Psalm 26
A couple of small items come to mind quickly today. First is Kathy’s comment yesterday about David’s arrogance. With her comment in mind, it’s easy to read today’s Psalm and see an arrogant David. Twice he says he will walk in his integrity (vv. 1, 11). But don’t we all try to do that? We’re all concerned for our reputation, and integrity is a big part of that. Reading further, in all of the first seven verses David could be seen as bragging on his behavior. But looking more deeply I find that I don’t see David as arrogant. I see him seeking God; I think his statements that could hint at arrogance are really him imploring God to help him continue to walk in those paths where he truly wants to follow God.
I also see Job in today’s Psalm, David justifying himself and claiming to avoid hypocrites, evildoers, the wicked (vv. 4-5). Verse 5b struck me personally: …I will not sit with the wicked. I came to EKU as chair of the economics department and was invited by another chair to join him and the dean and other chairs for coffee and doughnuts once a week. I recall going two or three times and really felt out of place – not because I was “the new guy”, but because of the level of conversation in this room with other Ph.D. administrators. I won’t say that they were “the wicked”, but my heart told me that I didn’t belong there.