Psalm 26: A prayer for divine scrutiny and redemption

Psalm 26 illustrates the kind of confidence that comes from wholeheartedly following the Lord. Taken at face value, the speaker’s confidence might seem like pride, without a hint of humility or any plea for forgiveness of faults, errors and evils. But he is not arrogant, nor is he like the Pharisees, who believed that their careful obedience of the Law made them worthy before God.

The first two verses set the tone of this psalm with the words: “Vindicate me, O Lord”, and a bit later, “Examine me, O Lord, and prove me”. This is not a challenge for the Lord to find just one fault; it is a prayerful wish for the Lord to see all of our deepest intentions and motives as they truly are. These words show a true dedication to God, in full recognition that the Lord knows everything in every human heart.

The second verse ends with a somewhat puzzling phrase: “try my reins and my heart.” In this context, “reins” is not referring to a horse’s reins, but is being used as an archaic word for “kidneys” (still used today as the adjective, “renal”). Some modern translations use the word “mind” instead, which makes the meaning more easily understandable. However, the kidneys are symbolically important here, as they filter out toxins for the body to excrete. Spiritually, this means purifying our intentions, and freeing ourselves from anything in us that goes against the Lord.

In verses 3 through 8, the speaker goes on to describe all the ways he has obeyed the Lord in the past, and how he will praise His name in the future. All of these actions reflect the fixed desires of his heart. For when we wish to follow the Lord, and continue to seek His truths, we naturally strengthen our relationship with the Lord (see Swedenborg’s work, Doctrine of Life 37).

The references to evil in verses 4 and 5 show that the speaker understands our imperfect human nature very well; after all, no person is free of flaws. A major component of following the Lord is examining ourselves, and recognizing how our corruptible nature can influence our decisions. In verse 6, “washing hands in innocence” means to remove harmful intentions from our words and actions (represented by our hands).

The final verse speaks of standing “in an even place”. In a spiritual sense, this means standing firm by our vow to obey the Lord.

This psalm is a suitable one to link with the Lord’s life on this earth. We can read it and think about the Lord meeting temptations, and committing yet again to fulfill His Divine purpose.

37. Since goodness is not good unless it is, as we said, united with truth, goodness consequently does not find expression prior to that, and yet it strives continually to find expression. In order to find expression, it therefore desires truths and acquires them for itself. By these it is nourished and given form. For this reason, insofar as someone is prompted by goodness, so far he loves truths, which is accordingly the case insofar as he refrains from evils as being sins; for so far he is prompted by goodness.