Psalm 26: The Kinetic Energy of Protest before God

    The one who asks God to vindicate him in Psalm 26 is committed to "walking" in reliance on God. The alternative the psalmist rejects: that of acquiescing to evil and dishonesty. The prayer is full of controlled kinetic energy. 

    Psalm 26 has 12 lines. Aside from the short initial appeal, a header of the whole, each line has a defined shape: two halves with an aggregate of 6-7 stress maxima (feet) and 15-17 syllables. The prayer is punctuated by seven references to יהוה, five of which are vocative, after the addition of יהוה in "redeem me, יהוה, show me your favor!" The addition is conjectural. Quite apart from the conjectural addition, the prayer is carefully configured from the point of view of meter and rhythm and the deployment of the trope of recurrence. In the English rendering I offer, an attempt is made to carry over a number of features of the source text which are often lost in translation. For more on Psalm 26, go here.

Psalm 26
Be my judge, יהוה!	שָׁפְטֵנִי יְהוָה
For I have walked with integrity;	כִּי־אֲנִי בְּתֻמִּי הָלַכְתִּי
in יהוה I have trusted, wavering not.	וּבַיהוָה בָּטַחְתִּי לֹא־אֶמְעָד
Try me, יהוה, test me,	בְּחָנֵנִי יְהוָה וְנַסֵּנִי
with fire refine my heart and core!	צְרוֹפָה כִלְיוֹתַי וְלִבִּי
For my eyes are on your kindness,	כִּי־חַסְדְּךָ לְנֶגֶד עֵינָי
I walk in reliance on your faithfulness.	וְהִ֯תְהַלַּכְתִּי בַּאֲמִתֶּךָ
I have not sat down with liars,	לֹא־יָשַׁבְתִּי עִם מְתֵי־שָׁוְא
with the sly I will have no dealings.	וְעִם נַעֲלָמִים לֹא־אָבוֹא
I have spurned the company of evildoers,	שָׂנֵאתִי קְהַל מְרֵעִים
with the wicked I will not sit down.	וְעִם רְשָׁעִים לֹא־אֵשֵׁב
I will wash my hands of guilt,	אֶרְחַץ בְּנִ֯קָּיוֹן כַּפָּי
so that I, יהוה, may circle your altar,	וַאֲסֹבְבָה אֶת־מִזְבַּחֲךָ יְהוָה
listening to the sound of thanksgiving,	לִשְׁמֹעַ בְּקוֹל תּוֹדָה
recounting all your wonders.	וּלְסַפֵּר כָּל־נִ֯פְלְאוֹתֶיךָ
יהוה, I have chosen the abode of your house,	יְהוָה אָהַבְתִּי מְעוֹן בֵּיתֶךָ
the dwelling-place of your glory.	וּמְקוֹם מִשְׁכַּן כְּבוֹדֶךָ
Do not harvest my neck along with wrongdoers	אַל־תֶּאֱסֹף עִם־חַטָּאִים נַפְשִׁי
my life along with blood-guilty men,	וְעִם אַנְשֵׁי דָמִים חַיָּי
in whose hands are plots,	אֲשֶׁר בִּידֵיהֶם זִמָּה
whose right hand is full of bribes!	וִימִינָם מָלְאָה שֹּׁחַד׃
On my part, I shall walk with integrity:	וַאֲנִי בְּתֻמִּי אֵלֵךְ
redeem me, יהוה, show me your favor!	פְּדֵנִי יְהוָה וְחָנֵּנִי
My foot stands on level ground,	רַגְלִי עָמְדָה בְמִישׁוֹר
in the assemblies, you I shall bless, יהוה!	בְּמַ֯קְהֵלִים אֲבָרֵךְ יְהוָה

Comments

[Phil Sumpter]

Why do you translate "אָהַבְתִּי" with "chosen"?

[JohnFH]

Hi Phil,

I left a comment over at your blog. Congratulations on being so close to a finishing line. May it be for you a day of new beginnings.

I also translated "שָׂנֵאתִי" with "spurned."

For comparison's sake, you might look at Malachi 1:2-3 (note the added layer of interpretation the division into pesuqim offers); NJPSV translates: "yet I have accepted (אהב) Jacob, and rejected
(שנא) Esau."

Another paradigmatic term of comparison: Deut 21:15.

In my view, the polar terms have more to do with choices than they do with emotional states.

Here is another way to think through the issues. Which truth depends on the other, the truth that that one can love and fear the same person, or the truth that love casts out all fear?

[Mike Gantt]

This post reminds me that the Lord's primary concern for us in this earth is that we walk righteously. Oh, that we might love righteousness and hate lawlessness as He did when He was here!

[lily]

I think I can buy that a prayer is full of Kinetic energy in a way, but really kinetic energy is known to be the energy of motion, so how is a prayer full of Kinetic energy??

[JohnFH]

The prayer's language describes motion over and over again: walking, sitting, circling, standing. That is what I had in mind.

[charlotte]

I agree totally with what you are saying John. I feel liberated when I pray, it's a necessity in daily life for me to do this, it keeps me sane. Thanks for your blog it is truly inspirational.