Psalm 26 Overview
Where your presence dwells
Psalm 26
Welcome to the Overview of Psalm 26
This page will introduce and provide orientation to Psalm 26 as a whole. It includes the following sections:
Introduction to Psalm 26
Author:
Purpose:
- To engage in a worship liturgy, including the preparation for worship and the response to being in YHWH's presence.
Content:
- Prepare me, YHWH, that I may worship you. Protect me, that I may bless you among your people.
Message:
- YHWH prepares his people to enter his presence in worship and protects them to bless his name.
Psalm 26 At-a-Glance
These sections divide the content of the psalm into digestible pieces , and are determined based on information from many of our layers, including Semantics, Poetics, and Discourse. The columns, left to right, contain: the verse numbers; the main title of the section; a brief summary of the content of that section (quote marks indicate the text is taken directly from the English text of the psalm (as per our Close-but-Clear translation); and an icon to visually represent and remember the content.
Background Orientation for Psalm 26
Following are the common-ground assumptionsCommon-ground assumptions include information shared by the speaker and hearers. In our analysis, we mainly use this category for Biblical/Ancient Near Eastern background. which are the most helpful for making sense of the psalm.
- YHWH as righteous judge: YHWH punishes the wicked and vindicates the righteous (Ross, 306; Gen. 18:25; 1 Sam. 3:13; 24:16; Ps. 7:8; Ps. 9; Ps. 50:6; Ps. 67:4; Is 1:17). The HB repeatedly presents humankind as crying out to God for justice (to judge wickedness and reward righteousness), from the story of Cain (“The voice of your brother’s blood cries out to me” Genesis 4:10) to the cry of Sodom and the very different cry of Abraham in intercession for it (Genesis 18:20–21), to the cry of the Israelites in Egypt (Exodus 2:23-25; 3:7).
- Integrity/Innocence: The HB and this passage reflect and linguistically portray the standard that the people of God are called to live in integrity and wholeness. (e.g. there are linguistic links between David walking in his integrity (בְּתֻמִּ֣י) and the stipulations of the Abrahamic covenant in Gen. 17:1 [to Abraham]: "walk before Me and be blameless (וֶהְיֵ֥ה תָמִֽים). I will establish My covenant between Me and you, and I will multiply you exceedingly").
- Testing, trying and refining: This process "serves not only the purpose of testing, but also of refining and working the metal... The suppliant of Ps. 26... asks... for that testing (v. 2a) which simultaneously implies purification (v. 2b)... As a purified man, he can expect to find salvation in the sanctuary" (Keel, 183-4).
- Covenant: David is in covenant with YHWH, and YHWH’s covenant loyalty framed David’s view of his life cf. 2 Samuel 7:8-16. The cry for mercy in verse 11 is related to the YHWH's merciful character (Exodus 34:6-7).
Background Situation for Psalm 26
The background situation is the series of events leading up to the time in which the psalm is spoken. These are taken from the story triangle – whatever lies to the left of the star icon. [[File:|class=img-fluid|825px]]
Participants in Psalm 26