It should be considered that this Psalm could never have been written unless it had been preceded by Psalms 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. HEADIN... [ Continue Reading ]
Judge me, O YHWH, for I have walked in my integrity, I have trusted also in YHWH without wavering. He is confident that having received the forgiveness that he had pleaded for in Psalms 25 he can now call on YHWH to judge him in the present as one who has been faithful, and has walked in integrity... [ Continue Reading ]
Examine me, O YHWH, and prove me, Try my heart and my mind. 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. Compare Jeremiah 6:27 where Jer... [ Continue Reading ]
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... [ Continue Reading ]
I have not sat with men of falsehood (vanity), Nor will I go in with dissemblers. I hate the assembly of evil-doers, And will not sit with the wicked. And 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... [ Continue Reading ]
I will wash my hands in innocency, So will I compass your altar, O YHWH. Furthermore when he comes to stand around the altar with those who offer sacrifices, he prepares himself by making himself ‘innocent' as a result of having had his sin dealt with by seeking God and putting it away from him. He... [ Continue Reading ]
That I may make the voice of thanksgiving to be heard, 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. Connecting with the previous verse this v... [ Continue Reading ]
YHWH, I love the habitation of your house, And the place where your glory dwells.' He wants YHWH to be aware of how much he loves His dwellingplace, the Tabernacle, the place in which is the Ark of the covenant of YHWH, the symbolic representation of God's glorious presence. (When the Ark was capt... [ Continue Reading ]
Gather not my soul with sinners, Nor my life with men of blood, In whose hands is wickedness, And their 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, tho... [ Continue Reading ]
But as for me, I will walk in my integrity, Redeem me, and be merciful to me. But 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 m... [ Continue Reading ]
My foot stands in an even place, In the congregations will I bless YHWH. And having the assurance of Psalms 26:11 he can declare that his foot now stands in a level place. No longer for him the valley of darkness, where danger ever lurks (Psalms 23:4), or the rough paths along which it is easy to... [ Continue Reading ]