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Psalm 26 · a question people ask

"Judge me, LORD, for I have walked in my integrity" (26:1). Is the psalmist saying he has never sinned?

In the text

The psalm doesn't say that. Psalm 7's notes ask the same question of "Judge me, LORD, according to my righteousness, and to my integrity that is in me" (Psalm 7:8), and Psalm 17's of "You have tried me, and found nothing" (Psalm 17:3); these notes don't repeat them. Psalm 26 adds something of its own. The verse that says "But as for me, I will walk in my integrity" goes straight on: "Redeem me, and be merciful to me" (26:11) (tap Redeem). Redeem is padah, which Brown-Driver-Briggs gives as "ransom", and be merciful is chanan, which it gives as "shew favour, be gracious". One line holds both: the psalmist's walk, and his asking to be ransomed and shown mercy. The same Hebrew word for integrity is said of one thing done in Genesis, where God says to Abimelech, "Yes, I know that in the integrity of your heart you have done this" (Genesis 20:6). Psalm 26 doesn't say what matter, if any, the psalmist has in view, and these notes don't choose how his claim and his request fit together.

The verses

“By David. Judge me, LORD, for I have walked in my integrity. I have trusted also in the LORD without wavering.”
Psalm 26:1 · World English Bible
“But as for me, I will walk in my integrity. Redeem me, and be merciful to me.”
Psalm 26:11 · World English Bible
“The LORD administers judgment to the peoples. Judge me, LORD, according to my righteousness, and to my integrity that is in me.”
Psalm 7:8 · World English Bible
“You have proved my heart. You have visited me in the night. You have tried me, and found nothing. I have resolved that my mouth shall not disobey.”
Psalm 17:3 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of Psalm 26

Psalm 26: I have walked in my integrity

"Examine me, LORD, and prove me. Try my heart" (26:2) has three different Hebrew verbs for testing, and no other verse in the Hebrew Bible has all three. And Psalm 26 walks through Psalm 1's first verse: walk, sit, stand, the wicked and sinners, ending "My foot stands in an even place" (26:12).

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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions