John Calvin Commentary Psalms 26

Judge me, O Jehovah! I have just said that David turns to the judgment of God because he found neither fairness nor humanity among men. The Hebrew word that is rendered to judge, signifies to undertake the cognizance of a cause. The meaning here, therefore, is as if David called upon God to be the defender of his right.

When God leaves us for a time to the injuries and insolence of our enemies, he seems to neglect our cause; but when he restrains them from attacking us as they please, he clearly demonstrates that the defense of our cause is the object of his care. Let us, therefore, learn from David's example, when we are lacking human aid, to resort to the judgment-seat of God and to rely upon his protection.

The clause that follows is explained in various ways by interpreters. Some read it in connection with the first clause: Judge me, O Jehovah! because I have walked in my integrity; but others refer it to the last clause: Because I have walked in my integrity, therefore I shall not stumble. In my opinion, it may be properly connected with both.

As it is the proper work of God to maintain and defend righteous causes, the Psalmist, in making him his defender, calls upon him as the witness of his integrity and trust, and thus forms the hope of obtaining his aid. If, on the other hand, anyone thinks that the clauses should be separated, it seems most probable that this sentence, Judge me, O Lord! should be read by itself; and then that the second prayer should follow, that God would not allow him to stumble, because he had behaved inoffensively and uprightly, and so forth. But there is a force in the possessive pronoun my, which interpreters have overlooked.

For David does not simply assert that he had been upright, but that he had consistently followed an upright course, without being turned from his purpose, however powerful the schemes by which he had been attacked. When wicked men attack us seeking to overwhelm us, either by force or fraud, we know how difficult it is to always preserve the same fortitude.

We place our hope of victory in striving resolutely and vigorously to oppose force with force, and cunning with cunning. And this is a temptation that all the more affects honest and steady men, who are otherwise zealous to do well, when the cruelty of their enemies forces them to turn aside from the right path.

Let us, therefore, learn from David's example, even when an opportunity to injure our enemies is offered to us, and when by various methods they force and provoke us, to remain firm in our course, and not allow ourselves to be diverted in any way from persevering in the path of our integrity.

Prove me, O Jehovah! The more David observed himself basely and undeservedly pursued with slanders, the more powerfully he was moved by the intensity of his grief to fearlessly assert his righteousness. Nor does he merely clear himself of outward sins; he also glories in the uprightness of his heart and the purity of its affections, implicitly comparing himself, at the same time, with his enemies.

As they were blatant hypocrites, proudly boasting of their reverence for God, David exposes their shameless audacity and insolence before Him. This declaration also shows how well he knew himself, when he dared to offer to submit the deepest parts of his heart to God’s examination.

However, it should be noted that it was the wickedness of his enemies that forced him to praise himself so much. If he had not been unjustly condemned by men, he would have humbly sought to avoid such an examination, since he knew well, despite his zeal to do what was right, that he was far from perfection.

But when he felt himself to be falsely accused, the injustice and cruelty of men emboldened him to appeal to God’s judgment-seat without hesitation. And as he knew that an external appearance of innocence was of no avail there, he presents the honest uprightness of his heart. The distinction which some make here, that the heart signifies the higher affections, and the reins those that are sensual (as they term them) and more coarse, is more clever than sound.

We know that the Hebrews understood by the term reins the innermost aspects of a person. David, therefore, conscious of his innocence, offers his whole being to God’s examination; not like careless, or rather stupid men, who, flattering themselves, imagine that they will deceive God with their pretenses.

It is evident, on the contrary, that he had honestly and thoroughly searched himself before he presented himself with such confidence in the divine presence. And we must especially remember this, if we wish to obtain God’s approval: that when unjustly persecuted, we must not only abstain from retaliation but also persevere in a right spirit.

For thy goodness is before mine eyes. This verse may be viewed as one sentence, or divided into two parts, but with almost the same sense. If the first reading is adopted, both verbs will be emphatic, in this way: “Because Your goodness, O Lord, has always been before my eyes, and I have trusted in Your faithfulness, I have restrained all wicked lusts in my heart, so that I would not be forced to retaliate when provoked by the malice of my enemies.” This interpretation would then explain the cause.

The other exposition is also not unsuitable, namely: “Because Your goodness has been before my eyes, I have walked in the truth which You command.” In this case, the conjunction, as is common among the Hebrews, is superfluous. But although this exposition is related to the former, I would rather prefer one less remote from the words.

It is a rare and difficult virtue not only to refrain oneself from wicked actions when greatly tempted to them, but also to preserve integrity of heart. The prophet declares how he pursued his course in the midst of such powerful temptations. He tells us that he did this by setting the goodness of God before his eyes—the goodness that so carefully preserves His servants—so that, by turning to evil practices, he would not deprive himself of God’s protection. And, by confiding in God’s faithfulness, he maintained his soul in patience, firmly persuaded that God would never forsake His faithful people who trusted in Him.

And certainly, if he had not relied upon the goodness of God, he could not have so constantly pursued the path of integrity amidst such numerous and severe assaults. It is indeed a remarkable difference between the children of God and worldly men: the former, in the hope of a favorable outcome from the Lord, rely upon His word and are not driven by restlessness to mischievous practices; while the latter, although they may maintain a good cause, yet because they are ignorant of the providence of God, are hurried to and fro, follow unlawful counsels, resort to craftiness, and, in short, have no other object than to overcome evil with evil.

From where, then, do their miserable, sorrowful, and often tragic ends arise, if not from their despising the favor of God and giving themselves up to cunning and deceit? In short, David was steady in preserving his uprightness because he had resolved that God should be his guide. In the first place, therefore, he mentions His goodness, and afterwards he adds His truth, because His goodness, which enables us to walk with unyielding courage in the midst of all temptations, is only known to us by His promises.

I have not sat with vain men. He again declares the very great dissimilarity that existed between him and his adversaries. For the contrast is always to be observed: that wicked men, by all the harm and mischief they inflicted on him, could never drive him from the path of rectitude.

This verse might also be joined with the former, as if completing the sentence, in this way: David, by confiding in the favor of God, had withdrawn himself from deceivers. The words sitting and walking denote sharing in counsel and fellowship in working, according to what is said in Psalm 1.

David denies that he had any association with vain and deceitful men. And certainly, the best remedy to recall and save us from the assembly of the wicked is to fix our eyes upon God’s goodness; for he who walks in the confidence of God’s protection, committing all events to his providence, will never imitate their deceitfulness.

Those whom he calls in the first clause men of vanity, he soon after terms נעלמים, naälamim, that is, close and wrapped up in craftiness. For in this consists the vanity of dissimulation: that deceitful men conceal in their hearts something different from what their tongues declare. It is, however, absurd to derive this word from עלם, alam, to play, for it is out of place here to compare their impostures to children’s play.

I confess, indeed, that those who give themselves to craftiness are mockers; but why resort to such a forced interpretation, when it is plain that the word shows the source from which all lying and deceit proceed? Thus faith, which steadily looks to God’s promises, is aptly opposed to all the crooked and iniquitous counsels in which unbelief involves us whenever we do not ascribe proper honor to the guardianship of God.

David teaches, by his own example, that we have not the slightest cause to fear that our integrity will cause us to fall prey to the ungodly, when God promises us safety under his hand. The children of God, indeed, are prudent, but their prudence is altogether different from that of the flesh. Under the guidance and government of the Holy Spirit, they take every necessary precaution against snares, but in such a manner as not to practice any craftiness.

I hate the assembly. The Psalmist protests again how greatly he abhorred the ungodly. Formerly he denied that he had any fellowship with them; now he still more explicitly declares that he fled from their company with loathing, for that is the meaning of the phrase, I hate. It is indeed true that the wicked are everywhere hated, but how few withdraw themselves from them so that they may not imitate their vices!

David asserts both: he tells us that he hated their society and that he had no communion with them, from which it appears that he warred not so much with their persons as with their evil doings. He also mentions as another qualification that he shunned the wicked in such a manner as not, on that account, to forsake the congregation of God or withdraw himself from the company of those with whom he was commanded by divine appointment to associate.

Many err grievously in this way, imagining, when they see the evil mingled with the good, that they will be infected with pollution unless they immediately withdraw themselves from the whole congregation. This over-strictness drove the Donatists in earlier times, and prior to them the Cathari and the Novatians, into mischievous schisms.

In our own times, too, the Anabaptists, from a similar misguided idea, have separated themselves from the sacred assemblies because they considered them not to be as free from all defilement as could have been wished. Moreover, the Donatists made themselves a laughing-stock in a certain public dispute by tenaciously clinging to mere words.

When an assembly was held to settle dissensions, and they were invited by the president of the meeting to take a seat, intending to honor them, they replied that they would stand, because it was not lawful to sit with the wicked. “Why then,” Augustine wittily replied, “did your conscience permit you to come in among us? For the one is written as well as the other: I will not go in to the wicked, neither will I sit with the ungodly.”

David, therefore, prudently moderates his zeal and, while separating himself from the ungodly, continues to frequent the temple, as the divine commandment and the order prescribed in the law required.

When he calls them the assembly of the ungodly, we may unquestionably conclude that their number was not small; indeed, it is probable that they flaunted about at that time as if they alone were exalted above the people of God and were lords over them. Yet this did not prevent David from coming as usual to the sacrifices.

Indeed, public care must be taken that the Church is not defiled by such wickedness, and each person ought privately to endeavor, in their own capacity, that their remissness and forbearance do not foster the disorders that these vices cause.

However, even if this strictness is not exercised with the necessary care, there is nothing in this to prevent any of the faithful from piously and holily remaining in the fellowship of the Church.

Meanwhile, it should be noted that what kept David was his communion with God and with sacred things.