Tehillim – Psalms 26 and 126.
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Remember the following three truth’s from our beloved Scriptures!
“Ye shall NOT ADD TO THE WORD which I command you, neither shall ye diminish from it, that ye may keep the commandments of יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם (the LORD your Elohim) which I command you”. Davarim - Deuteronomy 4:2. (JPS-1917).
“This is My Name FOREVER, and this is My Memorial to ALL Generations”. Shemot - Exodus 3:15. (JPS).
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What have they in common?
With Rabbi, Dr. Reuven Ben Avraham-Goossens,
PhD.
Introduction:
In this study we are looking
at the concise and close readings of Tehillim - Psalm 26 as well as number 106.
We will look at the ‘highlighting structure’, ‘key lines’, ‘theological
thrusts’, and ‘practical implications’. Then we will draw to their main points
of contact’.
Form and speaker:
Structure:
Petition
for vindication and plea for testing (vv. 1–3).
Repulsion
of wicked company, and love of אֱלֹהִים
- Elohim’s (God’s) house (vv.
4–8).
Condemnation
of hypocrites and affirmation of trust (vv. 9–11).
Final
commitment to walk in integrity, and to praise אֱלֹהִים. (v. 12).
Commentary re these
Psalms:
Form and speaker:
A personal vindication of
this Psalm is attributed to King Dovid - David in
which the speaker appeals to אֱלֹהִים
- Elohim’s courtroom
to declare his integrity, and to separate him from the wicked.
Petition
for vindication and plea for testing. (vv.
1–3):
Repulsion
of wicked company, and love of אֱלֹהִים - Elohim’s
house. (vv.
4–8. JPS-1917).
Condemnation
of hypocrites, and affirmation of trust. (vv. 9–11, JPS).
Final
commitment to walk in integrity and to praise אֱלֹהִים. (v. 12).
Key theological moves:
The psalm grounds a claim to
vindication in moral integrity and covenantal faithfulness rather than
self-righteous boasting.
Worship life is the reliable
proof of character; presence in the sanctuary and delight in אֱלֹהִים - Elohim’s
rites certify moral standing.
The poem uses ‘courtroom
imagery’: examination, proof, verdict, and separation of righteous from wicked.
Literary and pastoral note:
The psalm models how one may bring a confident conscience before אֱלֹהִים, asking
for scrutiny so that divine vindication may be evident to others.
Representative lines:
“Examine me, O LORD, and try me; test my reins and my heart ... LORD,
I love the habitation of Thy house”. Tehillim – Psalm 26:2
& 8. (JPS-1917).
Form and speaker:
A communal historical
Tehillim - Psalm that reads as a national confession and lament. The speaker
recounts Israel’s repeated failures and אֱלֹהִים
- Elohim’s enduring mercy.
Structure:
Opening
praise and, petition to be remembered. (vv. 1–5).
Confession
that “we and our fathers” sinned (vv. 6–12).
Catalogue
of “national transgressions through wilderness, Canaan”, and later “rebellions”. (vv. 13–43).
Corporate
plea for “restoration” and “final hallelujah”. (vv. 44–48).
Key theological
moves:
The Tehillim - Psalm
balances two poles: “אֱלֹהִים
- Elohim’s steadfast
loving-kindness”, and sadly Israel’s
persistent unfaithfulness.
Historical memory
functions theologically: ‘recounting
failures intensifies the display of divine mercy’.
Confession is communal; responsibility is corporate and generational, and
the remedy sought is אֱלֹהִים
- Elohim’s mercy for the covenant
people.
Literary and
pastoral note:
The Tehillim - Psalm reads
like a national liturgical act of ‘repentance’ and ‘teaching’, intended to
humble the community ‘while pointing to the necessity of divine forgiveness’.
Representative
lines:
“We have sinned with our fathers ... Nevertheless He saved them for His Name's sake”.
Appeal to divine
judgment and mercy:
Both address “אֱלֹהִים
as judge and vindicator, combining “a plea for justice” with “trust in
אֱלֹהִים
- Elohim’s faithful character”.
Use of examination
or historical memory as moral means:
Tehillim - Psalm 26 invites - “אֱלֹהִים
to examine the individual’s heart”; whilst Tehillim - Psalm 106 - rehearses corporate history so Israel’s moral
record is exposed. Both employ
scrutiny one inward and present, the other retrospective and communal to
establish the need for אֱלֹהִים
- Elohim’s response”.
Concern for worship
and covenant order:
Tehillim - Psalm 26 links
right standing with devotion in אֱלֹהִים
- Elohim’s house;
Tehillim - Psalm 106 links
“covenant fidelity with national wellbeing”. Both treat correct relationship to
אֱלֹהִים
- Elohim’s appointed means (worship,
covenant promise) as decisive for life and fate.
Courtroom and
covenant imagery together:
Each Tehillim uses legal
language: “vindication”, “examination”, “oath”, and “judgment”, framed by the
covenantal backdrop that explains why אֱלֹהִים acts
for or against Israel or an individual.
Pastoral function: ethical
self-assessment leading to reliance on אֱלֹהִים.
Both aim to move
hearers/readers from self-examination or communal confession toward renewed
trust in אֱלֹהִים rather
than confidence in self.
Contrasts worth
noting:
Personal
vs. corporate focus.
Tehillim - Psalm 26 is an individual’s plea for vindication; Psalm 106 is the
nation’s confession for collective sinfulness.
Tone and mood:
Tehillim - Psalm 26 is confident and forward-facing, emphasizing present
integrity and hope for vindication.
Tehillim - Psalm 106 is
reflective and penitential, cataloguing failures to magnify אֱלֹהִים
- Elohim’s mercy.
Function in
worship:
Tehillim - Psalm 26 fits
private or congregational testimony seeking vindication;
Whilst Tehillim - Psalm 106
functions as communal lament and didactic history used to cultivate repentance.
What does all this
mean?:
I suggest that you read the
two Tehillim together, in order to learn how ‘faithful worship and honest
confession work together’: true worship is informed by integrity, and heartfelt
confession points back to the mercy that sustains covenant life!
Tehillim - Psalm
26, Opening Prayer of Vindication and Integrity:
יְהוָה,
בַּחֲנֵנִי
וּבְחָנֵנִי;
בַּחֵן
לִבִּי וּבְחַן
מַחֲשָׁבוֹתַי;
יִגְלֶה
עֵינְךָ הַנֶּאֱמֶנֶת
וְתִשְׁפֹּט
אֶת־הַצֶּדֶק.
הַרְחֵקֵנִי
מִמֶּעֱדֵי
רְמִיּוֹת וּמִגַּאֲוָה;
הַקְדִּישֵׁנִי
לְהִתְהַלֵּךְ
בְּתָמִים.
כוֹנֵן
אוֹתִי
בְּבֵית
תְּהִלָּתֶךָ;
טַהֵר יָדַי
וְתֵן
לְקוֹלִי
תְּדוּמַת
הוֹדָיָה.
עֲשֵׂה חַייּ
לְעֵדוּת
לְמִשְׁפָּטֶךָ
וּלְנֶאֱמָנוּתֶךָ,
וּתְנַהֵלְנִי
לַעֲמֹד
תָּמִים
לְפָנֶיךָ
כָּל יְמֵי.
אָמֵן.
Transliteration:
“YaHVaH, ba’cha’neni uve’chā’nēni; bā’chēn libbī uve’chān maḥ’sha’votay; yig’leh ei’ne’kha ha’ne’mé’net ve’tish’pōṭ et’ha’tzedek. har’chē’kēnī mim’me’edei re’miy’yōt u’mi’gā’avah; hak’di’shēnī le’hit’hallēkh be’ta’mīm. ko’nēn o’tī be’beit te’hilā’te’khā; ta’hēr ya’dāy ve’tēn le’kolī te’dūmat ho’da’yāh. 'a’sē ḥa’yāy le’ed’ūt lemi’špāte’chā ul’ne’emā’nūte’chā, ut’na’hēl’nī la’a’mōd ta’mīm le’fa’nekha kol ye’mē.” Amēn.
Translation:
“O יְהוָה - LORD, examine my heart and prove my mind; let your faithful eye discern what is right. Keep me from the company of the deceitful and the proud; set me apart to walk in integrity. Establish me in the house of your praise; let my hands be clean and my voice give thanks. Make my life a testimony to your justice and faithfulness, and grant that I may stand blameless before you all my days”. Amen.
Tehillim - Psalm
26, Brief Confession and Assurance:
Confession:
“O יְהוָה -
LORD, search us and know our hearts; we confess the times we sought comfort in crooked
companions, the words we offered while our hands were stained, and the
complacency that kept us from your house”.
Assurance: “יְהוָה - the LORD who delights in uprightness hears the
prayer of the contrite and sets the faithful apart for praise”.
I pray that these two Tehillims have touched your heart’s, thus why not come closer to our beloved יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ - the LORD our Elohim, בָּרוּךְ שֵׁם קָדוֹשׁוֹ – ‘Baruch Shem Kadosho’ – ‘Blessed be His Holy Name’.
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אֲנִי
יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם, בְּחֻקּוֹתַי
לֵכוּ; וְאֶת-מִשְׁפָּטַי
שִׁמְרוּ, וַעֲשׂוּ
אוֹתָם
וְאֶת-שַׁבְּתוֹתַי, קַדֵּשׁוּ; וְהָיוּ
לְאוֹת, בֵּינִי
וּבֵינֵיכֶם-לָדַעַת, כִּי
אֲנִי יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם
“I am אֱלֹהֵיכֶם יְהוָה - the LORD your Eloheichem; walk in My statutes,
and keep Mine ordinances, and do them; and hallow My Sabbaths, and they shall
be a sign between Me and you, that ye may know that I am אֱלֹהֵיכֶם יְהוָה - the LORD your Eloheichem”.
Yechezkel - Ezekiel 20:19-20. (JPS).
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שָׁלוֹם
עֲלֵיכֶם - Shalom Aleichem - Peace be with you!
Rabbi, Dr. Reuven Ben Avraham-Goossens, PhD.
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