Feeling and Thinking in Psalm 26: Choosing sides

Psalm 26

A psalm of David.

1 Declare me innocent, O Lord,

    for I have acted with integrity;

    I have trusted in the Lord without wavering.

2 Put me on trial, Lord, and cross-examine me.

    Test my motives and my heart.

3 For I am always aware of your unfailing love,

    and I have lived according to your truth.

4 I do not spend time with liars

    or go along with hypocrites.

5 I hate the gatherings of those who do evil,

    and I refuse to join in with the wicked.

6 I wash my hands to declare my innocence.

    I come to your altar, O Lord,

7 singing a song of thanksgiving

    and telling of all your wonders.

8 I love your sanctuary, Lord,

    the place where your glorious presence dwells.

9 Don’t let me suffer the fate of sinners.

    Don’t condemn me along with murderers.

10 Their hands are dirty with evil schemes,

    and they constantly take bribes.

11 But I am not like that; I live with integrity.

    So redeem me and show me mercy.

12 Now I stand on solid ground,

    and I will publicly praise the Lord.

Pass - fail, born or unborn, married or unmarried, member - non member, allies or enemies. 

Life is full of choices, and it is the ability to choose that gives us an understanding of freedom. Will I go left or right? Will I wake and get out of bed or will I remain in bed? Will I work first or eat first? But we learn, sometimes at a very young age, that certain choices come with results and consequences that we might not have at first associated with the choice we made. David has a goal in mind, so he is making choices that result in him accomplishing that goal. David wants to be with God. When David feels close to God, then David feels the unfailing love of God. There is a ring of truth that David wants to resonate with and because of that, he is going to tune his life to that frequency. How does he do that? He makes choices. He avoids other frequencies. David sides with God. He has found that with God there is truth and love, and with others there has been lies and hypocrisy. When David is with God, he is part of God’s plan to do good.

Not everyone is making good plans. Some people are determined to do evil, and they get together to plan evil; they devise schemes and collude to lie. If you have ever been down the lying, cheating, stealing road, you know it is not nice. The fate of those who choose to go that way is condemnation, and it ends with bloodshed and murder. Everything seems mostly okay in the beginning and then it all goes desperately pear-shaped. 

So David has made a choice. David wants to do everything possible to stay by God. David does not want anything to get between him and God’s presence. David is careful to do the right thing and that begins with a commitment to integrity. David is free, and he uses his freedom to achieve his goal. He wants to stay free. 

I used to go to a little old country church, Cowden Lake Bible Church. The corner plot of ground that the church building was built on was given by Grandpa Maddes. Grandpa Maddes was a rather short, very friendly farmer who met everyone at the door and was always there early. I think back to my teenage years, and it seems to me that Grandpa Maddes had the look of a farmer long retired but still very active. Every young man entering the church was always greeted with the same greeting by Grandpa Maddes. “Good to see you, I’m glad you are here and not in jail.” To Grandpa Maddes, those were the choices. Go to church on Sunday or end up in jail.

I wonder if the church's old farmer benefactor had read Psalm 26 and learned this truth from the Holy Spirit or if some life tragedy like having a brother or father stop with church and then end up in jail. Every Sunday this diminutive, friendly, well turned out and hardworking farmer was praising us for once again making the right choice. I was being trained. Simply and constantly. Well done young man, you made the right choice and by doing so you have avoided jail. Jail was a much greater reality in Montcalm County, Michigan. We all knew of people who had landed in jail. And we all knew that that limited your future choices a whole lot. Family, work, living, relationships were all going to be severely limited if you had spent time in the slammer.

Back to David. He wanted to spend time with God. So he asked for a regular quiz. God was his study buddy and David would ask God to quiz him. v2 “Put me on trial, Lord, and cross-examine me. Test my motives and my heart.” David didn’t want to lose his place in the presence of God. He knew how that happened and he didn’t want to go that way. He used his precious freedom to think about the love of God and to make godly choices and to be self-examined. David avoided siding with anyone or any situation that would jeopardise his place in God’s presence. What are some of the activities David chose to do that ensured he stayed close to God?

• Think about God’s love

• Be thankful

• Stay clean

• Talk about the great things God does

• Talk to God about the choices I need to make.

• Distance myself from those going another way.

• Refuse, hate, wash (evil)

• Come, sing, tell, love, praise (God)

Paul talks like David and reveals to us that the person who is his study buddy giving him the quizzes is Jesus:
4 My conscience is clear, but that doesn’t prove I’m right. It is the Lord himself who will examine me and decide. 1 Corinthians 4:4

6 Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. John 14:6

The writer of Hebrews understood what David was talking about and expressed it similarly when he confirms that Jesus is the one who cleans us up and ensures that we can be in the presence of God, 

19 And so, dear brothers and sisters,[a] we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. 20 By his death,[b] Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place. 21 And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house, 22 let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water. Hebrews 10:19-22

If you have ever fallen into the traps of the lying, cheating, stealing patterns that take away your freedom and lock you up in addictions, slavery, guilt and imprisonment, you will understand how important it is to maintain your God-given freedom by choosing good. And you will wake up one day and think, I found my greatest freedom when I was close to God. I am sticking as close to God as possible. Because I don’t want to be tricked and trapped again by sinners.

Thankfully it is clear that the Grandpa Maddes of life is Jesus. He stands each day waiting for you. He cheers you on for using your free will to come to Him. He is willing to cleanse you, inspect you and declare you fit to enter into God’s presence. There we come willingly. There we feel alive. There we feel loved. There we remain uncondemned. There in the presence of God where we can wake and go daily and freely, we are free. And that is the truth David, Paul, Jesus and Grandpa Maddes knew. And now you know too. How will you use your freedom? Which side will you choose?

Artist - Hawanatu Dumbuya

Cain flying before Jehovah's Curse 1880 

Fernand Cormon  (1845–1924)