Psalm 26 – As God is My With-ness

TEXT (Hebrew text at end)

1. Of David.

Vindicate me, O LORD, for I have walked in personal integrity; I have trusted in the LORD; I shall not falter.
2. Probe me, O LORD, and try me, test my kidneys1 and heart,
3. for Your steadfast love is before my eyes; I walk in Your faithfulness.
4. I do not sit with worthless men, and will never mix with hypocrites;
5. I hate the assemblage of evildoers, and will not sit with the wicked;
6. I wash my hands in innocence, and circle Your altar, O LORD,
7. sounding the voice of thanksgiving, recounting all Your wonders.
8. O LORD, I love the abode of Your house, the dwelling-place of Your glory.
9. Do not sweep away my being with sinners, my life with the bloodthirsty men,
10. who have schemes in their grip, their right-hand filled with bribes.
11. But I walk in personal integrity; redeem me, have mercy on me!
12. My foot stands on level ground. In assemblies I will bless the LORD.

Note
1. i.e., conscience

COMMENTARY

There is no agreement among commentators on the central concern of Psalm 26. Many critical scholars take this as a protestation of innocence before God of one unjustly accused. ("Accused of idol worship, the psalmist responds with a plea for judgment" – Dahood). For A. Cohen, it voices "the uneasiness which a good man inevitably feels in the midst of evil" ("…he has a sense of insecurity, his mind is beset with doubts.") Hacham senses that there is a response here to the threat emanating from the evildoers. Weiss ("Ideas," pp. 54-60) sees the essence as avoiding the fate of the evildoers.

Structure will indicate that the psalm addresses a more immediate issue. The concern of the speaker is the identity of his companions, those whom he is "with."

Structures, Each Leading to the Next

Often, the structure of a psalm is basic to its interpretation. Psalm 26 is built upon several structures which indicate its thrust.

The clearest structural element is the enclosure. Most blatantly, this appears in the repetition of "walking in personal integrity" (verses 1, 11) but closer inspection shows four different forms of enclosing repetition in verses 1, 2 and 11, 12. We find (a) "walking in personal integrity"; (b) the only references to the LORD in the third person; (c) a verbal pun (bechaneini – "probe me" verse 2; vechanneini – "have mercy on me," verse 11); and (d) a repetition of root letters in mixed order (ma'ad – falter, v. 1; 'amad, stand, v.12). [On the last, note similar uses in Psalm 19 and 90.]

Enclosure is a frequent technique in Biblical poetry, at times drawing attention to the center, and at times defining the poem's subject. It certainly creates the feeling of a tightly written poem.

One is encouraged by the enclosure to seek a structure in the middle. In fact, the middle is composed of obverse statements, as follows. Verse 4 indicates what the speaker does not do together with the evildoers; verse 5 that he hates being with them. Verses 6-7 then indicate what he does do vis-à-vis his God, and verse 8 that he loves being with Him. The section is structured, then, as two radical extremes, just as the speaker radically opts for one, God, and totally rejects the other.

This observation, in turn, would lead one to define the opening and closing as verses 1-3 and 9-11. In fact, each would include two requests (defined as verse 1a and 2; 9 and 11b) and each has a protestation of goodness.
Within that structure, however, there is movement and variation. The two pairs of requests in the opening and closing are not absolutely parallel. We read
1. A request for judgment (1a)
2. A request for judgment (2)
3. A request not be condemned with the evil (9)
4. A request for salvation (11b)

The opening is of two almost synonymous requests, while the last two verses have one request quite like the opening (but not identical – it requests salvation) (11b) but another (9-10) unlike it - not to be included with the evildoers in judgment. However, it could be argued that verse 9-10 is simply the negative way of asking for God's salvation. If so, the speaker, in restating the request at the end, does so in light of the middle. Just as there he opted for positive and negative descriptions of the evil versus God, so now he opts to restate his original request not only in stronger terms (salvation, not just judgment) but also in terms of a positive and a negative articulation.

Core Meaning

There is a central theme throughout Psalm 26―a framework desire to be tested and judged (positively, of course), set against an antithetical possibility of inclusion with evildoers. One senses a fairly lonely speaker, for the opposition is not among two human groups as potential companions, but the evildoers and God. While the speaker is not so bold as to use "with" for his relationship with God (being "with" God is an exclusive, very intense relationship in the Bible), he does use "with" five times for his rejection of the evildoers. The wicked and God are the two options. It seems that the speaker has been unable to find a like-minded community of devotees with whom to associate.

This differentiation is reinforced by use of non-parallel terms: "walk" with God, "sit" with the evil; different body parts associated with each; use of two slightly different terms in association with each: "assemblage," "assemblies" 5, 12 (variations of a root); different terms for hands, 6, 10 (in the latter verse, "grip" is also another term for hand); as well as "with" associated with the wicked as opposed to verb forms (trust, walk, circle, sound, recount, love, stand, bless) associated with God.

The reader also notes in the psalm as a whole a bothersome question. If the speaker's integrity is so clear, what is the perceived need for this prayer, the reason for his fear? One possible response lies in the last issue we considered―perhaps in his eyes he is living in a group which is totally "wicked," and therefore fears being swept away with them. Another possible assumption is that without the prayer, God will not know, and may indeed "make the mistake" the speaker seeks to avoid (verses 9-10). If this is so, does the prayer not presuppose a degree of lack of confidence? (It may be instructive to compare this poem to Psalm 1, which also sets white against black, but which is not in first person, and is contemplative and descriptive. There the one who is with God is "happy" and his situation is assured. One senses little happiness here in Psalm 26.) One might even say that just as the poem prescribes a distance from evil, so it reflects an existential distance between a human being and God.

This psalm then "works" on more than one level. As instruction, it identifies the negative (avoiding the evildoers and their ways) as the base of the positive (about which detail is simply lacking). As a portrait, it is a picture of a person who is alone. As prayer, it seeks personal assurance, even while implying a context of the public prayer ("assemblies," verse 12 - not unlike later Jewish prayer). As personal theology, it is reflective of the barrier between humans and certainty. (This last, however, here remains only an existential given―there is no hint of angst, and the need for prayer distances the speaker neither from the prayer itself nor from his righteous pursuits.) In all of its aspects, it presents the reader with personal and ideational challenges.

There is another possibility I might mention in terms of the speaker's unease at being with the evildoers. One might suggest that the speaker is at some level attracted to them, his subconscious revealed by the poet. One does note the large number (six!) of distinct terms used for what we have constantly called the "evildoers" (plus two descriptions of who they are – verse 10), and five times the poet includes "with" them (Heb– "im") as what he avoids or wants to avoid.

* * * * * * * * * *

Additional Note on Other Views

I comment briefly on the overviews cited above, in the opening paragraph. I find no hint of an implied accusation by others against the speaker, or of any persecution of him or threat against him by others. While Weiss's emphasis on avoiding the fate of the wicked is close to what I write above, there is a small difference: I find the speaker most concerned about his immediate acceptance, and achieving a sense that his acts have led to a proximity to God. He is more concerned with God's attention than he is with ultimate reward.


The author of these essays is Rabbi Benjamin Segal, former president of the Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem and author of The Song of Songs: A Woman in Love (Jerusalem: Gefen, 2009). This material is copyright by the author, and may not be reproduced. If you are interested in using the texts for study groups, please be in direct contact with the author, at psalmblog@gmail.com.

HEBREW TEXT

א לְדָוִד שָׁפְטֵנִי יְהוָה כִּי-אֲנִי בְּתֻמִּי הָלַכְתִּי וּבַיהוָה בָּטַחְתִּי לֹא אֶמְעָד

ב בְּחָנֵנִי יְהוָה וְנַסֵּנִי צרופה (צָרְפָה) כִלְיוֹתַי וְלִבִּי

ג כִּי-חַסְדְּךָ לְנֶגֶד עֵינָי וְהִתְהַלַּכְתִּי בַּאֲמִתֶּךָ

ד לֹא-יָשַׁבְתִּי עִם-מְתֵי-שָׁוְא וְעִם נַעֲלָמִים לֹא אָבוֹא

ה שָׂנֵאתִי קְהַל מְרֵעִים וְעִם-רְשָׁעִים לֹא אֵשֵׁב

ו אֶרְחַץ בְּנִקָּיוֹן כַּפָּי וַאֲסֹבְבָה אֶת-מִזְבַּחֲךָ יְהוָה

ז לַשְׁמִעַ בְּקוֹל תּוֹדָה וּלְסַפֵּר כָּל-נִפְלְאוֹתֶיךָ

ח יְהוָה אָהַבְתִּי מְעוֹן בֵּיתֶךָ וּמְקוֹם מִשְׁכַּן כְּבוֹדֶךָ

ט אַל-תֶּאֱסֹף עִם-חַטָּאִים נַפְשִׁי וְעִם-אַנְשֵׁי דָמִים חַיָּי

י אֲשֶׁר-בִּידֵיהֶם זִמָּה וִימִינָם מָלְאָה שֹּׁחַד

יא וַאֲנִי בְּתֻמִּי אֵלֵךְ פְּדֵנִי וְחָנֵּנִי

יב רַגְלִי עָמְדָה בְמִישׁוֹר בְּמַקְהֵלִים אֲבָרֵךְ יְהוָה