Hey Bible readers, I'm Tara Lee Cobble and I'm your host for the Bible Recap.

In the beginning of Psalm 26, it may seem like David is boasting about his righteousness,

but as he continues on, he makes it clear that the source of his righteousness is God's steadfast love.

That's what enables him to trust in God.

In verse 3, he says he's walking in God's faithfulness, not his own.

This is another crucial distinction. He loves the nearness of

God and hates the things God opposes. This Psalm was likely written about the time when

so many of David's friends and family betrayed him

and joined forces with his estranged son, Absalom.

So the references to hypocrites and men of falsehood make a lot of sense.

David used to walk closely with these men, so you can see why he would want to set himself apart from them now that they've shown their true colors.

He wants to be markedly different as a man of integrity for the glory of God. He wants to be vindicated as he disassociates from

the evildoers. Psalm 40 covers a lot of ground. This was written to be a corporate song, but it was almost certainly born out of a lot of David's personal experiences.

If we zoom out on the timeline of his life,

this Psalm almost seems to fit his storyline perfectly so far.

In verse 1, he waits patiently by seems to fit his storyline perfectly so far.

In verse one, he waits patiently before the Lord,

just as he waited 15 years to be king.

In verse two, God drew him up out of the pit of destruction

when Saul was trying to destroy his life.

And David continued to praise God, and God continued to bless David.

He mentions repeatedly how he proclaimed God's goodness for all to hear.

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