◄ Psalm 26:9 ►
Do not take my soul away with sinners, or my life with men of bloodshed,
Study Bible
Do not take my soul
The phrase "Do not take my soul" is a heartfelt plea from David, the psalmist, expressing his desire for divine protection and separation from the fate of the wicked. The Hebrew word for "soul" here is "nephesh," which often denotes the life or the very essence of a person. In the ancient Hebrew context, the soul was not just a part of a person but represented the whole being. David's request is not merely for physical preservation but for the safeguarding of his entire being from the consequences of sin and association with the wicked. This plea reflects a deep trust in God's justice and mercy, acknowledging that God alone has the power over life and death.

along with sinners
The phrase "along with sinners" highlights David's desire to be distinguished from those who live in rebellion against God. The Hebrew word for "sinners" is "chata'im," which refers to those who miss the mark of God's standards. In the historical context of Israel, being counted among sinners was not just a social stigma but a spiritual peril. David's plea is rooted in a desire for holiness and a life set apart for God. This reflects the biblical theme of separation from sin and the call to live a life that is pleasing to God, as seen throughout the Old and New Testaments.

or my life with men of bloodshed
The phrase "or my life with men of bloodshed" further emphasizes David's plea for separation from those who commit acts of violence and injustice. The term "men of bloodshed" refers to individuals who are characterized by violence and murder. In the ancient Near Eastern context, such individuals were often seen as threats to the community's peace and stability. David's request underscores his commitment to righteousness and his desire to avoid the influence and judgment that comes upon those who engage in such acts. This plea aligns with the biblical principle that God abhors violence and calls His people to pursue peace and justice.

Persons / Places / Events
1. David
Traditionally attributed as the author of this Psalm, David is expressing a plea for divine distinction between himself and the wicked.

2. Sinners
Refers to those who live in opposition to God's laws and righteousness.

3. Men of Bloodshed
Individuals who engage in violence and murder, representing extreme wickedness.

4. God
The ultimate judge and protector, whom David is appealing to for deliverance.

5. The Assembly of the Righteous
Implied as the opposite of the company of sinners, where David desires to be found.
Teaching Points
The Importance of Righteous Living
David's plea highlights the importance of living a life that is distinct from the wicked. Believers are called to pursue holiness and righteousness.

God as the Righteous Judge
Trust in God's ability to discern and judge between the righteous and the wicked. This encourages believers to rely on God's justice rather than taking matters into their own hands.

The Danger of Association with the Wicked
Associating with sinners can lead to spiritual compromise. Believers should be cautious about their relationships and influences.

Prayer for Deliverance
Like David, believers should regularly pray for deliverance from evil influences and for strength to remain steadfast in righteousness.

Eternal Perspective
David's concern is not just for his earthly life but for his soul. Believers should maintain an eternal perspective, focusing on their spiritual well-being and ultimate destiny.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does David's plea in Psalm 26:9 reflect his understanding of God's justice and mercy?

2. In what ways can believers today ensure they are not "taken away with sinners" in their daily lives?

3. How does the concept of separation from the wicked in Psalm 26:9 relate to the teachings of Jesus in the New Testament?

4. What practical steps can you take to avoid the influence of "men of bloodshed" or those who live in opposition to God's ways?

5. How can the assurance of God's righteous judgment provide comfort and motivation for living a holy life?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Psalm 1
Contrasts the way of the righteous and the wicked, similar to David's plea for separation from sinners.

Proverbs 1:10-16
Warns against joining with sinners and those who shed blood, echoing David's desire for separation.

Matthew 25:31-46
Jesus speaks of the final judgment, where the righteous are separated from the wicked, aligning with David's plea for distinction.

2 Corinthians 6:14-18
Paul advises believers to separate themselves from unbelievers, resonating with David's request to not be grouped with sinners.

Revelation 18:4
A call to come out from Babylon, symbolizing the separation from sin and wickedness.
Sermons
A Desire to be Separate from All SinnersPsalm 26:9
The Awful AssociationEvangelistPsalm 26:9
The Company and Destiny of Sinners UndesirablePsalm 26:9
The Eternal SeparationW. Forsyth, M. A.Psalm 26:9
The Final Separation of MankindJohn Robertson.Psalm 26:9
The Gathering Time of SoulsD. Thomas, D. D.Psalm 26:9
The Great Care and Concern Now that Our Souls be not Gathered with Sinners in the Other WorldT. Boston, D. D.Psalm 26:9
The Saint's Horror At the Sinner's HellPsalm 26:9
An Appeal Marked by Specific EntreatyC. Clemence, D. D.Psalm 26:1-12
Assailed Integrity's Final Appeal. F1C. Clemance Psalm 26:1-12
David's Appeal and its IssueBp. Wm. Nicholson.Psalm 26:1-12
David's IntegrityD. Caldwell, M. A.Psalm 26:1-12
IntegrityW. Forsyth Psalm 26:1-12
Leading Proofs of Personal PietyHomilistPsalm 26:1-12
The Character of an Upright Man Sketched by HimselfC. Clemence, D. D.Psalm 26:1-12
The Oppressed Righteous ManC. Short Psalm 26:1-12
People
David, Psalmist
Places
Jerusalem
Topics
Along, Blood, Bloodshed, Bloodthirsty, Bloody, Gather, Numbered, Sinners, Soul, Sweep
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Psalm 26:9-10

     5238   bribery

Library
Question of the Comparison Between the Active and the Contemplative Life
I. Is the Active Life preferable to the Contemplative? Cardinal Cajetan, On Preparation for the Contemplative Life S. Augustine, Confessions, X., xliii. 70 " On Psalm xxvi. II. Is the Active Life more Meritorious than the Contemplative? III. Is the Active Life a Hindrance to the Contemplative Life? Cardinal Cajetan, On the True Interior Life S. Augustine, Sermon, CCLVI., v. 6 IV. Does the Active Life precede the Contemplative? I Is the Active Life preferable to the Contemplative? The Lord …
St. Thomas Aquinas—On Prayer and The Contemplative Life

Hezekiah, the Praying King
One can form a habit of study until the will seems to be at rest and only the intellect is engaged, the will having retired altogether from exercise. This is not true of real praying. If the affections are laggard, cold, indifferent, if the intellect is furnishing no material to clothe the petition with imagery and fervor, the prayer is a mere vaporing ofintellectual exercise, nothing being accomplished worth while.--Rev. Homer W. Hodge The great religious reformation under King Hezekiah and the …
Edward M. Bounds—Prayer and Praying Men

The Courts of God
"Lord, I have loved the habitation of Thy house, and the place where Thine honour dwelleth."--Ps. xxvi. 8. R. Rolle, 1349. tr., Emma Frances Bevan, 1899 O Lord, I have loved the fair beauty Of the house Thou hast chosen for Thee, The courts where Thy gladness rejoiceth, And where Thou delightest to be. For I love to be made the fair dwelling Where God in His grace may abide; I would cast forth whatever may grieve Thee, And welcome none other beside. Oh blessed the grace that has made me The home …
Frances Bevan—Hymns of Ter Steegen and Others (Second Series)

Epistle v. To Theoctista, Sister of the Emperor.
To Theoctista, Sister of the Emperor. Gregory to Theoctista, &c. With how great devotion my mind prostrates itself before your Venerableness I cannot fully express in words; nor yet do I labour to give utterance to it, since, even though I were silent, you read in your heart your own sense of my devotion. I wonder, however, that you withdrew your countenance, till of late bestowed on me, from this my recent engagement in the pastoral office; wherein, under colour of episcopacy, I have been brought …
Saint Gregory the Great—the Epistles of Saint Gregory the Great

A Discourse of the Building, Nature, Excellency, and Government of the House of God; with Counsels and Directions to the Inhabitants Thereof.
BY JOHN BUNYAN, OF BEDFORD. 'Lord, I have loved the habitation of thy house, and the place where thine honour dwelleth.'--Psalm 26:8 ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR. Beautiful in its simplicity is this treatise on the Church of Christ, by John Bunyan. He opens, with profound knowledge and eminent skill, all those portions of sacred writ which illustrate the nature, excellency, and government of the house of God, with the personal and relative duties of its inhabitants. It was originally published in …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

Letter xxxix (A. D. 1137) to the Same.
To the Same. He expresses his regret at his very long absence from his beloved Clairvaux, and his desire to return to his dear sons. He tells them of the consolations that he feels nevertheless in his great labours for the Church. 1. My soul is sorrowful until I return, and it refuses to be comforted till it see you. For what is my consolation in the hour of evil, and in the place of my pilgrimage? Are not you in the Lord? Wherever I go, the sweet memory of you never leaves me; but the sweeter the …
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux—Some Letters of Saint Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux

Assurance
Q-xxxvi: WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS WHICH FLOW FROM SANCTIFICATION? A: Assurance of God's love, peace of conscience, joy in the Holy Ghost, increase of grace, and perseverance therein to the end. The first benefit flowing from sanctification is assurance of God's love. 'Give diligence to make your calling and election sure.' 2 Pet 1:10. Sanctification is the seed, assurance is the flower which grows out of it: assurance is a consequent of sanctification. The saints of old had it. We know that we know …
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity

St. Augustine (Ad 354-430)
PART I The church in the north of Africa has hardly been mentioned since the time of St. Cyprian (Chapter VIII). But we must now look towards it again, since in the days of St. Chrysostom it produced a man who was perhaps the greatest of all the old Christian fathers--St. Augustine. Augustine was born at Thagaste, a city of Numidia, in the year 354. His mother, Monica, was a pious Christian, but his father, Patricius, was a heathen, and a man of no very good character. Monica was resolved to bring …
J. C. Roberston—Sketches of Church History, from AD 33 to the Reformation

Question Lxxxiii of Prayer
I. Is Prayer an Act of the Appetitive Powers? Cardinal Cajetan, On Prayer based on Friendship II. Is it Fitting to Pray? Cardinal Cajetan, On Prayer as a True Cause S. Augustine, On the Sermon on the Mount, II. iii. 14 " On the Gift of Perseverance, vii. 15 III. Is Prayer an Act of the Virtue of Religion? Cardinal Cajetan, On the Humility of Prayer S. Augustine, On Psalm cii. 10 " Of the Gift of Perseverance, xvi. 39 IV. Ought We to Pray to God Alone? S. Augustine, Sermon, cxxvii. 2 V. …
St. Thomas Aquinas—On Prayer and The Contemplative Life

A Treatise on Good Works
I. We ought first to know that there are no good works except those which God has commanded, even as there is no sin except that which God has forbidden. Therefore whoever wishes to know and to do good works needs nothing else than to know God's commandments. Thus Christ says, Matthew xix, "If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments." And when the young man asks Him, Matthew xix, what he shall do that he may inherit eternal life, Christ sets before him naught else but the Ten Commandments. …
Dr. Martin Luther—A Treatise on Good Works

The Morning of Good Friday.
The pale grey light had passed into that of early morning, when the Sanhedrists once more assembled in the Palace of Caiaphas. [5969] A comparison with the terms in which they who had formed the gathering of the previous night are described will convey the impression, that the number of those present was now increased, and that they who now came belonged to the wisest and most influential of the Council. It is not unreasonable to suppose, that some who would not take part in deliberations which were …
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

The Greatness of the Soul,
AND UNSPEAKABLENESS 0F THE LOSS THEREOF; WITH THE CAUSES OF THE LOSING IT. FIRST PREACHED AT PINNER'S HALL and now ENLARGED AND PUBLISHED FOR GOOD. By JOHN BUNYAN, London: Printed for Benjamin Alsop, at the Angel and Bible in the Poultry, 1682 Faithfully reprinted from the Author's First Edition. ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR. Our curiosity is naturally excited to discover what a poor, unlettered mechanic, whose book-learning had been limited to the contents of one volume, could by possibility know …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

Question of the Contemplative Life
I. Is the Contemplative Life wholly confined to the Intellect, or does the Will enter into it? S. Thomas, On the Beatific Vision, I., xii. 7 ad 3m II. Do the Moral Virtues pertain to the Contemplative Life? S. Augustine, Of the City of God, xix. 19 III. Does the Contemplative Life comprise many Acts? S. Augustine, Of the Perfection of Human Righteousness, viii. 18 " Ep., cxxx. ad probam IV. Does the Contemplative Life consist solely in the Contemplation of God, or in the Consideration …
St. Thomas Aquinas—On Prayer and The Contemplative Life

Psalms
The piety of the Old Testament Church is reflected with more clearness and variety in the Psalter than in any other book of the Old Testament. It constitutes the response of the Church to the divine demands of prophecy, and, in a less degree, of law; or, rather, it expresses those emotions and aspirations of the universal heart which lie deeper than any formal demand. It is the speech of the soul face to face with God. Its words are as simple and unaffected as human words can be, for it is the genius …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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