I. TERSE PETITION (1a). Prayer for Vindication. II. TELLING PLEA (1b). The Psalmist's Walk. Practice Hitherto. III. TERSE PETITIONS (2 ). Prayer for Examination. IV. TELLING PLEAS (3-8). The Psalmist's Walle. Practice. 1. Jehovah's Loving-kindness (3a). 2. Psalmist's Life (3b). Shown by (i) Shunning the Society of the Sinful (4-5). "I hate." (ii) Seeking the Service of the Sanctuary (6--8). "I love." V. TERSE PETITION (9-10). Prayer for Preservation. VI. TELLING PLEA (ua). The Psalmist's Walk. Purpose Hereafter. VII. TERSE PETITION (ub). Prayer for Redemption. o- TELLING PLEA (12). The Psalmist's Worship. Purpose. SUPERSCRIPT.-David' s. 8I PRIMARY AssoCIATION.-Writer is David. Occasion cannot be fixed with certainty, but it seems to have been a period of national calamity. Conscious of his personal integrity, David appeals for deliverance from a fate which threatens to overwhelm both wicked (9) and righteous in a common judgment. This psalm bears a relation to the preceding one. Ps. xxv., Confession of Sin; xxvi., Profession of Sincerity. In the former, David contrasts his character with the character of God; in the latter he contrasts it with the character of the godless. On the psalmist's claim to personal integrity, see Appendix VIII. PROPHETIC ANTICIPATION.-Strikingly appropriate as the future utterance of the godly remnant in the last days, when the righteous judgments of God fall upon the apostate nation. PERSONAL APPLICATION.-Integrity is the fellow and fruit of faith. Separation from evil is with a view to separation unto God, i.e. sanctification. Attachment to the good must be. accompanied by detachment from the evil. "Leaven changes its environment into its own substance and likeness." Our companions are an index to our own character. A sanctified walk is a necessary preparation for sanctuary worship. Resolve should be complementary to request. Homage only of holy hands and hearts is acceptable to God. Worship
(7a) should always be followed by •witness (7b). Public acknow ledgment may well follow answered prayer ( 12). VERSE NOTES 1. "Judge me" = vindicate my integrity, cf. vii. 8. Sincerity of purpose and conformity of practice were his rule of life. 2. Attests a clear conscience, but acknowledges need of cleansing from unknown sin. Here is the language of the refiner of precious metal: (a) "Assay" me= test for quality; (b) "Prove" me = test for reality; (c) "Smelt" me = removal of impurity; (b) i.e. the inmost thoughts, vii. 9. C£ . cc • ,, .th . 1. 1 ; go m = assooate wi 5. Ctr. the" congregations" of the saints (12). 6. Ref. to preparation of the priests before drawing near to minister at the brazen altar, Exod. xxx. 17-21; c£ Ps. xxiv. 4; may be re£ also to Dent. xxi. 6; (b) In order to complete the prescribed ritual in the offering of the daily sacrifices the ministering priest did in fact "compass (i.e. encompass) the altar." What the priests did in symbolic rite, the psalmist would do in spiritual reality. 8. (b) lit. "the place of the tabernacle of thy glory";Jehovah's glory here= His manifested presence of which the Ark was the outward symbol. 9. "gather not" =·take not away; i.e. Let me not share a common doom with those whose society and practices I have ever shunned. 9-10. The wicked here described as those who (a).Plan murder; (b) Perpetrate crimes; and (c) Pervert justice; men in authority seem to be indicated, Micah vii. 2 ff.. II. "redeem me," i.e. from the doom of the wicked. 12. Faith anticipates the answer to its prayer; "even place" = the upland pastures, so often connected with the inheritance of Reuben. 8. David's love for God's house may be gathered from such scriptures as 'Ps. xxvii. 4; lxix. 9; and 2 Sam. xv. 25; 1 Chron. xxix. 2-3.
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