Online Bible 1995 March/ROM-1025.iso/olb/gill/3_600_e.lzh/3_638.TXT

Text File | 1995-01-31 | 9KB | 179 lines

\\INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 26\\

\*\\<<Psalm of David>>\\.
The occasion of this psalm seems to be the quarrel
between Saul and David, the former listening to calumnies
and reproaches cast upon the latter, and persecuting
him in a violent manner. The argument of
it is the same, in a great measure, with the seventh
psalm, and is an appeal made to God, the Judge of the
whole earth, by the psalmist, for his innocence and
integrity; Theodoret thinks it was written by David
when he fled from Saul.

\*Ver. 1. \\Judge me, O Lord\\, &c.] Meaning not that
God would enter into judgment with him, in respect
to the justification of his person in his sight, which he
knew was not by his own righteousness and integrity,
but by the righteousness of God; but his view is, to
the justification of his cause before men; and particularly
to the difference between Saul and him; and entreats
that God would interpose, take his cause in
hand, judge between them, and vindicate him;
\*\\for I have walked in mine integrity\\; or %perfection% {o} not that
he thought himself free from sin; ibis would be contrary
to the complaints, confessions, and petitions frequently
made by him; but that in the affair with
which he was accused, of seeking Saul's hurt, \\#1Sa
24:9\\; he was quite innocent:by his %integrity% he
means the purity of his intentions and designs; the
uprightness of his conduct, the simplicity and sincerity
of his conversation towards all men, and especially
his fidelity to his prince; but though he knew
nothing by himself, and could not charge himself with
any wrong action in this respect, and therefore ought
to be acquitted before men; yet he did not expect
hereby to be justified in the sight of God;
\*\\I have
trusted also in the Lord\\; not in himself, in the sincerity
of his heart, and the uprightness of his life; nor did he
trust to the goodness of his cause; but he committed
it to the Lord, who judgeth righteously; and trusted
in him that he should not be ashamed and confounded:
this shows from whence his integrity sprung, even
from faith unfeigned; for, where that is true and genuine,
there are works of righteousness, and integrity
of life;
\*\\[therefore] I shall not slide\\; these words may
be connected with the former, thus; %I have trusted
also in the Lord, that I shall not slide% {p}; that is, shall not
fail in judgment, or lose the cause; but shall stand and
carry it, and not be confounded or condemned. Our
version supplies the word %therefore%, making these words
to be an inference from the former, that because he
trusted in the Lord, therefore he should not slide, slip,
and fall; not but that true believers may not only have
their feet well nigh slipped, but altogether; yea, fall,
and that sometimes into great sins, to the breaking of
their bones; but then they shall not totally and finally
fall; for they stand by faith, and are kept through it
by the power of God. The words may be considered
as a prayer, %let me not slide% {q}; being sensible of
his own weakness, and of the necessity of being upheld
in his uprightness, and in the ways of the Lord
by him, that his footsteps might not slip; for though
he walked in his uprightness, he was not self-sufficient
and self-confident, but dependent on the Lord.

\*Ver. 2. \\Examine me, O Lord\\, &c.] His cause, his
integrity, and trust in the Lord, as silver and gold are
examined by the touchstone, the word of God, which
is the standard of faith and practice;
\*\\and prove me\\;
or %tempt me% {r}; as Abraham was tempted by the Lord;
and his faith in him, and fear of him, and love to him,
were proved to be true and genuine;
\*\\try my reins
and my heart\\; the thoughts, desires, and affections of
it, as gold and silver are tried in the furnace; and so
God sometimes tries the faith and patience of his people
by afflictive providences; and this examination, probation,
and trial, are made by him, not for his own
sake, who knows the hearts and ways of all men; but
for the Sake of others, to make known either to themselves
or others the truth of grace that is in them,
and the uprightness of their hearts and ways; and it
was on this account the psalmist desired to pass under
such an examination.

\*Ver. 3. \\For thy loving kindness is before mine eyes\\,
&c.] The special loving kindness of God, shown in
the choice of him in Christ, in the provision of a
Saviour for him, and in the effectual vocation of him;
which loving kindness is unmerited, free, and sovereign,
is from everlasting and to everlasting; it is better
than life, excellent beyond expression, and marvellous:
and this may be said to be %before [his] eyes%;
because it was now in sight; he had a comfortable
view of interest in it, and was persuaded nothing
should separate him from it; it was upon his heart,
shed abroad in it, and he was affected with it; it was
in his mind, and in his thoughts, and they were employed
about it; he had it in remembrance, and was
comfortably refreshed with it: and this he mentions
as the reason of his laying his cause before the Lord,
as the ground of his trust in him, and why he desired
to be examined, proved, and tried by him;
\*\\and I have
walked in thy truth\\; by faith in Christ, who is the
truth of all promises, prophecies, types, and figures;
in the word of truth, by abiding by it, and walking
according to it; and in the truth of worship, in all the
commandments and ordinances of the Lord; and to
walk herein he used himself to, and was constant in,
as the word {s} signifies: and nothing more engages to
walk on in Christ, as he has been received and to
walk as becomes his Gospel, and in all holy conversation
and godliness, than the love of God manifested to
the soul; this being set continually before our eyes encourages
faith and hope, and influences a holy life and
cheerful obedience to the will of God.

\*Ver. 4. \\I have not sat with vain persons\\, &c.] Or %men
of vanity% {t}; who are full of it; who are addicted to the
vanities of the world; who pursue the riches, honours,
pleasures, and profits of it; which is no other than walking
in a vain show: whose thoughts, words, and actions
are vain; who are vainly puffed up in their
fleshly mind, and walk in the vanity of it; who take
the name of God in vain, and whose common discourse
is foolish, frothy, light, and empty; and who are men
of a vain conversation, and are rash, imprudent, and
deceitful: men of bad principles may very well go by
this name, who are vain and unruly talkers, and whose
doctrines are doctrines of vanity, and no other than
vain babbling; and also men guilty of idolatrous
practices, who observe lying vanities, and worship
them, and lift up their souls unto them; with such
vain men, in any of these senses, the psalmist would
have nothing to do; he would not keep company with
them, nor have any communion, consultation, and
conversation with them; it may be, he may have some
respect to the men that were about Saul, to whom
such a character agreed; or he may say this, and
what follows, to remove a calumny cast upon him and
his friends; as if they that were with him were such
men as here described, and in \\#Ps 26:5\\;
\*\\neither
will I go in with dissemblers\\: or %hidden% or %unknown%
persons {u}, who lie in private lurking places, to murder
the innocent, or secretly take away the good names
and characters of men, and it is not known who they
are; or who commit sin secretly; go into secret places
to do their works in the dark, and hide themselves
to do evil; as the Targum, Jarchi, Kimchi, and Ben
Melech, interpret it; who love darkness rather than
light, because their deeds are evil; or who cover
themselves with lying and flattering words, that it is
not known what their real intentions be; they speak
one thing, and mean another; are an assembly of
treacherous men: such are all deceitful workers, who
lie in wait to deceive, and walk in craftiness; and
hypocrites, who have the form of religion, but are
strangers to the power of it; and who are to be turned
away from, and avoided; the houses, assemblies, cabals,
and company of such, are to be shunned; see \\#Ge
49:6 Jer 9:2\\; or such as are %signed%, or %marked%;
that is, infamous persons {w}.

{o} \^ymtb\^ %in perfectione mea%, Pagninus, Montanus, Vatablus; so the
Targum, Ainsworth.
{p} \^dema al\^ %me non vacillaturum%, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.
{q} %Ne nutare me patiaris%, Gejerus.
{r} \^ynon\^ %tenta me%, Pagninus, Montanus, Junius & Tremellius, &c.
{s} \^ytklhth\^ %ambulavi indesinenter & sedulo%, Gejerus; so Junius &
Tremellius, Piscator.
{t} \^awv ytm Me\^ %cum hominibus vanitatis%, Gejerus, Michaelis.
{u} \^Mymlen Me\^ %cum occultis%, Vatablus, Michaelis; %absconditis%,
Gejerus; so Ainsworth.
{w} Vide Schultens de def. Hod. ling. Heb. s. 188.