I do not sit with the deceitful

Psalm 26:1-12 TNIV

Vindicate me, Lord,

for I have led a blameless life;

I have trusted in the Lord

and have not faltered.

Test me, Lord, and try me,

examine my heart and my mind;

for I have always been mindful of your unfailing love

and have lived in reliance on your faithfulness.

I do not sit with the deceitful,

nor do I associate with hypocrites.

I abhor the assembly of evildoers

and refuse to sit with the wicked.

I wash my hands in innocence,

and go about your altar, Lord,

proclaiming aloud your praise

and telling of all your wonderful deeds.

Lord, I love the house where you live,

the place where your glory dwells.

Do not take away my soul along with sinners,

my life with those who are bloodthirsty,

in whose hands are wicked schemes,

whose right hands are full of bribes.

I lead a blameless life;

redeem me and be merciful to me.

My feet stand on level ground;

in the great congregation I will praise the Lord.

My thoughts -

Sometimes I feel like I have a pretty good grasp of things. Sometimes I feel like I'm pretty together and I understand what's going on. Sometimes I feel almost perfect. Most of the time, though, I am just a flawed, confused, selfish and frustrated human being.

Reading this passage in light of my own issues created an interesting dynamic for me. First, I aspire to have the kind of confident righteousness of the psalmist here. I want to be able to confidently proclaim my trust in the Lord. I want to confidently proclaim how I have always relied on God's unfailing love. I want to confidently proclaim how I have consistently shared the good news of what God has done for us. I want more of what this psalmist seems to have.

But I also wonder what Jesus thinks of this psalm. Reading this psalm against the life of Jesus verses 4 and 5 really jump out:

I do not sit with the deceitful,

nor do I associate with hypocrites.

I abhor the assembly of evildoers

and refuse to sit with the wicked.

Jesus refused to refuse to sit with the "wicked". Jesus associated with sinners. He spent a lot of time catching flack for it from pious religious people like me.

Let's look at verses 9, 10, and 11 again, too:

Do not take away my soul along with sinners,

my life with those who are bloodthirsty,

in whose hands are wicked schemes,

whose right hands are full of bribes.

I lead a blameless life;

redeem me and be merciful to me.

If we're dividing up souls based on who's lived a blameless life I'm in a lot of trouble. I try, and sometimes I do okay but blameless I am not. I'm not even all that good, let alone perfect. Most of the time I'm a mess. If God needs me to be perfect before I can be redeemed I'm just not going to make it. No way. Not happening.

What Jesus has done, then, is to turn this on its head. We can't be perfect so he was for us. He has redeemed us and forgiven our sins and paved a path forward for us so that we can become that which we were created to be.

Maybe I said that wrong. Maybe I should have said that he has paved a path forward so that we can become that which we are being created to be. Creation is a process. I'd like to think that I'm not a finished product yet. I know I've still got some rough edges and a few glitches and bugs. I'm like a beta release. Not quite there yet but a work in progress.

I'd like to think that Jesus sat with sinners and ate with them and ministered to them and died for them so that they, make that us for we are all sinners, can have the righteousness that this psalmist has. Jesus made a way for us to all avoid what the psalmist sees as the fate of sinners.

We can all be redeemed. We can all be set free from both the consequences of our sin and from sin itself. We no longer have to be held captive to our selfish, sinful nature. Jesus did not wait until we were blameless to redeem us but instead he has redeemed us so that we can become blameless.

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