What does David mean when he claims to be “Blameless”? Hint: He is not saying he is sinless. This Psalm was a real eye-opener for me and took me three days to complete. Not gonna lie… David’s claim of being “blameless” caught my eye. Because I KNOW David was NOT sinless.  I took my time walking through this Psalm.

The video link is here:

Blameless?

The Audio links to Spotify and iTunes are to the right.

Here is the transcript from which today’s podcast was produced:

Psalm 26

Blameless, not Sinless

1 Vindicate me, Lord,
    for I have led a blameless life;

Right off the bat, I am bothered by this verse, because the Psalmist says he has led a “blameless life” – we know for a fact that he did not lead a totally blameless, free-from-sin life. And my studies in the Bible have told me one thing – I can NEVER lay claim to being blameless. My sin nature makes sure of that.

So is this wording the liberty of a song-writer (That’s what the Psalms are) where he exaggerates something to make a point? Maybe I just don’t know what David is REALLY saying. The key might be in the definition. Here it is:

תֹּם tōm, n. blamelessness, integrity, innocence

We know David did plenty that was wrong – the affair with Bathsheba comes to mind. So this word translated “blameless” can’t mean “sinless”. Blameless has more to do with integrity than it does with having done nothing wrong. At its core, integrity has to do with not being “fake”. Whenever his sin was revealed to him, he turned to God. His relationship with God was VERY real. God did not hold David blameless for his sins, He made David accountable. David had integrity – his relationship with God was anything BUT fake.

So when David writes that “…for I have led a blameless life…” he is saying that he has never abandoned God. He has never “faked” his relationship with God. The last two lines of this verse expand on what he means by “blameless”:

I have trusted in the Lord
    and have not faltered.

בָּטַח bāṭaḥ1, v. [119] to trust, rely on, put confidence in; to be confident; to lead to believe, make trust

מָעַד māʽad, v. to slip, waver, wobble;  to become lame; cause to wobble, to bend, wrench (one’s back)

These two lines are what David means when he says he has led a blameless life. He has never faltered in his trust in the Lord. What David is saying here is “Vindicate me, Lord, for I have NEVER stopped trusting You.” 

Test Me

Being confident in his relationship with God, David can then say in verse 2:

2 Test me, Lord, and try me,
    examine my heart and my mind;

בָּחַן bāḥan, v. to test, try, probe, examine; to be tested; to test and learn the genuineness of an object, fig. of assaying a metal to determine its purity or nature

צָרַף ṣārap, v. to smelt, refine (metals)

The words for “test” and “examine” have to do with the process of refining and assaying the purity of a metal. When purifying gold or silver, for example, incredible heat is brought to bear – to the point that the gold becomes molten and the impurities separate from the gold and are removed. As the gold or silver is purified, eventually the point is reached where the refiner’s face is reflected in the surface of the molten metal.

David is saying “Lord – refine me so that Your Face is reflected in my life”. It’s like David is NOT saying “give me an exam to see if I have the answers right.” I see David inviting God to look at him and refine him, removing impurities until God’s face is unmistakeable in David’s life.

NOT Fake

What does that look like in real life? David expands in the following verses.

3 for I have always been mindful of your unfailing love
    and have lived in reliance on your faithfulness.

If I had a billion dollars in the bank, whenever a problem arose, I would spend whatever it took to fix whatever was wrong. David’s go-to when troubles arose was not his wealth, but the faithfulness of God. God’s unfailing love was never far from his mind, and David’s history with God gave him confidence in God’s faithfulness.

David then goes on to say what he DOESN’T do as a result of his relationship with God. Remember  – he is NOT fake. He doesn’t claim relationship with God and then hang with deceivers and hypocrites. He does not go where they go, he does not in any way identify with them.

4 I do not sit with the deceitful,
    nor do I associate with hypocrites.

5 I abhor the assembly of evildoers
    and refuse to sit with the wicked.

יָשַׁב yāšab, v. to live, inhabit, dwell, stay;

שָׁוְא šāw’, n. worthlessness, vanity, falseness

עָלַם ʽālam, v. to be in secret; [N] to be concealed, be hidden, be unaware; [H] to hide, shut off, conceal; [Ht] to hide oneself from, ignore:

קָהָל qāhāl, n.m. assembly, community, 

David is  saying “I do not live with or associate myself with those who pursue vanity, those who are pretending to be something they are not. I do not associate myself with those who conceal their motivations and their real character. I do not insert myself into their community.”

God’s Community

These people are the opposite of what a person with integrity looks like. A person of integrity is not “looking for an angle” in order to manipulate people or situations in their favor. He does not allow himself to be identified with the community that the hypocrites and deceivers occupy. The Christ-follower identifies with one community alone and foremost – the Church of God. He doesn’t identify with the Black Church, or the White Church. There are no Republican churches or Democrat churches. God is not affiliated with any political party.

There are no adjectives to be added to the community called the “CHURCH”. There are no adjectives to precede the name “Christian”. Not Black Christian, not White Christian, not Gay Christian. Just… Christian. THAT is our community, and the Word of God is our membership manual. Whenever you hear or read of someone attaching any adjective with the term “Church” or “Christian” walk away.

Proclaiming God

That is what David does NOT do. This is what David DOES do:

6 I wash my hands in innocence,
    and go about your altar, Lord,

7 proclaiming aloud your praise
    and telling of all your wonderful deeds.

8 Lord, I love the house where you live,
    the place where your glory dwells.

Instead of associating with those who deceive and are hypocrites, David trumpets the attributes of God’s Kingdom, clearly identifying with the God of Israel. David is not hiding who he is. Hang around David and you will hear about God. I want that as my testimony. Hang around me, and you will hear about God.

9 Do not take away my soul along with sinners,
    my life with those who are bloodthirsty,

10 in whose hands are wicked schemes,
    whose right hands are full of bribes.

David does not want to get caught up with the people he has been describing, therefore ending up paying the price that will be exacted from those sinners and their communities. The best defense against that outcome is to not be there when judgement falls on the community of evildoers. Your community is the community of God – don’t live outside of THAT community. Don’t adopt the rules and by-laws of the fake communities that surround us.

Blameless, Not republican or Democrat

11 I lead a blameless life;
    deliver me and be merciful to me.

Here’s that word “blameless” again. David is not saying he is without sin. He is saying he is true to his allegiance with God. He is walking in integrity, and is trusting in God and God’s mercy.

12 My feet stand on level ground;
    in the great congregation I will praise the Lord.

He stands on the firm foundation of God’s mercy and love, as opposed to the shaky ground of the hypocrites and deceivers. He lives his life daily depending on God’s mercy for every breath he takes.

He trumpets no cause but that of God. In today’s Church we might say that he does not trumpet being a Republican or Democrat. In the congregation of God, he does not promote any of the world’s communities that surround the Church.

I would love my epitaph to read “If you hung around Paige, you heard about God and you saw God”. That would point to a life well-lived.

In His Grip,

Paige