Clergy/Leaders’ Mail-list No. 3-175 Sunday 21 Sep 2003

Psalms on Sundays Reading: Psalm 26 – GIVE ME JUSTICE, LORD

‘I will sing of your love and justice’.(Ps 101:la) Why do we sing so much about God’s love yet so little about his justice?

At first reading, Psalm 26 might seem like the presumptuous boasting of a self-righteous prig. It would sit well on the lips of the Pharisee in Jesus’ parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector.(Luke 18:9-14) What is more, the psalmist seems unaware of the truth that ‘all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God’.(Rom 3:23)

Yet there were those in ancient Israel who were aware that ‘no one living is righteous before you (ie God)’.(Ps 143:2) So, what are we to make of this psalm? The clue is to be found in 1 Kings 8:31-32. If someone felt they had been falsely accused of a crime and that the courts had not given them justice, they could appeal to God.

They did this by going to the Temple and swearing an oath of innocence before God, and awaiting God’s response – we are not told how that response came. Psalm 26 seems to fit into that context. Verse 6 refers to a ritual washing of the hands at the altar as a declaration of innocence. So the psalmist is not claiming sinless perfection, but is asserting innocence of the crime(s) he has been accused of. Maybe these are alluded to in vs 9,10.

This psalm reminds us that God is concerned about justice. He said to Israel, ‘Follow justice and justice alone, so that you may live and possess the land the LORD your God is giving you.'(Deut 16:20) Treating people justly is essential for the development of a healthy community, at any level. That is why God said, ‘You shall not give false testimony against your neighbour’.(Exod 20:16) Loving your neighbour as yourself means treating them justly.

It’s easier to identify with the psalmist than with his accusers. Think about whether you have treated anyone unjustly recently. If so, seek God’s forgiveness and theirs.

– Ernest Lucas

Copyright Scripture Union, 2003, Encounter with God

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