Chapter 26 is a prayer in which King David presents himself before the Holy One, blessed be He, as one who does not belong to the faction of hypocrites - those people who are filled with evil in secret and flatter outwardly, "in his heart he lays an ambush," acting like Zimri while seeking the reward of Pinchas. David says to the faithful Examiner, the Master of the World: There is no flaw in my deeds; I am pure both in action and in thought. On this basis, he asks that what befalls flatterers should not happen to him, neither in matters of spiritual happiness nor in the success of physical life.
לְדָוִד שָׁפְטֵנִי יְהֹוָה כִּי אֲנִי בְּתֻמִּי הָלַכְתִּי וּבַיהֹוָה בָּטַחְתִּי לֹא אֶמְעָד׃ - Of David: Judge me, Hashem, for I have walked in my integrity, and in Hashem I have trusted, I will not falter.
"Judge me, Hashem" - You, Master of the World, see what my judgment and my case are, for You know that I am righteous; You search the heart and mind. David presents two aspects: corresponding to deeds - "I have walked in my integrity," my actions are complete and wholehearted; and corresponding to the heart's faith, conscience, and inner life - "and in Hashem I have trusted, I will not falter," a trust from which I never waver, a trust to which I cling constantly and never remove from myself.
Rashi addresses a difficulty: elsewhere David says, "Do not enter into judgment with Your servant," yet here he requests, "Judge me, Hashem"? The resolution is magnificent: When You judge the wicked - judge me; but when You judge the righteous - do not bring me into judgment. That is to say, compared to the wicked, I always emerge righteous, but compared to this tzaddik or that tzaddik, it might be revealed that I am lacking and not yet complete. Therefore, judge me only when You judge the wicked.
בְּחָנֵנִי יְהֹוָה וְנַסֵּנִי צָרְפָה כִלְיוֹתַי וְלִבִּי׃ - Examine me, Hashem, and test me; refine my innermost thoughts and my heart.
In contrast to having said that his actions are complete, he asks: "Examine me and test me." When are a person's deeds considered whole and sincere? Specifically when he performs them without any ulterior motive. One might do a good deed out of pride, so that people publicize him, so that others see how many good deeds he performs, or to flatter others and thus do them favors. Such a person will not endure at a time of testing, because his actions are not for the sake of Heaven, but for personal gain.
The proof of this is simple: if there is greater benefit for him in abandoning the deed, he will abandon it. As long as it is respectable to campaign for a certain spiritual matter, he arouses others and demands, "We must do such and such"; yet the moment it becomes clear to him that involvement in the matter might cause him harm, he immediately changes his tune: "Gentlemen, we do not have to do it this way, there are other ways too." He is a self-interested person whose sole consideration is his own gain. What do we call this in one word? A politician. When it is respectable to demand a unity government, he demands it; and when it is not respectable - "A unity government is the worst thing, it is a government of paralysis, forbidden at all costs." Ask him what is good, and he will tell you what is good for him at that exact moment, and he will go on to convince you that this is absolute perfection; the people of Israel stopped interesting him long ago.
King David says: I am not a politician. My deeds are genuine and pure; I do them solely because it is good. Whether it pays off for me or does not pay off - if it turns out that the matter I championed will cause me harm, let there be harm; I do it for the honor of the Creator, blessed be He, and I do not drop the issue just because I will lose out on account of it. "I have walked in my integrity."
And what is the repetition of "examine me" and "test me"? The Malbim explains: examine the actions, that they are like refined silver free of dross; and the method of examination is placing the metal into the crucible - "A crucible is for silver and a furnace for gold" - silver is refined and gold is placed into the furnace, through which it becomes clear whether it contains impurities, and it is purified. And corresponding to "and in Hashem I have trusted," which is the heart's trust, he says, "refine my innermost thoughts and my heart" - just as the refiner separates the dross and sees that they are clean and pure.
The Malbim further explains the distinction between examination (bechinah) and trial (nisayon), noting that a trial is greater than an examination. An examination is conducted to determine whether an object is good or defective, such as testing silver to see if it contains dross. A trial, on the other hand, probes its inner nature and latent properties - whether it possesses magnetic force or unique hidden qualities. The examination is external, whereas the trial is internal. The same applies to man: to examine a person means to evaluate his natural faculties - his strength, intellect, and discernment. Give him an intelligence test, and you will quickly see his capabilities; this is an ordinary, straightforward examination. But a trial tests whether you can master your nature, whether you will emerge victorious in a severe challenge. "And God tested Avraham" - He did not merely examine him, for what Avraham was naturally capable of, anyone could observe. Rather, it was a trial: to see if, under extreme duress, he could endure and even sacrifice his son to the Master of the World, transcending his very nature. David therefore declares: examine me even through external testing, and test my inner depths as well - "refine my reins and my heart."
כִּי חַסְדְּךָ לְנֶגֶד עֵינָי וְהִתְהַלַּכְתִּי בַּאֲמִתֶּךָ׃ - For Your lovingkindness is before my eyes, and I have walked in Your truth.
David now explains the paths through which he attained integrity and perfection in his deeds. The first: "For Your lovingkindness is before my eyes" - I constantly remember the kindnesses You perform for me, and they stand before my eyes. When a person constantly keeps Hashem's kindnesses in mind, he naturally aligns his ways before Him. He tells himself: How could I do what is evil in Hashem's eyes when He has done so much good for me, bestowing gifts and blessings upon me? I feel profound gratitude for the kindness You have shown me. The second: "And I have walked in Your truth" - because I recognized the truth of His greatness, splendor, and might, which inspires exalted awe (yirat haromemut), I reached a high level in Your service.
לֹא יָשַׁבְתִּי עִם מְתֵי שָׁוְא וְעִם נַעֲלָמִים לֹא אָבוֹא׃ - I have not sat with men of falsehood, nor will I enter with the secretive.
I have also distanced myself from the things that prevent a person from reaching perfection. "Men of falsehood" (metei shav) refers to worthless people, instigators, and enticers. The word metim here is not related to death (mitah), but rather means people, as in the phrase ir metim, an inhabited city. People who attempt to distance me from the service of Hashem with various heretical arguments - I have not sat with them.
And who are the "secretive" (na'alamim)? The Malbim offers an innovative explanation: people deeply attached to worldly pursuits, immersed in the physical world, whose deeds I did not emulate. Other commentators explain na'alamim as derived from concealment: people who conceal their sins and commit them in secret, hidden from public view, and I never joined them in their private hideaways. A further interpretation exists: the Holy One, blessed be He, concealed certain matters from His creations, and David declares that he does not delve into what is hidden from him, adhering to the dictum, "Do not seek what is beyond you." After all, we saw what happened to those who entered the Pardes - except for Rabbi Akiva, all suffered harm. Therefore, into hidden and concealed matters I do not probe or gaze.
שָׂנֵאתִי קְהַל מְרֵעִים וְעִם רְשָׁעִים לֹא אֵשֵׁב׃ - I hate the congregation of evildoers, and I will not sit with the wicked.
It has become second nature for me to hate those who do evil. Nor is this limited to isolated wicked individuals, but even a "congregation of evildoers." Sometimes a person can easily distance himself from a single bad actor, but when the entire crowd does wrong, he feels pressured to fall in line, not wanting to appear eccentric out of conformity and a desire to be part of the herd. David declares: I am unmoved even when facing an entire congregation, and I do not seek their favor.
From this conviction he vows, "And I will not sit with the wicked" - looking to the future as well, I will never sit with them, since sitting with the wicked goes against my very nature. From this stems the directive of the leading Torah sages (gedolei Yisrael) never to sit with the Reform movement in any manner: in any forum or committee where Reform representatives appear, those who tremble at the word of Hashem stand up and leave. There is not the slightest shred of recognition, manner of dialogue, or shared statement; they are not acknowledged in any way. This is the meaning of "I will not sit with the wicked." Ibn Ezra notes that a progression is described here: walking ("and I have walked"), sitting ("I have not sat"), and entering ("nor will I enter").
אֶרְחַץ בְּנִקָּיוֹן כַּפָּי וַאֲסֹבְבָה אֶת מִזְבַּחֲךָ יְהֹוָה׃ - I will wash my hands in innocence, and I will circle Your altar, Hashem.
The Kohanim who arrive for the service of the altar wash their hands with water, for there is a requirement of sanctifying the hands and feet from the Laver before the service. David says: I do not wash with water; rather, in innocence and purity will I wash my hands - my washing is the cleansing of the soul, in that I am pure from any trace of sin, and the purity and freedom of my soul from iniquity are my washing. Nor do I ascend the altar to offer sin-offerings and guilt-offerings, for David is not a Kohen and cannot ascend the altar; rather, "I will circle Your altar." And for what purpose?
לַשְׁמִעַ בְּקוֹל תּוֹדָה וּלְסַפֵּר כָּל נִפְלְאוֹתֶיךָ׃ - To make heard with a voice of thanksgiving, and to recount all Your wonders.
Lashmia is like lehashmia (to make heard). David has already said, "Your lovingkindness is before my eyes," expressing gratitude for all the kindnesses, and now he wishes to approach the altar to sound this thanksgiving for everything You have done for me. "And to recount all Your wonders" - this is the source for recounting His wonders, as in "speak of all His wonders." When a miracle occurs to someone, there is great value in recounting it, for the essence of thanksgiving is that I recount Your wonders and thereby people perceive the greatness of Hashem. Rashi explains "all Your wonders" refers to Hallel. Why? Because it contains praise for what occurred in the past, for the war of Gog, for the Messianic era, and for the World to Come. Everything is contained within Hallel - all the wonders of Hashem across all generations and eras.
יְהֹוָה אָהַבְתִּי מְעוֹן בֵּיתֶךָ וּמְקוֹם מִשְׁכַּן כְּבוֹדֶךָ׃ - Hashem, I have loved the habitation of Your house, and the place where Your glory dwells.
The Radak explains: I hated the assembly of evildoers, but the habitation of Your house I loved. This is the house where the Ark was situated, and where the Levites and Kohanim, the prophets, the pious, and the holy servants of God were found, such as Asaph and his brothers. In other words, I distance myself from the assembly of evildoers, whereas to the habitation of Your house, where the righteous are, I connect. Not only that, but "and the place where Your glory dwells" refers to the place where the Ark was, where the divine glory resides, meaning the holy spirit (Ruach HaKodesh) resting upon the prophets.
The Malbim emphasizes: I do not come to the Beit HaMikdash out of mere habit. As is known, when the Western Wall was liberated, the Torah leaders of Israel had a certain concern: that people would simply head down for Minchah and Maariv at the Kotel, turning the Kotel into a shtiebel. And indeed, one sometimes observes that for someone for whom the Kotel is his neighborhood shtiebel, living nearby, the attitude reflects that: people walk in, chat, and converse. Yet you have arrived at a place from which the Shechinah has never departed, where the Holy One, blessed be He, swore to the Western Wall that the Shechinah would never leave! You have arrived at a holy site; you ought to be filled with awe of the Divine grandeur. But because he lives there and visits every single day, there is a pitfall when one frequents a holy place daily.
Hence also the phenomenon - without casting aspersions, Heaven forbid - that precisely the yeshiva students and Torah scholars are sometimes the ones who show less external deference to synagogues and study halls, because they spend the entire day there. The gabbai becomes upset: why did someone leave a cup of coffee here? But while a casual visitor has come merely to "visit His sanctuary," the student spends eight hours there, so naturally he eats and drinks there, and sometimes things spill or make a mess. This does not mean it should be this way, but one can understand someone in that situation. David says: With me it is not so; I do not come out of routine, but rather "I have loved the habitation of Your house," out of genuine love and inner longing, because there is the place where Your glory dwells. And according to the Malbim, "where Your glory dwells" refers to the innermost part of the House, the Sanctuary and the Holy of Holies.
אַל תֶּאֱסֹף עִם חַטָּאִים נַפְשִׁי וְעִם אַנְשֵׁי דָמִים חַיָּי׃ - Do not gather my soul with sinners, nor my life with bloodthirsty men.
The Radak explains: Since I have chosen the company of the righteous and the holy and associate with them, I ask that You do not gather my soul with sinners, that I not die the death of sinners and bloodthirsty men. Concerning them it is said, "their soul is like water spilled on the ground" - the earth swallows the water and it is as if it is not known that it entered into it. But I ask that my soul be gathered to You and be bound in the bundle of life.
And the Malbim explains: "Do not gather my soul with sinners" - referring to the spiritual soul, that it not be gathered to Sheol and Gehinnom like the souls of sinners. "Nor my life with bloodthirsty men" - bloodthirsty men die before their time, and this is the meaning of "gathering his life", taking it while he is still supposed to be living. David asks that he not come to a state of dying before his time. They deserve it, for they are wicked, and You gather their lives prematurely; but I serve You.
אֲשֶׁר בִּידֵיהֶם זִמָּה וִימִינָם מָלְאָה שֹּׁחַד׃ - In whose hands is scheming, and their right hand is full of bribery.
And see why they deserve this: "In whose hands is scheming." In the Malbim's view, "their hands" refers to the left hand, with which they engage in depravity and scheming, committing the act of Zimri. This is the general rule: whenever "yad" (hand) and "yamin" (right hand) appear alongside one another, the first hand mentioned is the left hand, for otherwise why would it say "hand" once and "right hand" once? And what is the meaning of "and their right hand is full of bribery"? These are the hypocrites, the dissemblers who conceal their deeds: outwardly he performs good deeds, appears righteous, and does acts of kindness - and this is the "bribe" he offers, as it were, to the Holy One, Blessed be He: "Here, Master of the Universe, see that I have done a good deed, I came to the synagogue, I prayed." Yet at that very moment, in his left hand, the weaker and concealed hand, he harbors scheming. And Rashi explains that "zimah" is related to "zamam", a plotted thought - whether an evil plot or a good thought, it is called zimah.
וַאֲנִי בְּתֻמִּי אֵלֵךְ פְּדֵנִי וְחָנֵּנִי׃ - But as for me, I will walk in my integrity; redeem me and be gracious to me.
I walk in integrity, unlike those people who conceal their evil deeds; with me, what is on the outside matches what is in my heart, and I do not conceal things within. Therefore, I ask, "Redeem me and be gracious to me" - I do not need to offer You bribes; rather, redeem me and be gracious to me in the merit of my good deeds.
רַגְלִי עָמְדָה בְמִישׁוֹר בְּמַקְהֵלִים אֲבָרֵךְ יְהֹוָה׃ - My foot stands on level ground; in assemblies I will bless the Lord.
"My foot stands on level ground" - my foot has not faltered or collapsed, but stands firm and stable. Therefore, "in assemblies I will bless the Lord," which the Radak explains to mean: I will bless the Lord in a vast congregation. And the Malbim explains "stands on level ground" - it has not deviated from uprightness; I walk on an upright path, and my foot does not tread a crooked road. Therefore, in assemblies I will bless the Lord for all the goodness and kindness He bestows upon me, which are due to me according to my deeds, since I do not walk in the way of the wicked, but on a level path of uprightness and integrity.
Psalm 26 is the prayer of King David asking to be separated from the sect of hypocrites. He invites both examination and testing: an outward examination of deeds like the refining of silver, and an inward testing of the kidneys and heart - just as "God tested Abraham", to see whether a person is capable of rising above his nature. His ways of doing so: constant remembrance of God's kindnesses and acknowledging the truth of His greatness, distancing himself from deceitful men, dissemblers, and the congregation of evildoers, washing the soul in purity rather than merely washing with water, and an inner love for the habitation of God's House rather than attending out of routine. Standing in contrast are those whose left hand holds scheming and whose right hand is full of bribery - outward good deeds that conceal evil done in secret; David asks not to be gathered with them. And in conclusion: "But as for me, I will walk in my integrity" - I do not resort to bribes, but pray for redemption and grace, and because my foot stands on level ground, in assemblies I will bless the Lord.