Summary
Our services begin with a call to worship and an opening song, often indicating our desire to come to God’s presence in corporate worship to sing his praises. As worshippers entered the temple grounds in Old Testament times to offer God praise, they likewise sang songs calling them to worship.
Psalm 26 appears to be one of those songs sung as worshippers entered the Temple. In it, the psalmist declares their desire to worship God and proclaim his deeds. They profess trust in God to vindicate them, renounce the ways of the wicked, sing of their desire to worship God, and seek God’s blessing on them.
Our passage explained
v1-7
Psalm 26 beings with the psalmist professing trust in God to vindicate them. He asks his covenant Lord to “vindicate me … for I have walked in my integrity, and I have trusted in the LORD without wavering” (v.1). As he approaches God to worship, he shows confidence in God and speaks of how he has sought to follow God’s ways.
His trust is such that he asks God to “prove … try me … test my heart and mind” (v.2) because his attention is on God’s covenant faithfulness and his walk based on God’s revealed truth (v.3).
The psalmist also makes clear to God that he renounces the ways of the wicked. He is committed to God, and so he does not “sit with men of falsehood, nor … consort with hypocrites” (v.4). He does not desire to be in constant contact and fellowship with those who do not worship God, in a way which identifies himself with them. Nor will he associate with them when they gather together, because of their wickedness (v.5).
Rather than gather with the wicked, the psalmist proclaims a desire to worship God. Disassociating himself with the wicked, he washes his hands to enter into the temple grounds to worship God (v.6). There he worships God, “proclaiming thanksgiving aloud, and telling all your wondrous deeds” (v.7). He remembers and speaks of God’s deeds of the past, where God saved his people.
v8-12
His desire to worship is extended to being in God’s presence. Instead of loving the gathering of the wicked, he proclaims “O LORD, I love the habitation of your house and the place where your glory dwells” (v.8). The psalmist wants to be where God is, and so in the Old Testament, he longs to be in the temple where he can praise God and know his presence.
As he worships God in the temple grounds, the psalmist seeks God’s blessing. He asks God to “not sweep my soul away with sinners, nor my life with bloodthirsty men, in whose hands are evil devices, and whose right hands are full of bribes” (vv.9-10). He recognises that God will not accept the worship of evildoers, but instead punish and destroy them. He asks that he would not be found amidst them and face the same judgement, but instead that God would extend mercy and forgiveness to him.
This desire is expressed in the close of the psalm, where he specifically prays that God will “redeem me, and be gracious to me” (v.11). Immediately before this, the psalmist states he “walk[s] in my integrity” which is found in God’s redemptive act and in his trusting God (v.1). Speaking metaphorically of standing on level ground, he proclaims his right relationship with God and his intention to praise as when “in the great assembly I will bless the LORD” (v.12).
Our passage applied
This psalm provides a wonderful picture of the purpose of worship. It is not entertainment but instead our gathering together to bless God and proclaim his gracious deeds. We sing of the confidence we have that God will vindicate us, not from our own deeds but from God’s graciousness and redemptive acts. As we gather to worship, we give thanks to God for his saving work in Christ given to us by his mercy.
The desire to worship God also comes from a desire to enjoy God’s presence. We leave behind our past sinful lives and instead come together to receive God’s promises in word and sacrament. We no longer associate ourselves with the wicked (in the sense of approving their behaviour) but instead desire God’s presence in the best place on Earth this side of heaven.
We also acknowledge our sinfulness and our need for forgiveness. Like the psalmist and the worshippers entering the temple, we ask God not to judge us as we are in ourselves: wicked evildoers in whose hands are evil devices. Instead we ask God to receive us in our “integrity”: our trust in God and his gracious redemption.
As we gather to worship, we confess our trust in God to vindicate us at the Last Day. We make clear our desire to come to God to worship over the appeals of the world. We seek again God’s forgiveness for our sins and his blessing. We join the psalmist and others in singing praises to God for his wondrous deeds.
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