For thy lovingkindness is before mine eyes: and I have walked in thy truth.
I have not sat with vain persons, neither will I go in with dissemblers.
I have hated the congregation of evil doers;
and will not sit with the wicked. Psa 26:3-5
THE UPRIGHT MAN PLEADING FOR JUSTICE IN THE
COURT OF HEAVEN
I have not sat with vain persons, neither will I go in with dissemblers.
I have hated the congregation of evil doers;
and will not sit with the wicked. Psa 26:3-5
THE UPRIGHT MAN PLEADING FOR JUSTICE IN THE
COURT OF HEAVEN
The wicked are here characterized as “vain persons,” “dissemblers,” “evil-doers.” These terms are terribly significant. They are revelations of the heart. They are proofs of a state of society utterly alien and hostile to the life of God. David, in vindication of himself, declares his entire separation from all such people. He expresses his repugnance to their society. A man is known by the company he keeps. There is a power, for good or for evil, in the society we love. To be allied with the good is a blessing and an honor, but to be confederate with the bad is to be doomed to infamy. David could appeal to his past life. He had no relish for the society of the bad. “I have not sat with vain persons, neither will I go in with dissemblers.” He expresses his hatred of their character. His language is very strong: “I have hated the congregation of evil-doers.” It was not that he hated them as men, but that he hated their spirit and conduct—their character. “To hate the person, the existence, of any man, is wrong; it is to hate the workmanship of God. But to hate the character of a bad man is right, and even obligatory. God made the person, man made the character; and a bad character is an offence to the Almighty, and an injury to the universe: therefore it is holy to hate it.” (Dr. D. Thomas)
I Have Not Sat With Vain Persons
The eyes which have God’s loving kindness ever before them are endowed with penetrative clearness of vision into the true hollowness of most of the objects pursued by men, and with a terrible sagacity which detects hypocrisy and shame. Association with such men is necessary, and leaven must be in contact with dough in order to do its transforming work; but it is impossible for a man whose heart is truly in touch with God not to feel ill at ease when brought into contact with those who have no share in his deepest convictions and emotions. No doubt separateness from evil-doers is but part of a godly man’s duty, and has often been exaggerated into selfish withdrawal from a world which needs good men’s presence all the more the worse it is; but it is a part of his duty: “Come out from among them and be separate” is not yet an abrogated command. No man will ever mingle with “men of vanity” so as to draw them from the shadows of earth to the substance in God, unless his loving association with them rests on profound revulsion from their principles of action. None comes so near to sinful men as the sinless Christ; and if He had not been ever “separate from sinners” He would never have been near enough to redeem them. We may safely imitate His free companionship, which earned Him the glorious name of their Friend, if we imitate His remoteness from their evil.
(A. Maclaren, D. D.)
(A. Maclaren, D. D.)
Treasury of David
Charles Haddon Spurgeon
I have not sat with vain persons, neither will I go in with dissemblers.
I have hated the congregation of evil doers;
and will not sit with the wicked. Psa 26:4-5
Charles Haddon Spurgeon
I have not sat with vain persons, neither will I go in with dissemblers.
I have hated the congregation of evil doers;
and will not sit with the wicked. Psa 26:4-5
Psa 26:4 “I have not sat with vain persons.” - True citizens have no dealings with traitors. David had no seat in the parliament of triflers. They were not his boon companions at feasts, nor his advisers in council, nor his associates in conversation. We must needs see, and speak, and trade, with men of the world, but we must on no account take our rest and solace in their empty society. Not only the profane, but the vain are to be shunned by us. All those who live for this life only are vain, chaffy, frothy men, quite unworthy of a Christian's friendship. Moreover, as this vanity is often allied with falsehood, it is well to save ourselves altogether from this untoward generation lest we should be led from bad to worse, and from tolerating the vain, should come to admire the wicked. “Neither will I go in with dissemblers.” Since I know that hypocritical piety is double iniquity, I will cease all acquaintance with pretenders. If I must needs walk the same street, I will not enter the same door and spend my time in their society. The congregation of the hypocrites is not one with which we should cultivate communion; their ultimate rendezvous will be the lowest pit of hell, let us drop their acquaintance now! for we shall not desire it soon. They hang their beads around their necks, and carry the devil in their hearts. This clause is in the future tense, to indicate that the writer felt no desire to begin an acquaintance with characters whom up till then he had shunned. We must maintain the separated path with more and more circumspection as we see the great redemption day approaching. Those who would be transfigured with Jesus, must not be disfigured by conformity to the world. The resolution of the Psalmist suggests, that even among professed followers of truth we must make distinctions, for as there are vain persons oat of the church, so there are dissemblers in it, and both are to be shunned with scrupulous decision.
Psa_26:5 “I have hated the congregation of evil doers.” - A severe sentence, but not too severe. A man who does not hate evil terribly, does not love good heartily. Men, as men, we must always love, for they are our neighbors, and therefore to be loved as ourselves; but evil doers, as such, are traitors to the Great King, and no loyal subject can love traitors. What God hates we must hate. The congregation or assembly of evil doers, signifies violent men in alliance and conclave for the overthrow of the innocent; such synagogues of Satan are to be held in abhorrence. What a sad reflection it is that there should be a congregation of evil doers as well as a congregation of the upright, a church of Satan as well as a church of God; a seed of the serpent as well as a seed of the woman; an old Babylon as well as a new Jerusalem; a great whore sitting upon many waters, to be judged in wrath, as well as a chaste bride of the Lamb to be crowned at his coming. “And will not sit with the wicked.” Saints have a seat at another table, and will never leave the King's dainties for the husks of the swine-trough. Better to sit with the blind, and the halt, and the lame, at the table of mercy, than with the wicked in their feasts of ungodliness, yea, better to sit on Job's dunghill than on Pharaoh's throne.
Let each reader see well to his company, for such as we keep in this world, we are likely to keep in the next.
2Co 6:17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,
2Co 6:18 And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.
Psa_26:5 “I have hated the congregation of evil doers.” - A severe sentence, but not too severe. A man who does not hate evil terribly, does not love good heartily. Men, as men, we must always love, for they are our neighbors, and therefore to be loved as ourselves; but evil doers, as such, are traitors to the Great King, and no loyal subject can love traitors. What God hates we must hate. The congregation or assembly of evil doers, signifies violent men in alliance and conclave for the overthrow of the innocent; such synagogues of Satan are to be held in abhorrence. What a sad reflection it is that there should be a congregation of evil doers as well as a congregation of the upright, a church of Satan as well as a church of God; a seed of the serpent as well as a seed of the woman; an old Babylon as well as a new Jerusalem; a great whore sitting upon many waters, to be judged in wrath, as well as a chaste bride of the Lamb to be crowned at his coming. “And will not sit with the wicked.” Saints have a seat at another table, and will never leave the King's dainties for the husks of the swine-trough. Better to sit with the blind, and the halt, and the lame, at the table of mercy, than with the wicked in their feasts of ungodliness, yea, better to sit on Job's dunghill than on Pharaoh's throne.
Let each reader see well to his company, for such as we keep in this world, we are likely to keep in the next.
2Co 6:17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,
2Co 6:18 And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.
