2 Samuel 22:24

24. Upright towards him Correct and true in my relations to him.

My iniquity The iniquity into which I am ever prone to run. These words show that David does not utter these professions of innocence as a claim of absolute purity and perfection, for the expression, my iniquity, indicates a consciousness of human infirmity. The righteousness and innocence which he here and elsewhere pleads have reference to his deportment towards his enemies, and his observance of the religious ordinances of Israel. The testimony of sacred history is, that “David did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord, and turned not aside from any thing that he commanded him all the days of his life, save only in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.” 1 Kings 15:5; see note. That matter of Uriah, and other sins of David’s life, affected not the righteousness of his deportment towards his foes, nor his habitual observance of the statutes of the Lord; and as his object in this triumphal Psalm is to praise God for his deliverance from all his enemies, it was in keeping with his purpose not to speak of his own private sins, but to show the righteousness of his cause, and his integrity in all his conflicts with enemies. To make these things prominent served both to honour David and magnify Jehovah.