Psalm 26:1-3 - March 19, 2009

Ps 26:1-3 “Vindicate me, O LORD, for I have led a blameless life; I have trusted in the LORD without wavering. 2 Test me, O LORD, and try me, examine my heart and my mind; 3 for your love is ever before me, and I walk continually in your truth.” NIV

This psalm is a cry for vindication from the Lord. It is a tremendous example of a man who is not seeking to vindicate himself in the eyes of men. Instead David places his confidence in the Lord to prove David’s character and integrity. What makes this cry powerful is the assurance that David has in making this appeal to the Lord because of his conviction regarding the quality of his own life and choices in this season. The statements that he makes about himself are very powerful and thought provoking. “I have led a blameless life!” How many of us can make that statement? Yet David confidently lifts that cry up before God who knows all things. The way of man is often driven by his own sense of rightness but what makes this a very moving statement is that even though David has such assurance about the purity of his own life he still looks to God for his vindication, confidently trusting in God not seeking to prove his own cause in the eyes of men.
David’s next phrase is the foundation of that place of rest that David demonstrates. “I have trusted in the Lord without wavering!” Lord lead us into unwavering trust. Too often when someone questions our character or our rights are violated we quickly grow impatient with the thought of what others are thinking or saying about us. We seek immediately to stop any wrong being done to us. How awesome it is to see David’s example of patient confidence. Imagine the peace that comes to the heart that has unwavering trust in the Lord. Consider the benefit to our thoughts, how we treat others , how we react to offense, and even the impact upon our health that would come if we stayed consistently in a place of trust, if we never sought to prove ourselves to others out of an anxious fear of their negative opinion of us.
David is so sure of his position before God in this season of his life that he invites examination. He is not offering this to the Lord out of a fearful concern that there might be a hidden sin that he doesn’t know about. In this passage David is boldly assured of his own right standing before God. His cry for the Lord’s searching is a part of his cry for vindication. It is as if he is saying, “I know that I am clean, come and check it out for yourself!” Oh, to live in such assurance.
So where does David’s assurance come from? What could motivate a man to live such an upright life in a world full of so much distraction and temptation? These questions are answered in the very next phrase. “Your love is ever before me…” The power of David’s life is that he lives in the conscious knowledge of the love of God. He is empowered by an ever-present sense of God’s love being with him. It is this awareness of a loving God ever-present and ever-loving that has become a guard to David’s ways. Imagine encountering temptation and the knowledge of the loving presence of God disrupting the power of that temptation. I remember having a dream many years ago where someone came to me and offered me a very enticing temptation but my answer was very simply, “I’m sorry I love the Lord Jesus so much that I could never do that.” God is reaching out to each of us to capture our hearts with the knowledge of his love and this knowledge and the abiding presence that it brings becomes that anchor to our hearts amidst both conflict and temptation. Today ask for the knowledge of his love and a continual sense of his presence.