Solid Grounds for Confidence
August 4, 2013
Psalm 26:1,11 — Judge me, O Lord; for I have walked in mine integrity: I have trusted also in the Lord; therefore I shall not slide. But as for me, I will walk in mine integrity: redeem me, and be merciful unto me.
At first glance David makes some large claims in this Psalm! But close inspection reveals that he has solid grounds for his confidence.
David was, in some ways and at some times in his life, a bit of a rogue. His banditry when he was living among the Philistines was just that – banditry. His taking of Bathsheba, involving as it did the murder of Uriah, was simply wicked. Yet David claims, “I have walked in mine integrity.” How can this be? There are three possibilities.
First, perhaps David was little more than a wicked hypocrite? This cannot be. In 1 Samuel 13:14 we find Samuel telling Saul that God is replacing him as king with a man “after God’s own heart”.
Second, perhaps David is depending on his general record and his many good qualities — he was after all loyal, hard-working, worshipful, and brave. Perhaps he could stand on that ground, before the emergence of a Christian awareness of salvation by grace — but David is claiming integrity, a word that in the Hebrew carries ideas such as uprightness, perfection, completeness and innocence. It is clear from his powerful expressions of repentance in other Psalms that David was powerfully and painfully aware of his failings. David was not standing of the shifting sands of his own righteousness.
It is with the third possibility that we reach David’s ground. Psalms 25-29 are all, in one way or another, expressions of the believers confidence and its foundation.
Let’s look at the whole of Psalm 26.
David begins by offering himself for testing, basing his claims on his trust in God’s lovingkindness and truth.
Next, he sets himself firmly apart from the wicked — he will have no part with the worthless or dishonest.
Thirdly, David declares his devotion with his intent to spend time honoring The Lord in His house, which he loves.
David then enters his plea for God’s mercy and redemption, that he be separated from sinners because of his integrity.
Finally, comes the confident statement: David stands on level ground, and will proclaim God’s goodness.
David’s confidence is well-founded, but not arrogance. Well might we, especially as today as is Sunday, as he does that God look into our hearts, and test us — so that we too may confidently spend time in His house blessing Him for His works. Verse 2 says, “Examine me, O Lord, and prove me; try my reins and my heart.” It is said that “examine, prove, and try” originally carried the ideas of trial by touch, smell, and fire. However that might be, David is asking God to find any faults he is unaware of, and to establish his integrity. We could well do the same. Combine that with a dependence on grace for the redemption and mercy David requests in verse 11 and we, like him, can know we stand on solid ground!