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Psalm 26 - Vindication for the righteous

Psalm 26

 Vindication for the righteous

 Introduction
Psalm 26 is a lament Psalm - asking for God to be merciful to David on account of his blamelessness

Summary
Written in a ABA format.
v1-8 The righteous man
v9-10 The wicked described
v11-12 The righteous man

Vindicate me for I have led a blameless life
What is a blameless life? A blameless life is righteous - and David gives explicit examples in many of his Psalms, including this one.

I have trusted in the LORD without wavering
This is faith perfected - that our trust in the LORD be made perfect, without the doubt that comes from the taint of sin. This is exactly what God wants of us.

For your love is ever before me and I walk continually in your truth
And this is the solution to sin - that God's love is ever before us. We note that God's love comes first in everything. He created, he initiated the salvation plan at the very same time when he condemned man and the serpent, etc. God's calling, His action, always comes before ours - and nothing we do right can be apart from Him.

David goes into a list of things he refuses to do, things he abhors, and ends off saying he loves God.

We find a stark contrast of this in the account of Jesus. Jesus did not abhor the bloodthirsty and the wicked, instead he loved them - often dining with sinners and tax collectors. How do we reconcile that?

Old Testamental teaching taught that the Levites were to be the priests of the society - interceding for the people of Israel to God, and that the general populace was to abstain for sin and offer sacrifices as atonement for their sins. God raised up judges and prophets to tell them what to do, and these prophets and judges often lived exemplary, yet flawed lives. Communion with the sinners in society was often frowned on as contamination by the priests.

However, in the New Testament, Jesus came - explaining that it is not the healthy who need the doctor, but the sick. Despite mankind's fallen state, He ate with all - from the worst of sinners to the best of saints. He commanded us to love one another, encouraging each other in the faith. We were no longer instructed to simply "follow and watch your own walk", but to go out to the people, making disciples of all nations - bringing people to Christ - and Jesus demonstrates this in eating with the sinners. He breaks the bounds of society's norms, by teaching the truth - that these sinners are truly those who need God.

I've digressed!

It just seems to disturb me that some of the Psalms are written in this way - David expressing himself as a very good man. No doubt he is a good man, but to this extent, sometimes it's disturbing for me, and I really don't want to take it at face value - where it is at an extent that he can almost claim to be the perfect man.

But yes. This passage focuses on the blamelessness of David - that no one in society may lay a charge on him - thus probably the very perfectionistic social life. However, for us today, be blameless in a different way - as society and our instructions have changed.

Till next time!
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