Please read Psalm 26 (12 verses)

The psalmist affirms his integrity in this Psalm. He asks the Lord to vindicate him in the presence of his enemies and all who detract from him. He has suffered greatly with the criticism and oppression of other people and it has caused him great distress, as we read in the previous Psalm, Psalm 25. He has been the subject of wicked lips and voices that have oppressed him and spread malicious rumours about him, which is affecting his life adversely.

He asks the Lord to test his mind and heart, that he has not deviated from his firm trust in the mercy and salvation of the Lord. He asks the Lord to deliver him from those who deal maliciously and have sinister plans against him as a person. He wishes to be clean and able to visit the altar of the Lord and not to be included with the wicked. He wishes his voice to be raised in praise and not complaint and sorrow. He knows the Lord will deliver him because he deals uprightly with life and does not entertain sin in his life.

The writer loves the Lord and being in the house of the Lord is his chief delight. He wishes not to be included with the bloodthirsty or people who will cheat others and take bribes to facilitate their own ends, building empires in this life. His life is not faultless but is blameless and his heart is to the Lord and not the schemes of the wicked. His feet stand secure of the doctrines of God, on level ground, which he has made for his feet and his true delight is the Lord Himself.