Psalm 26:1
“By David, Judge me, O Lord,
for in my innocence I have walked,
And in the Lord I have trusted
I shall not falter.
Try me, Lord, and test me;
refine my mind and heart.”
Psalm 26 begins with a simple request for a test,” Miriam explained. “David has experienced a special closeness to God. He has come very far in his life of devotion. Like a person who has just performed an amazing feat of jumping up high or doing a flip, he asks with excitement: 'Look at me! How am I doing?'
As David learns, we are all human and with great limitations. When we think we are doing so well that we can ask for a test that is the time we get into trouble.”
David says "Judge me God, for 'in my innocence I have walked.'" This was the same expression that was used when Abraham was tested in his 10th and most difficult test. Possibly David was striving to reach the level of Abraham but, when he asked to be tested, God gave him the test of Bathsheva and that was a test David could not pass.
God will give us tests during our life, to be sure. Some we will pass, some we will fail. The tests we are given will be in accordance with God's wisdom about what each of us needs to experience in this life and what we can handle. When we judge one another, we are really doing God's job and not ours. He is the true judge who knows what is in each of our hearts.
Woven within the words of this psalm is a wisdom: Regardless of where we are at the moment, whether, as lofty as a brave King, who has dedicated his life to serving God and humanity, or as an ordinary person like me who may be afraid of a small bug - there is the concept of Trust, (‘Bitachon’ in Hebrew), trust in God's wisdom to give each of us the tests that we need in this lifetime.”
Although we may wish the tests were easier, as David learned, it is not a good idea to ask for more tests. Rather, simply to trust in God's wisdom and love and to continue as best we can, to walk a path of goodness in the world.”
David concludes with this realization:
"My foot stands on level ground;
In assemblies I will bless the Lord."