to hate (personally) · verb, qal perfect, 1st person common singular
congregation
קְהַ֣לke.Hal
H6951
assemblage (usually concretely) · noun, common masculine singular construct
doers
מְרֵעִ֑יםme.re.'Im
H7489
properly · verb, hiphil active participle, masculine plural absolute
sit
אֵשֵֽׁב'e.Shev
H3427
properly · verb, qal imperfect, 1st person common singular
wicked
רְ֝שָׁעִ֗יםre.sha.'Im
H7563
morally wrong · noun, common masculine plural absolute
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Psalms 31:6 I have hated them that regard lying vanities: but I trust in the LORD.
Psalms 101:3-8 I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes: I hate the work of them that turn aside; it shall not cleave to me.
Psalms 139:21-22 Do not I hate them, O LORD, that hate thee? and am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee?
Psalms 1:1 Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornf…
1 Corinthians 5:9-11 I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators:
Matthew 9:11-12 And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto his disciples, Why eateth your Master with publicans and sinners?
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Psalms 26:1-5
It is probable that David penned this psalm when he was persecuted by Saul and his party, who, to give some colour to their unjust rage, represented him as a very bad man, and falsely accused him of many high crimes and misdemeanors, dressed him up in the skins of wild beasts that they might bait him. Innocency itself is no fence to the name, though it is to the bosom, against the darts of calumny. Herein he was a type of Christ, who was made a reproach of men, and foretold to his followers that they also must have all manner of evil said against them falsely. Now see what David does in this case.
I. He appeals to God's righteous sentence (Psa 26:1): "Judge me, O God! be thou Judge between m…
As exemplified by the fruits of divine grace, presented in his life, especially in his avoiding the wicked and his purposes of cleaving to God's worship.
John Gill on Psalms 26:5
I have hated the congregation of evildoers,.... That do harm to the persons, characters, or properties of men; and who meet together in bodies, to consult and form schemes to do mischief, and have their assemblies to encourage each other in it; these, their works and actions, the psalmist hated, though not their persons; and showed his displicency at them, and dislike and disapprobation of them, by absenting from them; see Jeremiah 15:17;
and will not sit with the wicked; ungodly and unrighteous men, sons of Belial; for with such what fellowship and concord can there be? 2 Corinthians 6:14; the word (x) signifies restless and uneasy persons, who cannot rest unless they do mischief; are like…
Psalm 26:5-7
5. I hate the assembly of transgressors, and I will not sit with the wicked. 6. I will wash my hands in purity, [570] and will encompass thine altar, O Jehovah! 7. That I may make men to hear the voice of thy praise, and tell them of all thy wonderful works.
5. I hate the assembly. The Psalmist protests again how greatly he abhorred the ungodly. Formerly he denied that he had any fellowship with them; now he still more explicitly declares that he fled from their company with loathing, for that is the meaning of the phrase, I hate. It is indeed true, that the wicked are everywhere hated; but how few withdraw themselves from them, that they may not imitate their vices! David ass…
The Church Fathers
"I have hated the congregation of evil doers." But to arrive at this council of vanity, congregations of evil doers are formed, which I have hated. "And I will not sit with the ungodly" [Psalm 26:5]. And, therefore, with such a council, with the ungodly, I will not sit, that is, I will not place my consent. "And I will not sit with the ungodly."
Do not be malicious toward one another, for the Lord detests this vice, as he says: "I hate the assembly of evildoers." Let us, then, amend vices of the flesh, dearly beloved, for the sake of beauty of soul, in which there is the image of Christ. I speak the truth, brothers, that if we want to observe all these things, we will also say to the one who is tempting us: Do not persuade me, devil, to defile the image of my God by listening to you. He suffered for me, he was covered with spittle for me, he was struck with blows on the cheek for me, he was scourged for me, he was hung on a cross for me. This the servant of God should say to his tempter: Truly you will not persuade me to do what you are urging.
It would have been a lesser thing for a holy person to have avoided the wicked council if he had also hated the assembly of those who are deceptive in every way. Hatred indicates division, just as there is cooperation in love. Whereas he said earlier that he did not sit in the council of vanity, so now he professes that he does not sit with the wicked. Both of these groups should be forsaken completely. Some are vain and others are wicked. The vain are those who occupy themselves with ephemeral pursuits and spend their time in needless discussion. But the wicked are heretics who attempt to degrade the divine Scriptures by their treacherous questions, just as the apostle Peter says: "Distorting them to their own destruction and ruin." So he properly warns us to avoid both groups, for the former love empty things and later plant the spears of their depravity.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Alliance And Society With The Enemies Of God · Saints hate and avoid — Saints hate and avoid
Company · EVIL — EVIL
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
He still further bases his petition upon his comportment towards the men of this world; how he has always observed a certain line of conduct and continues still to keep to it. With Psa 26:4 compare Jer 15:17. מתי שׁוא (Job 11:11, cf. Psa 31:5, where the parallel word is מרמה) are "not-real," unreal men, but in a deeper stronger sense than we are accustomed to use this word. שׁוא (= שׁוא, from שׁוא) is aridity, hollowness, worthlessness, and therefore badness (Arab. su') of disposition; the chaotic void of alienation from God; untruth white-washed over with the lie of dissimulation (Psa 12:3), and therefore nothingness: it is the very opposite of being filled with the fulness of God and with…
Because of his devotion to the Lord (26:1-3), the psalmist dissociates himself from evil people (see 1:1).
Spurgeon's Treasury of David on Psalms 26:5
I have hated the congregation of evil doers; and will not sit with the wicked.
I have hated the congregation of evil doers. A severe sentence, but not too severe. A man who does not hate evil terribly, does not love good heartily. Men, as men, we must always love, for they are our neighbours, and therefore to be loved as ourselves; but evil doers, as such, are traitors to the Great King, and no loyal subject can love traitors. What God hates we must hate. The congregation or assembly of evil doers, signifies violent men in alliance and conclave for the overthrow of the innocent; such synagogues of Satan are to be held in abhorrence. What a sad reflection it is that there should be a congreg…
