Why read Psalm 26?
Psalm 26 offers courage and patience when you are afraid. Its declaration that the Lord is light and salvation, together with the call to wait for Him, encourages a steadfast heart.
You can read this psalm when its themes speak to your circumstances, or as part of your regular reading of the Psalter. This explanation draws on the text itself; the psalm is not reserved for one particular need.
"The Lord is my light and my salvation..." — so begins Psalm 26, twenty verses from the Fourth Kathisma. The Psalter is read in the Orthodox Church at every service, and this psalm has its own place in the order of prayer.
The text of Psalm 26
1. The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?
2. The Lord is the defender of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?
3. When they that do me wrong draw nigh unto me, to eat my flesh;
4. They that afflict me and mine enemies, even they have fainted and fallen.
5. Though an host should be arrayed against me, my heart shall not be afraid.
6. Though war should rise up against me, in Him will I hope.
7. One thing have I asked of the Lord, this will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,
8. That I may behold the beauty of the Lord, and visit His temple.
9. For the Lord hath hid me in His tabernacle in the day of my troubles; He hath sheltered me in the secret place of His tabernacle;
10. Upon a rock hath He lifted me up. And now, behold, He hath lifted up my head above mine enemies.
11. I have gone about and offered in His tabernacle a sacrifice of praise. I will praise the Lord and sing unto the Lord.
12. Hear, O Lord, my voice with which I have cried; have mercy upon me and hearken unto me.
13. My heart hath said unto Thee: I have sought the Lord. My face hath sought Thee; Thy face, O Lord, will I seek.
14. Turn not Thy face away from me, and turn not aside in wrath from Thy servant;
15. Be Thou my helper; cast me not off, neither forsake me, O God my Saviour.
16. For my father and my mother have forsaken me, but the Lord hath taken me to Himself.
17. Set me a law, O Lord, in Thy way, and guide me in the right path, because of mine enemies.
18. Deliver me not over unto them that afflict me, for unjust witnesses are risen up against me, and unrighteousness hath lied to itself.
19. I believe that I shall see the good things of the Lord, in the land of the living.
20. Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and let thine heart be strengthened, and wait on the Lord.
When Psalm 26 is read
- against fear — "The Lord is my light".
- At the end of each psalm, the tradition adds: "Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, both now and ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen."
Neighbouring psalms
The numbering follows the Orthodox Psalter (Septuagint). The same psalm may have a different number in other Bible editions.
