Psalm 26:1–2: “Vindicate me, O LORD, / For I have walked in my integrity. / I have also trusted in the LORD; / I shall not slip. / Examine me, O LORD, and prove me; / Try my mind and my heart.”

February 1st, 2024 by Pastor Ed in devotional

This was a psalm written when David had apparently been accused of something, and he didn’t believe he had done anything wrong. David was saying, “I have been walking faithfully, trusting God, and keeping short accounts with Him.” He was not claiming to be sinless. He was claiming that he had been careful to confess and repent whenever convicted by God of wrongdoing. Therefore he was asking God to fully analyze his recent thoughts and actions. Christian author Frances J. Roberts wrote of how God analyzes:

My Spirit searches the deep things of the heart. I not only taste the fruit, I test the soundness of the tree. I do not look at the leaves, but examine the roots. I behold not the shape of the tree, but test the heart.

Ouch! That is a painful thought to most of us. Because when we are truly honest with ourselves we know that our hearts are “prone to wander.” But we don’t have to despair because the clean feeling of fresh forgiveness from our heavenly Father is one of the greatest sensations a soul can experience.

“Father, we turn from sin; please forgive us of our sins this day, we ask in Jesus’ name.”