Psalm 26 - Judge Me, O LORD
A plea for God to test the heart and vindicate a life walked in integrity.
Psalm 26 opens with David asking the LORD to judge and examine him, confident he has walked in integrity and trusted in God, one of several trust-themed prayers gathered in this Psalms overview. He insists he has avoided vain persons, dissemblers, and the congregation of evildoers.
Of David. Vindicate me, O LORD! For I have walked with integrity; I have trusted in the LORD without wavering.
Test me, O LORD, and try me; examine my heart and mind.
For Your loving devotion is before my eyes, and I have walked in Your truth.
I do not sit with deceitful men, nor keep company with hypocrites.
I hate the mob of evildoers, and refuse to sit with the wicked.
I wash my hands in innocence that I may go about Your altar, O LORD,
to raise my voice in thanksgiving and declare all Your wonderful works.
O LORD, I love the house where You dwell, the place where Your glory resides.
Do not take my soul away with sinners, or my life with men of bloodshed,
in whose hands are wicked schemes, whose right hands are full of bribes.
But I will walk with integrity; redeem me and be merciful to me.
My feet stand on level ground; in the congregations I will bless the LORD.