mh_parser/vol_split/19 - Psalms/Chapter 26.xml

<div2 id="Ps.xxvii" n="xxvii" next="Ps.xxviii" prev="Ps.xxvi" progress="29.90%" title="Chapter XXVI">
<h2 id="Ps.xxvii-p0.1">P S A L M S</h2>
<h3 id="Ps.xxvii-p0.2">PSALM XXVI.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Ps.xxvii-p1">Holy David is in this psalm putting himself upon a
solemn trial, not by God and his country, but by God and his own
conscience, to both which he appeals touching his integrity
(<scripRef id="Ps.xxvii-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.26.1-Ps.26.2" parsed="|Ps|26|1|26|2" passage="Ps 26:1,2">ver. 1, 2</scripRef>), for the proof
of which he alleges, I. His constant regard to God and his grace,
<scripRef id="Ps.xxvii-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.26.3" parsed="|Ps|26|3|0|0" passage="Ps 26:3">ver. 3</scripRef>. II. His rooted
antipathy to sin and sinners, <scripRef id="Ps.xxvii-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.26.4-Ps.26.5" parsed="|Ps|26|4|26|5" passage="Ps 26:4,5">ver. 4,
5</scripRef>. III. His sincere affection to the ordinances of God,
and his care about them, <scripRef id="Ps.xxvii-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.26.6-Ps.26.8" parsed="|Ps|26|6|26|8" passage="Ps 26:6-8">ver.
6-8</scripRef>. Having thus proved his integrity, 1. He deprecates
the doom of the wicked, <scripRef id="Ps.xxvii-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Ps.26.9-Ps.26.10" parsed="|Ps|26|9|26|10" passage="Ps 26:9,10">ver. 9,
10</scripRef>. 2. He casts himself upon the mercy and grace of God,
with a resolution to hold fast his integrity, and his hope in God,
<scripRef id="Ps.xxvii-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Ps.26.11-Ps.26.12" parsed="|Ps|26|11|26|12" passage="Ps 26:11,12">ver. 11, 12</scripRef>. In singing
this psalm we must teach and admonish ourselves, and one another,
what we must be and do that we may have the favour of God, and
comfort in our own consciences, and comfort ourselves with it, as
David does, if we can say that in any measure we have, through
grace, answered to these characters. The learned Amyraldus, in his
argument of his psalm, suggests that David is here, by the spirit
of prophecy, carried out to speak of himself as a type of Christ,
of whom what he here says of his spotless innocence, was fully and
eminently true, and of him only, and to him we may apply it in
singing this psalm. "We are complete in him."</p>
<scripCom id="Ps.xxvii-p1.7" osisRef="Bible:Ps.26" parsed="|Ps|26|0|0|0" passage="Ps 26" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Ps.xxvii-p1.8" osisRef="Bible:Ps.26.1-Ps.26.5" parsed="|Ps|26|1|26|5" passage="Ps 26:1-5" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Ps.26.1-Ps.26.5">
<h4 id="Ps.xxvii-p1.9">Devout Appeals.</h4>
<div class="Center" id="Ps.xxvii-p1.10">
<p id="Ps.xxvii-p2">A psalm of David.</p>
</div>
<p class="passage" id="Ps.xxvii-p3">1 Judge me, <span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.xxvii-p3.1">O
Lord</span>; for I have walked in mine integrity: I have trusted
also in the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.xxvii-p3.2">Lord</span>; <i>therefore</i> I
shall not slide.   2 Examine me, <span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.xxvii-p3.3">O
Lord</span>, and prove me; try my reins and my heart.   3 For
thy lovingkindness <i>is</i> before mine eyes: and I have walked in
thy truth.   4 I have not sat with vain persons, neither will
I go in with dissemblers.   5 I have hated the congregation of
evil doers; and will not sit with the wicked.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.xxvii-p4">It is probable that David penned this psalm
when he was persecuted by Saul and his party, who, to give some
colour to their unjust rage, represented him as a very bad man, and
falsely accused him of many high crimes and misdemeanors, dressed
him up in the skins of wild beasts that they might bait him.
Innocency itself is no fence to the name, though it is to the
bosom, against the darts of calumny. Herein he was a type of
Christ, who was made a reproach of men, and foretold to his
followers that they also must have all manner of evil said against
them falsely. Now see what David does in this case.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.xxvii-p5">I. He appeals to God's righteous sentence
(<scripRef id="Ps.xxvii-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.26.1" parsed="|Ps|26|1|0|0" passage="Ps 26:1"><i>v.</i> 1</scripRef>): "<i>Judge me,
O God!</i> be thou Judge between me and my accusers, between the
persecutor and the poor prisoner; bring me off with honour, and put
those to shame that falsely accuse me." Saul, who was himself
supreme judge in Israel, was his adversary, so that in a
controversy with him he could appeal to no other then to God
himself. As to his offences against God, he prays, <i>Lord, enter
not into judgment with me</i> (<scripRef id="Ps.xxvii-p5.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.143.2" parsed="|Ps|143|2|0|0" passage="Ps 143:2">Ps.
cxliii. 2</scripRef>), <i>remember not my transgressions</i>
(<scripRef id="Ps.xxvii-p5.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.25.7" parsed="|Ps|25|7|0|0" passage="Ps 25:7">Ps. xxv. 7</scripRef>), in which he
appeals to God's mercy; but, as to his offences against Saul, he
appeals to God's justice and begs of him to judge for him, as
<scripRef id="Ps.xxvii-p5.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.43.1" parsed="|Ps|43|1|0|0" passage="Ps 43:1">Ps. xliii. 1</scripRef>. Or thus: he
cannot justify himself against the charge of sin; he owns his
iniquity is great and he is undone if God, in his infinite mercy,
do not forgive him; but he can justify himself against the charge
of hypocrisy, and has reason to hope that, according to the tenour
of the covenant of grace, he is one of those that may expect to
find favour with God. Thus holy Job often owns he has sinned and
yet he holds fast his integrity. Note, It is a comfort to those who
are falsely accused that there is a righteous God, who, sooner or
later, will clear up their innocency, and a comfort to all who are
sincere in religion that God himself is a witness to their
sincerity.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.xxvii-p6">II. He submits to his unerring search
(<scripRef id="Ps.xxvii-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.26.2" parsed="|Ps|26|2|0|0" passage="Ps 26:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>): <i>Examine
me, O Lord! and prove me,</i> as gold is proved, whether it be
standard. God knows every man's true character, for he knows the
thoughts and intents of the heart, as sees through every disguise.
David prays, <i>Lord, examine me,</i> which intimates that he was
well pleased that God did know him and truly desirous that he would
discover him to himself and discover him to all the world. So
sincere was he in his devotion to his God and his loyalty to his
prince (in both which he was suspected to be a pretender) that he
wished he had a window in his bosom, that whoever would might look
into his heart.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.xxvii-p7">III. He solemnly protests his sincerity
(<scripRef id="Ps.xxvii-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.26.1" parsed="|Ps|26|1|0|0" passage="Ps 26:1"><i>v.</i> 1</scripRef>): "<i>I have
walked in my integrity;</i> my conversation had agreed with my
profession, and one part of it has been of a piece with another."
It is vain to boast of our integrity unless we can make it out that
by the grace of God we have walked in our integrity, and that our
conversation in the world has been in simplicity and godly
sincerity. He produces here several proofs of his integrity, which
encouraged him to trust in the Lord as his righteous Judge, who
would patronise and plead his righteous cause, with an assurance
that he should come off with reputation (<i>therefore I shall not
slide</i>), and that those should not prevail who consulted to cast
him down from his excellency, to shake his faith, blemish his name,
and prevent his coming to the crown, <scripRef id="Ps.xxvii-p7.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.62.4" parsed="|Ps|62|4|0|0" passage="Ps 62:4">Ps. lxii. 4</scripRef>. Those that are sincere in
religion may trust in God that they shall not slide, that is, that
they shall not apostasize from their religion.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.xxvii-p8">1. He had a constant regard to God and to
his grace, <scripRef id="Ps.xxvii-p8.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.26.3" parsed="|Ps|26|3|0|0" passage="Ps 26:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>. (1.)
He aimed at God's good favour as his end and chief good: <i>Thy
loving-kindness is before my eyes.</i> This will be a good evidence
of our sincerity, if what we do in religion we do from a principle
of love to God, and good thoughts of him as the best of beings and
the best of friends and benefactors, and from a grateful sense of
God's goodness to us in particular, which we have had the
experience of all our days. If we set God's loving-kindness before
us as our pattern, to which we endeavour to conform ourselves,
being <i>followers of him that is good,</i> in his goodness
(<scripRef id="Ps.xxvii-p8.2" osisRef="Bible:1Pet.3.13" parsed="|1Pet|3|13|0|0" passage="1Pe 3:13">1 Pet. iii. 13</scripRef>),—if we
set it before us as our great engagement and encouragement to our
duty, and are afraid of doing any thing to forfeit God's favour and
in care by all means to keep ourselves in his love,—this will not
only be a good evidence of our integrity, but will have a great
influence upon our perseverance in it. (2.) He governed himself by
the word of God as his rule: "<i>I have walked in thy truth,</i>
that is, according to thy law, for thy law is truth." Note, Those
only may expect the benefit of God's loving-kindness that live up
to his truths, and his laws that are grounded upon them. Some
understand it of his conforming himself to God's example in truth
and faithfulness, as well as in goodness and loving-kindness. Those
certainly walk well that are followers of God as dear children.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.xxvii-p9">2. He had no fellowship with the unfruitful
works of darkness, nor with the workers of those works, <scripRef id="Ps.xxvii-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.26.4-Ps.26.5" parsed="|Ps|26|4|26|5" passage="Ps 26:4,5"><i>v.</i> 4, 5</scripRef>. By this it appeared
he was truly loyal to his prince that he never associated with
those that were disaffected to his government, with any of those
<i>sons of Belial that despised him,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.xxvii-p9.2" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.10.27" parsed="|1Sam|10|27|0|0" passage="1Sa 10:27">1 Sam. x. 27</scripRef>. He was in none of their
cabals, nor joined with them in any of their intrigues; he cursed
not the king, no, not in his heart. And this also was an evidence
of his faithfulness to his God, that he never associated with those
who he had any reason to think were disaffected to religion, or
were open enemies, or false friends, to its interests. Note, Great
care to avoid bad company is both a good evidence of our integrity
and a good means to preserve us in it. Now observe here, (1.) That
this part of his protestation looks both backward upon the care he
had hitherto taken in this matter, and forward upon the care he
would still take: "<i>I have not sat with them,</i> and I <i>will
not go in with them.</i>" Note, Our good practices hitherto are
then evidence of our integrity when they are accompanied with
resolutions, in God's strength, to persevere in them to the end,
and not to draw back; and our good resolutions for the future we
may then take the comfort of when they are the continuation of our
good practices hitherto. (2.) That David shunned the company, not
only of wicked persons, but of vain persons, that were wholly
addicted to mirth and gaiety and had nothing solid or serious in
them. The company of such may perhaps be the more pernicious of the
two to a good man because he will not be so ready to stand upon his
guard against the contagion of vanity as against that of downright
wickedness. (3.) That the company of dissemblers is as dangerous
company as any, and as much to be shunned, in prudence as well as
piety. Evil-doers pretend friendship to those whom they would decoy
into their snares, but they dissemble. <i>When they speak fair,
believe them not.</i> (4.) Though sometimes he could not avoid
being in the company of bad people, yet he would not <i>go in with
them,</i> he would not choose such for his companions nor seek an
opportunity of acquaintance and converse with them. He might fall
in with them, but he would not, by appointment and assignation, go
in with them. Or, if he happened to be with them, he would not sit
with them, he would not continue with them; he would be in their
company no longer than his business made it necessary: he would not
concur with them, not say as they said, nor do as they did, as
those that <i>sit in the seat of the scornful,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.xxvii-p9.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.1.1" parsed="|Ps|1|1|0|0" passage="Ps 1:1">Ps. i. 1</scripRef>. He would not sit in counsel
with them upon ways and means to do mischief, nor sit in judgment
with them to condemn the generation of the righteous. (5.) We must
not only in our practice avoid bad company, but in our principles
and affections we must have an aversion to it. David here says, not
only "I have shunned it," but, "<i>I have hated it,</i>" <scripRef id="Ps.xxvii-p9.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.139.21" parsed="|Ps|139|21|0|0" passage="Ps 139:21">Ps. cxxxix. 21</scripRef>. (6.) The
congregation of evil-doers, the club, the confederacy of them, is
in a special manner hateful to good people. I have hated
<i>ecclesiam malignantium—the church of the malignant;</i> so the
vulgar Latin reads its. As good men, in concert, make one another
better, and are enabled to do so much the more good, so bad men, in
combination, make one another worse, and do so much the more
mischief. In all this David was a type of Christ, who, though he
received sinners and ate with them, to instruct them and do them
good, yet, otherwise, was holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate
from sinners, particularly from the Pharisees, those dissemblers.
He was also an example to Christians, when they join themselves to
Christ, to <i>save themselves from this untoward generation,</i>
<scripRef id="Ps.xxvii-p9.5" osisRef="Bible:Acts.2.40" parsed="|Acts|2|40|0|0" passage="Ac 2:40">Acts ii. 40</scripRef>.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Ps.xxvii-p9.6" osisRef="Bible:Ps.26.6-Ps.26.12" parsed="|Ps|26|6|26|12" passage="Ps 26:6-12" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Ps.26.6-Ps.26.12">
<h4 id="Ps.xxvii-p9.7">Delight in Divine
Ordinances.</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Ps.xxvii-p10">6 I will wash mine hands in innocency: so will I
compass thine altar, <span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.xxvii-p10.1">O Lord</span>:  
7 That I may publish with the voice of thanksgiving, and tell of
all thy wondrous works.   8 <span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.xxvii-p10.2">Lord</span>, I have loved the habitation of thy house,
and the place where thine honour dwelleth.   9 Gather not my
soul with sinners, nor my life with bloody men:   10 In whose
hands <i>is</i> mischief, and their right hand is full of bribes.
  11 But as for me, I will walk in mine integrity: redeem me,
and be merciful unto me.   12 My foot standeth in an even
place: in the congregations will I bless the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.xxvii-p10.3">Lord</span>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.xxvii-p11">In these verses,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.xxvii-p12">I. David mentions, as further evidence of
his integrity, the sincere affection he had to the ordinances of
God, the constant care he took about them, and the pleasure he took
in them. Hypocrites and dissemblers may indeed be found attending
on God's ordinances, as the proud Pharisee went up to the temple to
pray with the penitent publican; but it is a good sign of sincerity
if we attend upon them as David here tells us he did, <scripRef id="Ps.xxvii-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.26.6-Ps.26.8" parsed="|Ps|26|6|26|8" passage="Ps 26:6-8"><i>v.</i> 6-8</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.xxvii-p13">1. He was very careful and conscientious in
his preparation for holy ordinances: <i>I will wash my hands in
innocency.</i> He not only refrained from the society of sinners,
but kept himself clean from the pollutions of sin, and this with an
eye to the place he had among those that compassed God's altar. "I
will wash, and so will I compass the altar, knowing that otherwise
I shall not be welcome." This is like that (<scripRef id="Ps.xxvii-p13.1" osisRef="Bible:1Cor.11.28" parsed="|1Cor|11|28|0|0" passage="1Co 11:28">1 Cor. xi. 28</scripRef>), <i>Let a man examine
himself, and so let him eat,</i> so prepared. This denotes, (1.)
Habitual preparation: "<i>I will wash my hands in innocency;</i> I
will carefully watch against all sin, and keep my conscience pure
from those dead works which defile it and forbid my drawing nigh to
God." See <scripRef id="Ps.xxvii-p13.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.24.3-Ps.24.4" parsed="|Ps|24|3|24|4" passage="Ps 24:3,4">Ps. xxiv. 3, 4</scripRef>.
(2.) Actual preparation. It alludes to the ceremony of the priests'
washing when they went in to minister, <scripRef id="Ps.xxvii-p13.3" osisRef="Bible:Exod.30.20-Exod.30.21" parsed="|Exod|30|20|30|21" passage="Ex 30:20,21">Exod. xxx. 20, 21</scripRef>. Though David was no
priest, yet, as every worshipper ought, he would look to the
substance of that which the priests were enjoined the shadow of. In
our preparation for solemn ordinances we must not only be able to
clear ourselves from the charge of reigning infidelity or
hypocrisy, and to protest our innocency of that (which was
signified by <i>washing the hands,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.xxvii-p13.4" osisRef="Bible:Deut.21.6" parsed="|Deut|21|6|0|0" passage="De 21:6">Deut. xxi. 6</scripRef>), but we must take pains to
cleanse ourselves from the spots of remaining iniquity by renewing
our repentance, and making fresh application of the blood of Christ
to our consciences for the purifying and pacifying of them. He that
is washed (that is, in a justified state) has need thus to <i>wash
his feet</i> (<scripRef id="Ps.xxvii-p13.5" osisRef="Bible:John.13.10" parsed="|John|13|10|0|0" passage="Joh 13:10">John xiii.
10</scripRef>), to wash his hands, to wash them in innocency; he
that is penitent is <i>pene innocens—almost innocent;</i> and he
that is pardoned is so far innocent that his sins shall not be
mentioned against him.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.xxvii-p14">2. He was very diligent and serious in his
attendance upon them: <i>I will compass thy altar,</i> alluding to
the custom of the priests, who, while the sacrifice was in
offering, walked round the altar, and probably the offerers
likewise did so at some distance, denoting a diligent regard to
what was done and a dutiful attendance in the service. "<i>I will
compass it;</i> I will be among the crowds that do compass it,
among the thickest of them." David, a man of honour, a man of
business, a man of war, thought it not below him to attend with the
multitude on God's altars and could find time for that attendance.
Note, (1.) All God's people will be sure to wait on God's altar, in
obedience to his commands and in pursuance of his favour. Christ is
our altar, not as the altar in the Jewish church, which was fed by
them, but an altar that we eat of and <i>live upon,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.xxvii-p14.1" osisRef="Bible:Heb.13.10" parsed="|Heb|13|10|0|0" passage="Heb 13:10">Heb. xiii. 10</scripRef>. (2.) It is a pleasant
sight to see God's altar compassed and to see ourselves among those
that compass it.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.xxvii-p15">3. In all his attendance on God's
ordinances he aimed at the glory of God and was much in the
thankful praise and adoration of him. He had an eye to the place of
worship as the place where God's honor dwelt (<scripRef id="Ps.xxvii-p15.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.26.8" parsed="|Ps|26|8|0|0" passage="Ps 26:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>), and therefore made it his
business there to honour God and to give him the glory due to his
name, to publish with the voice of thanksgiving all God's wondrous
works. God's gracious works, which call for thanksgiving, are all
wondrous works, which call for our admiration. We ought to publish
them, and tell of them, for his glory, and the excitement of others
to praise him; and we ought to do it with the voice of
thanksgiving, as those that are sensible of our obligations, by all
ways possible, to acknowledge with gratitude the favours we have
received from God.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.xxvii-p16">4. He did this with delight and from a
principle of true affection to God and his institutions. Touching
this he appeals to God: "<i>Lord,</i> thou knowest how dearly <i>I
have loved the habitation of thy house</i> (<scripRef id="Ps.xxvii-p16.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.26.8" parsed="|Ps|26|8|0|0" passage="Ps 26:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>), the tabernacle where thou art
pleased to manifest thy residence among thy people and receive
their homage, <i>the place where thy honour dwells.</i>" David was
sometimes forced by persecution into the countries of idolaters and
was hindered from attending God's altars, which perhaps his
persecutors, that laid him under that restraint, did themselves
upbraid him with as his crime. See <scripRef id="Ps.xxvii-p16.2" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.20.27" parsed="|1Sam|20|27|0|0" passage="1Sa 20:27">1
Sam. xx. 27</scripRef>. "But, Lord," says he, "though I cannot come
to the habitation of thy house, I love it; my heart is there, and
it is my greatest trouble that I am not there." Note, All that
truly love God truly love the ordinances of God, and
<i>therefore</i> love them because in them he manifests his honour
and they have an opportunity of honoring him. Our Lord Jesus loved
his Father's honour, and made it his business to glorify him; he
loved the habitation of his house, his church among men, loved it
and gave himself for it, that he might build and consecrate it.
Those who love communion with God, and delight in approaching him,
find it to be a constant pleasure, a comfortable evidence of their
integrity, and a comfortable earnest of their endless felicity.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.xxvii-p17">II. David, having given proofs of his
integrity, earnestly prays, with a humble confidence towards God
(such as those have whose hearts condemn them not), that he might
not fall under the doom of the wicked (<scripRef id="Ps.xxvii-p17.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.26.9-Ps.26.10" parsed="|Ps|26|9|26|10" passage="Ps 26:9,10"><i>v.</i> 9, 10</scripRef>). <i>Gather not my soul
with sinners,</i> Here, 1. David describes these sinners, whom he
looked upon to be in a miserable condition, so miserable that he
could not wish the worst enemy he had in the world to be in a
worse. "They are <i>bloody men,</i> that thirst after blood and lie
under a great deal of the guilt of blood. They do mischief, and
mischief is always in their hands. Though they get by their
wickedness (for <i>their right hand is full of bribes</i> which
they have taken to pervert justice), yet that will make their case
never the better; for <i>what is a man profited if he gain the
world and lose his soul?</i>" 2. He dread having his lot with them.
He never loved them, nor associated with them, in this world, and
therefore could in faith pray that he might not have his lot with
them in the other world. Our souls must shortly be gathered, to
return to God that gave them and will call for them again. See
<scripRef id="Ps.xxvii-p17.2" osisRef="Bible:Job.34.14" parsed="|Job|34|14|0|0" passage="Job 34:14">Job xxxiv. 14</scripRef>. It concerns
us to consider whether our souls will then be gathered with saints
or with sinners, whether bound in the bundle of life with the Lord
for ever, as the souls of the faithful are (<scripRef id="Ps.xxvii-p17.3" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.25.29" parsed="|1Sam|25|29|0|0" passage="1Sa 25:29">1 Sam. xxv. 29</scripRef>), or bound in the bundle of
tares for the fire, <scripRef id="Ps.xxvii-p17.4" osisRef="Bible:Matt.13.30" parsed="|Matt|13|30|0|0" passage="Mt 13:30">Matt. xiii.
30</scripRef>. Death gathers us to our people, to those that are
our people while we live, whom we choose to associate with, and
with whom we cast in our lot, to those death will gather us, and
with them we must take our lot, to eternity. Balaam desired to die
the death of the righteous; David dreaded dying the death of the
wicked; so that both sides were of that mind, which if we be of,
and will live up to it, we are happy for ever. Those that will not
be companions with sinners in their mirth, nor eat of their
dainties, may in faith pray not to be companions with them in their
misery, nor to drink of their cup, their cup of trembling.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.xxvii-p18">III. David, with a holy humble confidence,
commits himself to the grace of God, <scripRef id="Ps.xxvii-p18.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.26.11-Ps.26.12" parsed="|Ps|26|11|26|12" passage="Ps 26:11,12"><i>v.</i> 11, 12</scripRef>. 1. He promises that by
the grace of God he would persevere in his duty: "<i>As for me,</i>
whatever others do, <i>I will walk in my integrity.</i>" Note, When
the testimony of our consciences for us that we have walked in our
integrity is comfortable to us this should confirm our resolutions
to continue therein. 2. He prays for the divine grace both to
enable him to do so and to give him the comfort of it: "<i>Redeem
me</i> out of the hands of my enemies, <i>and be merciful to
me,</i> living and dying." Be we ever so confident of our
integrity, yet still we must rely upon God's mercy and the great
redemption Christ has wrought out, and pray for the benefit of
them. 3. He pleases himself with his steadiness: "<i>My foot stands
in an even place,</i> where I shall not stumble and whence I shall
not fall." This he speaks as one that found his resolutions fixed
for God and godliness, not to be shaken by the temptations of the
world, and his comforts firm in God and his grace, not to be
disturbed by the crosses and troubles of the world. 4. He promises
himself that he should yet have occasion to praise the Lord, that
he should be furnished with matter for praise, that he should have
a heart for praises, and that, though he was now perhaps banished
from public ordinances, yet he should again have an opportunity of
blessing God in the congregation of his people. Those that hate the
congregation of evil-doers shall be joined to the congregation of
the righteous and join with them in praising God; and it is
pleasant doing that in good company; the more the better; it is the
more like heaven.</p>
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