PSALMS 27

     We will begin this lesson by giving the Psalms in metre.

                   THE PSALMS OF DAVID IN METRE

                           Chapter 26

verse 1  "Judge me, O Lord, for I have walked In my integrity;
          I trusted also in the Lord, Slide therefore shall not I."
verse 2  "Examine me, and do me prove; Try heart and reins, O God;
          For thy love is before my eyes, Thy truth's paths I have
          trod."
verse 3  "With persons vain I have not sat, Nor with dissemblers gone;
          Th' assembly of ill men I hate; To sit with such I shun."
verse 4  "My hands in innocence, O Lord, I'll wash and purify;
          So to thy holy altar go, And compass it will I."
verse 5  "That I, with voice of thankfulness, May publish and declare,
          And tell of all thy mighty works, which great and wonderous
          are."
verse 6  "The habitation of thy house, Lord, I have loved it well;
          Yea, in that place I take delight, Where doth thy honor
          dwell."
verse 7  "From sinners and from men of blood, My soul and life
          relieve; Upon whose hands are stains of crime, Whose right
          hands bribes receive."
verse 8  "But as for me, I will walk on In my integrity:
          Do thou redeem me, and, O Lord, Be merciful to me."
verse 9  "My foot upon an even place Now stands with steadfastness:
          And where his saints assembled are, Jehovah I will bless."

     We will now get into the verse by verse study of the 26th Psalm.
Psalms 26:1 "{ [A Psalm] of David.} Judge me, O LORD; for I have
walked in mine integrity: I have trusted also in the LORD; [therefore]
I shall not slide."

     The slide, here, is similar to what we would call backslide.
Integrity could mean unblemished. I am so glad that Jesus is the Judge
of the world. I believe this is what David is saying for himself and
others here. We know we will be judged fairly, if Jesus is the Judge.
Notice, also, that he put his trust in the Lord. When we put our trust
in the Lord, it means that He has already paid the price in full for
our sin. Our sin has been done away with, if we put our trust in
Jesus. Notice, also, that David has walked in the salvation he
received. We must walk in our salvation, as well. We must not go back
to the old life style. When you back slide, it means you have gone
back to your sinful way of life. We must all say with David, God I
trust your judgement.

     Psalms 26:2 "Examine me, O LORD, and prove me; try my reins and
my heart."

     God looks upon the heart of man, and not at the outward
appearances. David is explaining, here, that he wants God to look into
his heart and see that it is not evil. This prayer that David prayed
in the verse above, is like us saying purge me Lord. My prayer, and
your prayer, should be like this, that God would judge us now and burn
out all of the evil left in us. Wash me, and I shall be whiter than
snow.

     Psalms 26:3 "For thy lovingkindness [is] before mine eyes: and I
have walked in thy truth."

     The love of God {Agape} is so far above even the knowledge of
mankind.  Try to explain to me how God could love you and me enough to
send His Son to be crucified that we might be saved. God's
lovingkindness is everywhere I look. I see it in my children,
grandchildren, and even in the fact that we have made it through this
life without our family being broken up. Along with David, I can say,
I could not live without the truth of God to guide me. Man {who does
not know God and His truth} lives like no more than an animal. It is
the morality that we live by through God that makes us better.

     Psalms 26:4 "I have not sat with vain persons, neither will I go
in with dissemblers."

     Vain, in the verse above, means untruth or deceitful. Dissemblers
means evil people. David is saying here that, he does not associate
with evil, deceitful people. We, also, have been warned over and over
not to fellowship with those of unbelief. II Corinthians 6:14 "Be ye
not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship
hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light
with darkness?" This does not mean that you cannot go and witness to
the lost. It does mean not to partake of their evil deeds to witness
to them. Witness and go home. Don't stay and get involved in their
sinful way of life.

     Psalms 26:5 "I have hated the congregation of evildoers; and will
not sit with the wicked."

     David was very smart in the fact that he stayed away from
evildoers. I have said before, many times someone goes along just for
a ride and gets arrested with the person they are with by association.
To sit with the wicked shows fellowship. If we do not hate evil, we
are apt to get involved in it. We have to make a decision which side
we are on. Are we godly people, or have we chosen to sit with the
ungodly?

     Psalms 26:6 "I will wash mine hands in innocency: so will I
compass thine altar, O LORD:"

     We know that Pilate washed his hands of the matter of crucifying
Jesus.  It was as if he was saying, this is innocent blood you are
shedding. I wash my hands of the whole matter. In other words, I am
innocent. This is what David is saying here. I am innocent of wrong
doing. Compass means to revolve around. This, then, means that David
walked near and around the altar. Notice, also, that David realizes
the altar is God's. This washing of David's hands was very similar to
Pilate. They were both saying to those around, I am innocent, I wash
my hands of the matter.

     Psalms 26:7 That I may publish with the voice of thanksgiving,
and tell of all thy wondrous works.

     We should be constantly giving the sacrifice of praise to God.
Even the disciples were told of Jesus to go out and spread the good
news of the gospel. We know that in the gospels, we are told that
those who are ashamed of Jesus on this earth, Jesus will be ashamed of
them in heaven. Those who give Him praise here, He wilt exalt before
His Father and the angels. Revelation 3:5 "He that overcometh, the
same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his
name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my
Father, and before his angels." To tell anything at all about God
would be telling of His wondrous works. John 21:25 "And there are also
many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be
written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not
contain the books that should be written. Amen." We would be telling
of His wondrous work from now to the end of time, if we told of all
His wondrous works.

     Psalms 26:8 "LORD, I have loved the habitation of thy house, and
the place where thine honour dwelleth."

     We are told how important it is to gather at the Lord's house.
Jesus said, My house shall be called a house of prayer. It troubles me
greatly in our society today how little respect we show God in His
house. Of course, He dwells in us, but the church where you go to
church is, also, His habitation. Do you love to go to church?  Why do
you go to church. If we go for any other reason than to fellowship
with God in and through His Word, we are going for the wrong reason.
We need to get back to where the house of God is a place of worship,
not a place of entertainment. Everything in the church should be
dedicated to holy work. We are standing on holy ground, when we go to
church. We should go to church to commune with God.

     Psalms 26:9 "Gather not my soul with sinners, nor my life with
bloody men:"

     We know that in this world we live in the midst of sinners. We,
also, know when harvest time for the reaping of the earth comes, the
wheat and the chaff are gathered together. Then comes the separation.
The wheat will be carried off into God's barn {heaven}, and the chaff
shall be burned. David is saying, Let me be the wheat. I do not want
to go the way of the sinner. David is saying, Whatever you do, don't
put me with these evil men. Bloody men were repulsive to David, and
they should be repulsive to us, as well.

     Psalms 26:10 "In whose hands [is] mischief, and their right hand
is full of bribes."

     David goes into detail, here, about the evil that these sinners
are doing. The right hand has to do with spiritual blessing. This
really just means all kinds of evil dealings.

     Psalms 26:11 But as for me, I will walk in mine integrity: redeem
me, and be merciful unto me.

     David is saying, As for me and my house, we will serve God. David
knows his redemption lies in the mercy of God. Our redemption depends
upon the mercy of God toward us. Our cry should be: Be merciful to me
Lord, for I am a sinner. Redeem my soul from everlasting torment. I do
not deserve it, but give me life everlasting in heaven with Jesus.
Count my faith in Jesus Christ my Lord as righteousness for me.

     Psalms 26:12 "My foot standeth in an even place: in the
congregations will I bless the LORD."

     I have planted my feet on the solid Rock, which cannot be moved.
We are told not to neglect the assembling of ourselves together. We
should sing praises to God. We should praise Him from our very inner
being. We should shout praises of His wonderful works. Bless the Lord,
O my soul and all that is within me, bless His Holy Name. We should
stand like the oak tree that can not be moved. We should stand for
God, and then having done all, we should stand.
































                             Questions 27

1.  What is slide, in verse 1, similar to in our day?
2.  What is David saying when he asks God to judge him?
3.  What does backsliding mean?
4.  What does purge mean?
5.  What does Agape mean?
6.  I could not live without the ______ of ___ to guide me.
7.  A man, who does not know God, lives like no more than an _______.
8.  What does vain mean, in verse 4?
9.  Who does dissemblers mean?
10. Who are Christians not to be unequally yoked with?
11. What does sit with the wicked show?
12. What is likely to happen to us, if we do not hate evil?
13. Who washed his hands to show his innocence in crucifying Jesus?
14. What does it mean when we say, I wash my hands of the whole
    matter?
15. What does compass mean?
16. What type sacrifice should we be constantly giving God?
17. Is it possible to have your name blotted out of the book of life?
18. How many miracles did Jesus do?
19. What is the habitation of God?
20. Do you love to go to church?
21. Why do you go to church?
22. The house of God should be a place of _______, not __________.
23. At harvest time, what happens to the wheat and the chaff?
24. As for me and my house, we ___ _____ ___ ____.
25. What should we ask God to count as righteousness for us?
26. I have planted my feet on the solid ____.