PSALM 26 – “LISTEN, LINGER, LOUNGE” WILL FAIL THE TEST AND IT IS ALL OVER
Today we will be looking at the first 5 verses of Psalm 26, one of the Lectionary readings for today. (This message was given one Sunday morning in Boston, England, where I had been invited to share in a teaching ministry in the churches.)
{{Psalm 26 v 1. Vindicate me, O LORD, for I have walked in my integrity, and I have trusted in the LORD without wavering. (ESV)
Psalms 26:1 Judge me, O LORD; for I have walked in mine integrity: I have trusted also in the LORD; therefore I shall not slide. (KJV).
Psalms 26:1 “Vindicate me, Lord, for I have led a blameless life; I have trusted in the Lord and have not faltered.” (NIV)
Psalm 26:1 “Vindicate me, O LORD, for I have walked in my integrity and I have trusted in the LORD without wavering.”}} (NASB)
[A]. THE TESTIMONY OF THE OPEN HEART BEFORE GOD
I have provided 4 different translations as the English language gets a bit confused at times because of its extensive vocabulary. How do we understand this opening verse? It is a personal testimony, honest and sincere, though there are those who criticise and say it is boastful, which it is not. There are 4 parts to this verse, all important aspects in a righteous man’s walk. I will consider them, but not in order. They are indicated by certain words I have selected.
(1). INTEGRITY -> David states he has walked in integrity, and that would be, by the leading of the Holy Spirit. It is right for him to say that. The Hebrew word, “tom” means blameless, innocence, integrity, upright, and the word was connected with part of the high priest’s breastplate. The word is connected with the highest morality and ethical standing. Only a person led by the Spirit could attain that. Those Christians who live sloppy and non-committed life will fall short.
(2). TRUST -> David was the man after the heart of God, and that was God’s declaration, not man’s assumption. No one is considered favourable in God’s sight without faith or trust, and that means abiding faith and trust. God wants consistency, not wavering. Without faith it is impossible to please God. We consider those two words as synonyms often, faith and trust, but to be honest in the Christian sense, there is a difference. Faith is what brings a person to Christ, and his walk through his life is the walk of faith. Trust is actually the nearness to the Lord, that holds God’s hand daily, knowing He only has the best for you. It is the warmness of the Lord’s presence, and the position of the sheep that walks closely, almost at the Shepherd’s feet. How is your walk with the Lord? Do you walk as one at the Shepherd’s feet, or do you walk at a distance, afraid of commitment and trust?
(3). NOT SLIDE -> (That expression is used by the KJV translation). When you look at different bible versions, you will notice a few different translations of this word. The Hebrew means “slipping, sliding, tottering, shaking, and what comes from walking unsteadily”. Other versions use “wavering” or “faltered” instead. We need to consider this very carefully and understand David’s mind here. What he writes, he does so in the total belief that the Lord is sufficient to keep him from slipping, sliding, tottering, shaking, and from walking unsteadily. There is no boasting here. His trust is in the Lord. David knew the steadfastness of Jehovah. He knew the power of God. He knew the keeping power of God. He knew God would keep him from sliding. Ask yourself this question, “Do you believe God can keep you from sliding?” (pause) Then ask, “What causes you slide?” How do I slide? What is the reason for it?
In David’s life we know about Bathsheba, and we know of other failings. How do we reconcile all this; that David would say he would not slide when we know that he did? Yes, we acknowledge God is able to keep us from sliding, so we can confidently say, as David did, “I have trusted God, and therefore I will not slide or falter.” The sad thing is, that we are betrayed by our sinful natures, and sin suddenly catches us up. Our prayer should always be as David’s was in {{Psalm 141:9 “Keep me from the jaws of the trap which they have set for me, and from the snares of those who do iniquity. Psa 141:10 Let the wicked fall into their own nets, while I pass by safely.”}}
We can think ourselves into positions to which we have not attained. We are happy to say, we will not fall into sin and our faith will hold us up. Remember it is only the Lord who can hold you up. You can’t do that yourself.
In Luke 8, the Lord asked his disciples to take the boat, and row to the other side of the lake while he slept, being exhausted. Then a storm arose which is not uncommon on that lake (Gennasaret) and conditions turned for the worst, and they woke the Lord with a cry for help as they thought they were all going to be drowned. The Christian culture is rich in hymns and choruses that are sung with gusto and determination, but often there is a gap between poetic sentiment, and the furnace of practicality. When the skies are blue, and things seem to be going fine, and we sail on a calm sea in all the delights of the day, it is so easy to sing choruses in a detached, non-applied way, even to sing them with a certain amount of feeling and meaning. Choruses such as these:
“With Christ in my vessel, I can smile at the storm,
Smile at the storm, smile at the storm.
With Christ in my vessel, I can smile at the storm
Until the day is done.”
But, when the greying skies deepen and the tempest is upon us, and we face tragedy, or loss, or persecution, and we find ourselves removed from our safe, sheltered area of contentment; we hear the thunder roll; see the lightning pierce the sky, then we forget our chorus, or we feel far removed from its message. We forget about being thankful for God’s will. We know the scriptures say, “In everything, give thanks,” but when the time arrives, we don’t, or we can’t.
Christ is in my vessel, but I can’t smile at the storm. In fact, often I can’t even know that Christ is in my vessel. What should we do then? “Oh ye of little faith,” the Lord said to His disciples. Pray for that faith which can hold onto the Lord’s promise and presence, throughout all the tempestuous episodes of life. David says in our key verse in {{Psalm 26 v 1, “I have trusted in the Lord and have not faltered.”}} May we trust in the Lord, and if our boat starts to fill with water, may we, too, keep trusting in the Lord. AND, if we do fail, then return to Him, for He is compassionate and forgiving.
JUDGE -> (Used only by the KJV). Examine me. Most versions translate the word as “vindicate”. In the original, it means mostly to enter into judgement or to judge, a little like a jury considering its verdict. O, for an honest heart in each of us, that would call on God to examine each of us. Consider the wonderful way Psalm 139 ends – {{Psalm 139:23 “Search me, O God, and know my heart. Try me and know my anxious thoughts; 139:24 and see if there be any hurtful way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way.”}} Those two verses are so telling. We all get anxious about things. The Lord knows all those thoughts and the burdens of our hearts, but in these Psalm verses, the psalmist wanted the eye of God to scan across his life to see if anything was amiss.
There is a really beautiful hymn that is sung to the tune called Maori Farewell, and written by the godly man, J Edwin Orr. I will quote the three stanzas for us to think about truthfully.
1 Search me, O God, and know my heart today;
Try me, O Savior, know my thoughts, I pray.
See if there be some wicked way in me;
Cleanse me from ev'ry sin and set me free.
2 I praise thee, Lord, for cleansing me from sin;
Fulfill thy Word, and make me pure within.
Fill me with fire where once I burned with shame;
Grant my desire to magnify thy name.
3 Lord, take my life and make it wholly thine;
Fill my poor heart with thy great love divine.
Take all my will, my passion, self, and pride;
I now surrender; Lord, in me abide.
In this world it is so very easy to pick up soul contamination as easily as walking in something on the road, or on a footpath (sidewalk) or a shopping centre. These unclean blots enter our lives and we know what they can be without my spelling them out. The plea of the psalmist was that God would identify them in his life and lead him correctly.
Psalm 119 is unnamed but has the marks of David all over it, a man who loved the word of God. David asked the Lord to judge or examine him and God did that. Consider these verses from Psalm 119, especially 67 and 71 - {{Psalm 119:67 “Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep Your word. Psa 119:68 You are good and do good. Teach me Your statutes. Psa 119:69 The arrogant have forged a lie against me. With all my heart I will observe Your precepts. Psa 119:70 Their heart is covered with fat, but I delight in Your law. Psa 119:71 It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I may learn Your statutes.”}}
We must always be open to the Lord’s reproof and walk humbly before Him. Verse 2 of Psalm 26 takes up the same thought we have been considering, that of the Lord’s examining and judging. {{Psalm 26:2 “Examine me, O LORD, and try me. Test my mind and my heart, Psalm 26:3 for Your loving-kindness is before my eyes and I have walked in Your truth.”}}
[B]. THE WALK OF THE MAN OF GOD
{{Psalm 26 v 4. I do not sit with men of falsehood, nor do I consort with hypocrites.
Psalm 26 v 5. I hate the assembly of evildoers, and I will not sit with the wicked.”}}
This all goes back to the foundation psalm, Psalm 1. The first Psalm lays out the decision line, that line of division between the righteous and the wicked and that theme is kept right through the psalms – {{Psalm 1:1 “How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers!”}} Verse 1 there, contains the 3 negative aspects of the positive man of God (not walk, not stand, not sit). They concern what he does not do, and therefore, he does the opposite. (Consider the progression there – down and down.)
The verse is best known in the KJV – {{Psalm 1:1 “How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers!”}}
He walks in the way as the ungodly or the wicked; starts to adopt their footsteps; starts to take heed of what they do. Next, he is standing in the path of sinners. Now he has come to a standstill and listens and takes in what he hears. The “ungodly” and “wicked” in those verses, are those with no care for God, and evil in heart, but the sinners are committing acts of sin, and are worse than the previous two. Then that man on the downward path, is found sitting with the scorners and scoffers, those who mock God, and blaspheme. To sit with them is to be part of them in the closest way. What a devastation it is when you first begin to walk in the way of the wicked. The path will always be away from God.
The next verse in Psalm 1 says that the godly man has his delight in the Law of God and meditates on it day and night. Here it is – {{Psalm 1:2 “But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and in His law he meditates day and night.” The Law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul and guiding every Christian in life. For David, he had the Pentateuch as the rest of the Old Testament was being written, or not yet written. We have more. We are more blessed.
May I challenge you to take up the word of God, to read it, to know it, and to practise it daily. There is an old saying, that sin will keep you from this book, or this book will keep you from sin! I have found it quite enlightening this year to look into some of what John Wesley wrote, and there is one very well known quote of his that fits right into verse 2 of Psalm 1. [["God himself has condescended to teach the way: for this very end He came from heaven. He hath written it down in a book. O give me that book! At any price, give me the Book of God!" [John Wesley, Preface to Standard Sermons]. I think the Methodists would know revivals like they did in the past, if all Methodists became people of the Book. Not just read the words of the Bible, but let the words read you; God’s word to search you. They will change you. They will transform your mind to make you active servants of the Lord.
In these days we need people who will be surrendered to God, for the days are dark and are darkening very quickly. Reality for God is what God blesses. Nothing less. God does not want play actors otherwise known as hypocrites.
Do you recall the life of Lot, Abraham’s nephew? They separated because the land could not support both and Abraham gave Lot the choice, but Lot chose the well watered plains of Sodom as he seemed to see the appeal of that place; Sodom, the jewel in the crown, we could say, that for which he hankered after. He began to walk in the way of Sodom, then we read he was later living in Sodom, and then we read he was sitting in the gate of Sodom. There you have it, walk, stand, sit. He had become part of this evil place and had no right to be there. It is a little surprising to discover in the New Testament where God tells us that righteous Lot was grieved with the conversation of the wicked men of Sodom, but he became part of it. That too is the slide – walk, stand, sit, or if you like alliteration, then the title of today’s message - LISTEN, LINGER, LOUNGE.
The Lord’s people must hate evil. Often our hate of evil extends to the evil ones, and we find it hard to separate deed from doer, but we must hate the deeds, yet pray for the doers. As it is said often, “We hate the sin, not the sinner.” David could rightly hate the gathering or congregation of wicked people; as today, we would hate the organisation called The Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL), and the organisations that promote homosexuality and gender assignment for children. Verses 4 and 5 are all about separation.
May we be a separated people for God, not conformed to the world, but transformed in our minds, to the mind of Christ.
{{Romans 12:1 “I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice acceptable to God which is your spiritual service of worship, Rom 12:2 and do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”}}
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