes.
11 But as for me, I shall walk in my integrity;
redeem me, and be gracious to me.
12 My foot stands on level ground;
in the great assembly I will bless the Lord."
Psalm 26
There is another interpretation of the Psalmist's claim to integrity and one which has very real bearing on what may be the central import of this Psalm's message. It is this: while by no means claiming innocency or sinlessness he may well be asserting that the general direction of his life is right in the sight of God - sincere devotion and honest submission of life to God's laws - what Peter calls in his epistle 'the answer of a good conscience towards God', a life right in its basic essentials in relation to God and His sovereign purposes. When Paul says, in 1 Corinthians 4:4, 'I know nothing against my- self; yet am I not thereby justified' he is not claiming sinlessness or thinking that he is justified before God by the integrity of his life but simply testifying to a right orientation of life to the will of God. Not only is this not wrong or reprehensible, it is highly to be desired in the life of God's people. Indeed, it is something for which there is a clamant and urgent need today. There is nothing more desolating than to hear someone who names the Name of Christ say in a self-deprecating way 'We can't all be men of prayer', or 'We can't all rise to such heights', when one suspects that what he really means is 'We have no intention of rising to such spiritual heights, we are quite content lower down'. We must learn from this Psalm that the work of God's grace and loving kindness in the soul is something we are meant to take seriously. What is the use of paying lip service to a doctrine if we do not believe in what it is supposed to do in us. A gospel that cannot bring a man to the place where he can hold his head up calmly and serenely be- fore men is not much of a gospel. A man whose heart God has touched will gladly run the risk of being labelled puritanical or Victorian (there are worse things!) or even - dare we use the word - fundamentalist, for standing out against what he considers to be vulgar and unworthy and immoral.