I’m struggling a bit with a trend I see in some of the psalms. Some of them seem so ME oriented. Take Psalm 26. There are 12 references to God in one form or another (be it a name like LORD or through personal pronouns.) But, in those same verses there are 27 references to “me, I, or my.”

Vindicate me, O LORD, for I have led a blameless life; I have trusted in the LORD without wavering. 2 Test me, O LORD, and try me, examine my heart and my mind; 3 for your love is ever before me, and I walk continually in your truth. 4 I do not sit with deceitful men, nor do I consort with hypocrites; 5 I abhor the assembly of evildoers and refuse to sit with the wicked. 6 I wash my hands in innocence, and go about your altar, O LORD, 7 proclaiming aloud your praise and telling of all your wonderful deeds. 8 I love the house where you live, O LORD, the place where your glory dwells. 9 Do not take away my soul along with sinners, my life with bloodthirsty men, 10 in whose hands are wicked schemes, whose right hands are full of bribes. 11 But I lead a blameless life; redeem me and be merciful to me. 12 My feet stand on level ground; in the great assembly I will praise the LORD.
— Psalm 26

Now I don’t have a problem with a psalm being a personal prayer. David often cries out to God for deliverance and that is a very personal thing. Even the famous Psalm 23 has more references to self than to God (16 to 12, in case you are curious….16 personal references in only 6 verses!)

Psalm 27 is something of a companion psalm to Psalm 26 and follows this same pattern. There are 50 references to my, I, or me in only 14 verses…and just 27 references to God.

This, of course, isn’t the case in every psalm. When you look ahead to Psalm 29 we have an entire psalm (11 verses) with zero references to the author and 27 references to God. Somehow I think this seems like it should be more the pattern.

But back to Psalm 26, where David just goes overboard, asking God to treat him according to the goodness of his righteous works. Isn’t that exactly opposite of the gospel? We DON’T want God to treat us as we deserve. We desperately need Him to act in grace and mercy instead of what David appears to be asking for:

Vindicate me, O LORD, for I have led a blameless life; I have trusted in the LORD without wavering. (26:1).

…I walk continually in your truth. (26:3).

I wash my hands in innocence (26:6)

But I lead a blameless life… (26:11)

These sound presumptuous to me. They sound demanding and self-serving. I get it; we’re business people; we’re known for having outsized egos… Still, I don’t think I could draw myself to talk to God in just this way.

In fairness, David does invite God, saying, “Test me, O LORD, and try me, examine my heart and my mind” (26:2). Now that sounds more like it. But David, instead of expressing his desperate need for God, seems to use this invitation as justification for why God should redeem him (26:11) and be merciful to him (26:11).

A couple of things could be going on here. This could be one of the differences in the way Old Testament believers understood their relationship with God. There is a certain amount of, “Obey me and I’ll bless you,” language in the Jewish scriptures, as distinct from the New Testament frame where the, “I have already blessed you, now I want you to obey me in love” message is more dominant. David could be writing in that tension as he pursues righteousness.

Or maybe David understands more of God’s grace and mercy than he lets on in this particular psalm. He could know that any integrity he has comes because God works in his life. He could know that his own unwavering nature comes directly from his trusting in God’s provision. He could be drawing on the knowledge that his ability to walk in truth comes from the God who sustains him. His claim of innocence could come from knowing of God’s forgiveness, not his own worthiness. His boast of walking in integrity may not be a boast at all; it could be a way of expressing that he knows he can only be sustained by God working in Him to live life through God’s power.

I’ll admit to you that I don’t really know what is going on here.

Nevertheless, this psalm has driven me to watch my words. Do I claim my own righteousness? Do I act arrogantly? Am I demanding of God? Do I make promises I can’t keep? How presumptuous am I with my Father? Is my life all about me?

I’m so grateful the Gospel is clear. We cannot please God in our own efforts. God made a provision to rescue us. God invests us with the Holy Spirit who empowers us to live a life that pleases God.

With due respect to David and all the riches God buried in this psalm that I do not understand, I’m grateful that the Gospel is clear. “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21).