At first glance, the tone of Psalm 26 may seem a bit arrogant, maybe even self-delusional. Some feel that this psalm is similar to the pharisaic prayer—self-righteous and full of hypocrisy. Others even feel that this psalm is less Christian than penance psalms like Psalm 6, 32, 38, 51, 130, and 143.

When our reference is limited to only two types of people—Pharisees and tax collectors—Psalm 26 becomes meaningless to us. Pharisees are those who chose to live without God’s grace, those who thought they had made it (Matthew 3:9; Matthew 23:28–29; Luke 18:11–12). Tax collectors are those who knew the depth of their depravity and begged for forgiveness (Luke 18:13–14). We readily identify with the tax collector, because, after all, aren’t we all sinners?

But there is a third type of person in Scripture—the righteous. Walking in integrity does not mean being sinless. The word integrity can also be translated as blameless. To walk before God blamelessly, with an undivided heart, does not mean being without sin. In nearly every book of the Bible, we find people who are called righteous even though they sinned. Sin and righteousness are found in the same person.

The Pharisee-tax collector polarity is not the polarity we see most often in Scripture. Rather, the division is more often made between those who are loyal to the covenant and those who are not—the righteous and the wicked.