BROADCASTS.com

Vindicate me, Lord, for I have led a blameless life; I have trusted in the Lord and have not faltered. Test me, Lord, and try me, examine my heart and my mind; for I have always been mindful of your unfailing love and have lived in reliance on your faithfulness (Psalm 26:1-3)

At first glance Psalm 26 feels unreachable. How on earth can we pray, "I have led a blameless life"? But as we study the poem, we see that David is not writing this on his death bed but regarding a specific situation. Likely, people are making false accusations against him.

Even so we may still believe the psalm is beyond us. Yet, it can be instructive and helpful for our journey with God. David puts forth the underlying theme of his life. He is blameless, or as he defines it, "I have trusted in the Lord and have not faltered."

David invites us to join him in a life lived fully in trusting God. What does that look like? In this psalm we discover these things.

First, it is a life open to God's examination: "Test me...examine my heart and mind" (2). David opens his decisions, his reason, his intellect, and his emotions to the Lord's examination.

This open attitude towards God is essential to the Christian life. Jesus said that true worshippers "worship in spirit and truth" (John 4:24). When I was growing up the preacher often encouraged us to worship this way and he prayed for it as well. It became like a clich\xe9.

Its meaning is quite simple: that we come into God's presence fully conscience of the condition in which we enter. I have often heard people pray that we would leave the past week and all its distractions behind as we enter Sunday's communal worship. I think it is better that we take all that stuff along and dump it before God and admit it has distracted us from him. We cannot worship God when we try to hide our lives from him.

Further, David indicates that there are two things that he keeps in his mind and heart all the time: God's love (3) and truth (4-7). These two truly belong together. When we live with the awareness of God's love, it leads us to live God's way. When we divert from God's truth, we will lose the comfort of his love. And his love keeps drawing us back to his truth.

Seeking that truth keeps David away from those who have no interest in it. This does not mean that David never meets or talks with such people. But he does not join them in the way they live, nor does he get into situations where he compromises his integrity.

Finally, his desire is to be near God. His joy is to be with God. In the Old Testament times that meant being in the temple. We can be thankful that through Jesus we can come near to God. The writer of Hebrews says, \u201cBrothers and sisters, we are not afraid to enter the Most Holy Room. We enter boldly because of the blood of Jesus. His way is new because he lives. It has been opened for us through the curtain. I\u2019m talking about his body. We also have a great priest over the house of God. So let us come near to God with a sincere heart. Let us come near boldly because of our faith. Our hearts have been sprinkled. Our minds have been cleansed from a sense of guilt. Our bodies have been washed with pure water (10:20-21).

David also says that he loves to join in the praise of the great assembly. Part of a blameless life is a desire to be with God's other people. Together we lift the name of the Lord and encourage one another to trust in the Lord and not to falter.

As you journey, go with the blessing of God:

May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you: wherever he may send you.\xa0May he guide you through the wilderness: protect you through the storm.\xa0May he bring you home rejoicing: at the wonders he has shown you.\xa0May he bring you home rejoicing : once again into our doors