Living in a Righteousness Orientation (Psalm 26)

CONSIDER THIS

Today’s post is from A Meditative Journey Through the Psalms by Timothy and Julie Tennent. Most recently, he served as president of Asbury Theological Seminary, among other posts he holds across the global church. Julie is a gifted musician and was one of the driving forces that helped bring to fruition the Seedbed hymnal, Our Great Redeemer’s Praise. We will share some of their writing on the Psalms on Sundays.

To the Christian, Psalm 26 may seem at first glance like a journey into David’s self-righteousness. The psalm has at least seven assertions of his righteous purity: “I have led a blameless life” (v. 1); “I have trusted in the Lord without wavering” (v. 1); “I do not sit with deceitful men” (v. 4); “I abhor the assembly of evildoers” (v. 5); “I wash my hands in innocence” (v. 6); “I love the house where you live” (v. 8); and “I lead a blameless life” (v. 11). But the key to the psalm is in the opening words, which cry out for God’s judgment and vindication. David is not standing on his feet proclaiming his righteousness; he is prostrate before a holy God, asking for his divine judgment in a particular situation.

David’s claims about his righteousness should never be construed as a claim to sinlessness. Any Sunday school child knows that David did not lead a blameless life. Indeed, in the same verse where David says, “I lead a blameless life,” he goes on to ask God to “redeem” him and to “be merciful” to him (v. 11). A blameless person needs neither redemption nor mercy if, by blameless, we mean living a life without sin.

In Psalm 26, David is truthfully asserting that he has not kept company with the wicked. He does not sit with them or enter into their wicked schemes (vv. 4–5, 10). Instead, his greatest love is to be in the presence of the Lord, to dwell in his house, to declare God’s righteousness, and to sing his praises (vv. 6–8). In other words, David’s life is oriented toward the purposes of God. It was at the altar of repentance that David was rendered innocent. He has taken his stand in the covenant. Therefore, David is asking God to make a distinction between himself and the wicked and to spare him from the coming judgment that will soon befall the wicked and sweep them away (v. 9).

As Christians, we cannot, or should not, claim to be without sin. However, our life can and should be oriented toward God and around the great, unfolding plan of God. We align ourselves with the righteousness of Christ, and we stand, even against a world of opposition, with the people of God, the redeemed of all the ages, who have trusted in God’s Word. This is where our lives are actually transformed into his likeness so that we can truly declare: “I walk continually in your truth” (v. 3). This is the final destiny of all true believers. 

At the end of the psalm, it is God who raises David from his prostrate position and makes his “feet stand on level ground” (v. 12). As Christians, we know that God takes sinners and clothes them with the righteousness of Christ. He then works in us every good work that the righteousness that was once merely imputed to us becomes, in real-time, imparted to us in ever-increasing measures. Only in the New Creation is this made fully complete, but sanctification is the call of every believer—to be set apart as holy—so that with full hearts, we can praise the Lord “in the great assembly” (v. 12).

For the Awakening,
Timothy and Julie Tennent

THE HYMN

Sing Psalm 26 with the Seedbed Psalter today. I suggest the tune “St. Anne” (“O God Our Help in Ages Past”). You can hear the tune played online by Julie Tennent here. If you listen to the podcast audio version, I will sing the psalm in this same tune. For your convenience, the words from the Psalter are printed below. 

1   LORD, vindicate me, for I’ve walked in my integrity,
I have not wavered from Your path – I’ve trusted, LORD, in Thee.

2   Examine me, and try me, LORD; test heart and mind for fault;
3   For Your love’s ever before me; in Your truth I do walk.

4   I don’t sit with deceitful men, nor plot with hypocrites.
5   I hate the evil gatherings; with wicked will not sit.

6   I wash my hands in innocence before Your altar, LORD.
7   I tell aloud Your praise and all Your wondrous deeds record.

8   I love the house where You live, LORD—Your glory dwells within.
9   Don’t take my soul away with those bloodthirsty ones who sin.

10   For in their hands are wicked schemes—bribes are in their right hand;
11/12   But I walk in integrity – on level ground I stand.

11/12   Redeem me and be merciful; to me Your grace accord.
And in the great assembly I will praise and bless the LORD.

P.S. Get the Resources

If you would like to have the meditations and the metrical psalter in a beautiful two-volume set—which I highly recommend— you can order those through the Seedbed store.