In the first part of Psalm 26, David confirmed his upright disdain for the perversity of idolatry and its overflowing evils. This godly contempt, though, was not alone, for it had an opposing pair, a sacred love. The psalmist loves the habitation of God’s house; he adores the place where God’s glory dwells (v. 8). He has no greater love, no higher affection than the temple and God who resides within. By loving the Lord within the temple, the psalmist fulfills the first and greatest commandment, to love the Lord with all heart, soul, and strength. Moreover, this love for holy worship pairs with his hatred. He hates the assembly or worship of evildoers, that is, idolatry, and he loves the place of God’s glory to venerate him in spirit and in truth. This reveals why he so boldly confessed his faith in verses 1–2. Faith is the first element of worship; it rests in God and in no others. For him to trust in Yahweh is for him to reject all other gods as false, fake, as nothing but idols.
Therefore, David is affirming that he is a devoted and undivided monotheist. He trusts in Yahweh alone; he loves the temple; he defends pure worship, and he lives sincerely in his exclusive loyalty to the Lord and his worship. Because of his untarnished affection for worship, he pleads to be vindicated and ransomed. “Judge my faith and devotion and graciously approve me.” This closing petition to redeem sheds light on the crisis facing David (v. 11). This is to be lifted out of trouble, freed from a tight spot, and acquitted in the face of charges. Whatever the exact nature of the conflict is with the idolaters—we are not given details—these wicked men are charging David with impiety. These charges may be formal or informal, but they demean him as immoral.
Remember Israel lived within a polytheistic world, and one way polytheism promotes itself is by claiming superior sanctity. There were tons of gods and goddesses and the devout honor them all. To be exclusively committed to one god is disrespectful and arrogant. You cannot honor the sun god and ignore the moon god—this is not dutiful. It is like the veneration of the saints: once you start honoring one saint, you kind of have to respect them all. And such is the pagan definition of religious duty—so the idolaters reproach the psalmist for his monotheism, for his undivided loyalty to the Lord and his exclusive faith. Surely, if David does not pay respect to other gods, then they will hunt him down.
From these slanders and false charges, David needs deliverance. He will not compromise his faith. His integrity will remain true to the Lord alone. And so, he will bless Yahweh in the congregation. He will enter the pure worship of God and he will praise the Lord for all to hear. He is not ashamed or shy about his love of the Lord; he will not be bullied by idolaters and their false charges. David fears the Lord, so he feels not even a twinge of anxiety about the fury of other gods that do not exist.
This is a key difference between biblical piety and superstition. Superstitious religion is paranoid about every little spiritual being or supposed deity. You are constantly afraid of accidentally offending this spirit or that god and have become captive to fear. But biblical worship frees us from all such anxious worries. We fear and revere the Lord alone, and we do not pay any mind to all other spiritual entities, real or fake. So, the psalmist cements his feet on the level ground of the Lord. His sincere love has eyes for God alone. He will practice exclusive and holy worship of the Lord.
This is the righteousness and faith that David prays to be judged and vindicated. Such is the loyalty and purity, he needs to be justified. And overall, this prayer does fit David pretty well. Sure, we know of David’s famous sins: his adultery, murder, and cowardice. But these felonies did not touch on idolatry. From the Scriptural evidence we have about David and his life, there is basically zero data that he ever flirted with idols. He never tarnished or mixed righteous worship with paganism. In honesty, he walked in integrity with the Lord.
However, David was far from perfect. Even if he scored an A+ in worship, the F grade with Bathsheba leaves his righteousness wanting. Thus, David prays here in a voice that matches another more accurately. What can be accurate of David in part is only fully true of his greater Son, Jesus. “Judge me by my righteousness”—no fallen child of Adam can pray this and expect vindication. All have fallen short; none are righteous. We are sinners, whose best works are still filthy. Yet, the superior heir of David could pray this, and he did. Jesus was perfect in his piety and uprightness towards the Father. Evil, wickedness, hypocrisy, and infamy had no part in him, not in his deeds and not in his heart. By the law, by the holiness of God, Jesus Christ was the perfect man, supremely righteous and pious, and the righteousness of Christ was vindicated as authentic in the resurrection. The state and church authorities condemned him, but the Father reversed this unjust verdict by raising Jesus from the dead.
There is, however, one virtue here that Jesus did not quite resemble. In his uprightness, David hated the assembly of evildoers. To image God’s holiness, there is a righteous hatred of sin and sinners. Jesus, though, did not seem to show this. In fact, the Pharisees reproached Jesus for this very thing. How could he eat with tax collectors and prostitutes? They had the truths of Psalm 26 and the example of David in mind. To sit with sinners, to eat with the wicked, shows concern and friendliness. It is a failure of righteous hatred, where sinners are to be avoided and shunned. David hated the fellowship of evildoers, but Jesus ate meat and drank wine with sinners, oh my! Surely, he cannot be the heir of David! Yet how did our Lord respond to these charges? He said the sick need a doctor, not the healthy, and that he came to call sinners, not the righteous.
By this, he established two truths. First, he exposes that we are all sick in sin. To claim that you need no doctor is the most lethal cancer. Secondly, Jesus put forth an argument of timing. Now is the time for mercy, to heal sinners. Today is the season for rescuing sinners, and by this he expresses love and compassion. Upright hatred means judgment and condemnation without mercy, but pure love is delivering the wicked from their depravity. Jesus countered the Pharisees by saying their timing is off. Hatred of sin is reserved for the Final Judgment.
But, until then, Christ came to love, save, and forgive. He came to unleash mercy upon all sinners. As this psalm sets forth, vindication has to be based on a righteous standing. The Lord cannot condemn the righteous and approve the wicked. This means that in our sin, we could never receive a favorable ruling from God. As sinners, justice demands our condemnation. Thus, Jesus came to provide that righteousness for us. He obeyed perfectly and then imputed his obedience to us graciously. We can confess that our foot stands on level ground, unshakeable, because we stand in Christ by faith. We sinners are justified in Christ alone.
And having received the mercy and redemption of Christ, he now calls us to be of the same mind as him, as loving and compassionate towards evildoers. We live in the same season as Jesus, one of salvation and pardon. This means we share in the ethic of Christ, which holds two truths in tension. First, uprightness naturally abhors the sinful and wicked. Righteous anger detests evil, heinous crimes, and wicked perversions. To be sickened by evildoers is the proper response of holiness worked in us. Jesus was disgusted with the hypocrisy of the Pharisees.
Secondly, though, even as we hate wickedness, we pray for the salvation of the wicked. Jesus rebuked the Pharisees and then went to the cross to die for their sins. So also, we can denounce sin and at the same time we can seek the lost with the gospel of Christ. This is the beautiful truth found in the call for us to love our enemies. When foes hate and hurt us, we are not favorably disposed to their wickedness. No, their evil will be gross. Yet, we still pray that grace might lead them to faith and repentance in Christ.
This is Jesus praying on the cross, “Lord, forgive them” (Luke 23:34). It is Stephen crying out for his executioners, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them” (Acts 7:60). Moreover, we know of one way that God answered Stephen’s prayer, by saving Paul to be the apostle to the gentiles. As we grow in godliness, we will feel a righteous anger against evildoers and wicked sinners, while at the same time praying for their salvation. Furthermore, having been justified in the mercy of Christ, we have now been granted the loveliest place, the worship of God in the assembly. To testify to his justified status, to announce to the world that there is but One God, David blessed the Lord in worship. Likewise, we enter the courts of the Father every Lord’s Day to testify to the world that the Lamb is King, that salvation is found in no other name than the name of Jesus Christ. May we, then, voice our faith and walk with integrity by worshipping Christ and by not forsaking the assembly of the saints.
Amen.
©Zach Keele. All Rights Reserved.
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Zach Keele
Rev. Zachary Keele grew up on a ranch in a small town named Crawford, Colorado. He attended Geneva College in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania and received his Master of Divinity from Westminster Seminary California. He has served as the pastor of Escondido OPC since 2006.
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