A Prayer for Divine Scrutiny and Redemption

¹Vindicate me, O Lord ,[#Ps. 7:8]

For I have walked in my integrity.

I have also trusted in the Lord ;

I shall not slip.

²Examine me, O Lord , and prove me;[#Ps. 17:3; 139:23]

Try my mind and my heart.

³For Your lovingkindness is before my eyes,

And I have walked in Your truth.

⁴I have not sat with idolatrous mortals,[#Ps. 1:1; Jer. 15:17]

Nor will I go in with hypocrites.

⁵I have hated the assembly of evildoers,[#Ps. 31:6; 139:21]

And will not sit with the wicked.

⁶I will wash my hands in innocence;

So I will go about Your altar, O Lord ,

⁷That I may proclaim with the voice of thanksgiving,

And tell of all Your wondrous works.

⁸Lord , I have loved the habitation of Your house,[#Ps. 27:4; 84:1–4, 10]

And the place where Your glory dwells.

⁹Do not gather my soul with sinners,[#Ps. 28:3]

Nor my life with bloodthirsty men,

¹⁰In whose hands is a sinister scheme,

And whose right hand is full of bribes.

¹¹But as for me, I will walk in my integrity;

Redeem me and be merciful to me.

¹²My foot stands in an even place;[#Ps. 40:2]

In the congregations I will bless the Lord .