Psalm 26

Daily

Inspirational Thoughts

to bless your life.

 Psalm 26

A Picture

of 

Faithfulness

A Daily Devotional

Monday through Thursday

by Beth McLendon

Monday 

To begin...

Here is a quick video overview of Psalm 26.

I am not endorsing this speaker - just this video.

Verse 5

Hate?

Understanding the word

 " hate "

in cases such as

Psalm 26:5.

In understanding what is meant

in Psalm 26,

I find helpful

the advice

of a preacher

I heard years ago. 

He said,

"Do not see hate as an emotion.

See it as though

the definition was

"constant opposition." "

The rest of our

Monday devotional

is

explaining

"constant opposition."

Let's take Psalm 26 verse 5

which says....

I have hated the assembly of evildoers - 

and then

translate

the verse,

so it now becomes.....

I have "constant opposition"

toward the assembly of evildoers.

This definition helps me to understand such verses better.

I sincerely believe that "constant opposition" gives a

better understanding

of the true meaning of the verse.

More understanding explained below.

* * * 

*

So,

in the case of Psalm 26 and many other times in the Bible,

I believe that

we can reject that it means

that we should have a

seething emotion

toward these people.

The Bible tells us we need to forgive,

and we need to pray for evildoers.

And I remind you that

Saul ( later called Paul ) in the New Testament was

putting Christians in jail

and promoting the death of Christians.

Yet in Acts chapter 9,

he totally changed when he became

born again.

We need to realize that

we will have

"constant opposition"

to ungodly people's

will and their ways

unless they turn and get right with the Lord.

Our response...

We can respond with "constant opposition"

by not

allowing these people

to be our close companions

and not

allowing them to become

those who we often socialize with.

- And instead -

We can distance our heart from them and

realize that their goals in life

will take them to a dangerous place

away from God -

So...

We will pray for them

but not put ourselves in a position

to be continually influenced by them.

Another example -

Psalm 97:10 NKJV

"You who love the Lord, hate evil!"

In this verse, we are not being told to have a huge emotional reaction.

It is saying that we are to oppose - with constant opposition - all that is evil.

NOTE:

Tuesday's

video

has a short part about

how to

properly distance ourselves

from those who are in

major opposition to God.

Tuesday

Today we have a video.

Below the video

I will highlight some points and add points.

Introduction:

In this psalm,

David is living in a season of his life

where

he is keenly focused on obeying God.

He is doing everything he knows to please God.

In this psalm, he asks God to examine him

so that

if he is

sinning in some way,

he can correct that and live right before God. 

David also says that he washes his hands.

That apparently means that

when he does sin (as we all do)

he quickly asks for forgiveness

and receives the cleansing of the Lord.

I am not endorsing this speaker - just this video.

Amplification

of the above video

The speaker emphasized a quote

by C.S. Lewis.

I write it out below for you to ponder.

C. S. Lewis said,

"Many people have a strong desire to meet

celebrated or 'important' people

including those whom they disapprove. 

But I am inclined to think

a Christian

would be wise to

avoid,

where he decently can,

any meeting

with people who are

bullies, or lascivious, cruel, dishonest, spiteful

and so forth.

Not because

we are too 'good' for them.

In a sense,

we are not good enough.

We are not good enough to cope with

all the temptations,

nor clever enough

to cope with all the problems,

which an evening spent in such society produces. "

I believe that quote is

wisdom

that we need to seriously consider.

Sin has a way of bribing us.

19 minutes into the video,

the speaker says that

Sin has a way of

bribing us.

Sins bribes us with momentary pleasures.....

Sin whispers to us,

"Do this evil thing   and   sin will reward you. "

Just tell a little lie; you won't get caught.

Taking Bribes from sin - 

It is like

taking a bribe for doing something morally wrong. 

Wednesday

Emphasizing

Psalm 26:12

Standing in An Even Place

Psalm 26 verses 11-12

But as for me, I will walk in my integrity;

Redeem me and be merciful to me.

¹² My foot stands in an even place;

In the congregations I will bless the Lord.

Exploring the concept

of an "even place."

David is determined not to intentionally

  "put" himself

in an uneven place

( a wicked place or a place of temptation to wickedness).

In this psalm,

David makes a proclamation

that with God's help, he will NOT slip.

He is setting his will,

and

his focus is pointed toward righteousness.

He will do his best not to go off that course.

If he does,

he will ask forgiveness of God

and receive God's forgiveness.

He will

-  wash his hands -

so to speak. 

He uses those words in verse 6.

Verse 12

David says his foot will stand in an even place.

The land of Israel is rocky.

And much of Israel is mountainous.

Think about how integral mountains are to Bible stories -

The Mount of Olives (Mountain of Olives)

Sermon on the Mount

The Mount of Transfiguration

The Temple Mount

Etc.

Below is a very short video

showing

The Mount of Olives.

The word

"Mount" or "Mountain"

is in the 4 Gospels

43 times.

Below is a paraphrase of one of them.

David was well acquainted

with hilly places full of rocks and instability.

If you don't live

in that type of environment,

it helps to think about an elderly person.

For an elderly person,

even minor changes

in the amount of levelness (evenness)

of a walking surface can have

devastating effects and

cause a very harmful fall.

The people of the Bible lands

knew that

when you walk on uneven ground

you are much more likely

to fall. 

And many times in the Bible,

this concept of physical unevenness

and the ease of falling

is also implied

with the meaning of

being in a place of spiritual unevenness

(hanging around with sinners for example).

When we are

in a place of spiritual unevenness,

we are likely to fall. 

Let's give an easy example -

A man who is addicted to alcohol

and who has made a decision to stop drinking alcohol

needs to avoid places

where alcohol is served.

Being near alcohol

will likely cause him to be in a

spiritual place of unevenness -

and he may fall into sin.

It is wise to avoid places of spiritual unevenness.

Dr. Robert Rohm

my old boss

often says,

"You cannot beware of something you are not aware of."

When we encounter a situation that we cannot just leave,

we must

intentionally realize

that

we are in

a challenging place.

We are walking

through a difficult spiritual area

of uneven terrain

being extra careful with each step.

This is the time to pray

and quote

strengthening Scriptures

to ourselves.

When I find myself

in an unlevel spiritual place,

I can encourage myself in the Lord by saying a verse like:

Ephesians 6:10

"I will be strong in the Lord and in the Power of his might."

Below is a verse about

leaning on God while standing on uneven ground.

Psalm 18:33 NKJV

He makes my feet like the feet of deer,

and sets me on my high places.

That is also

2 Samuel 22;34 and Habakkuk 3:19

Check out our Morning Scriptures

Thursday

Psalm 26:7 part B

" I will tell of all Your wondrous works.  "

Yes, Lord, I will tell... 

The Bible contains

many verses that

command us

to tell others about God.

Psalm 9 NKJV

I will praise You, O Lord, with my whole heart;

I will tell

of all Your marvelous works.

God wants us to

tell

Young and Old.

Psalm 96:2 b - 3 NKJV

Proclaim the good news of His salvation from day to day.

Declare

His glory among the nations,

His wonders among all peoples.

Let us be about

daily telling others

about the wonders of our Lord and Savior.

Psalm 71:15

My mouth shall tell of Your righteousness

and Your salvation all the day,

Psalm 79:13 NKJV 

So we, Your people and sheep of Your pasture,

Will give You thanks forever;

We will show forth Your praise to all generations.

Psalm 105:1-2 NKJV

Oh, give thanks to the Lord!
Call upon His name;
Make known His deeds among the peoples!
² Sing to Him, sing psalms to Him;
Talk of all His wondrous works!

1 Chronicles 16:23b-24 NKJV

Proclaim the good news of His salvation from day to day.

Declare His glory among the nations,

His wonders among all peoples.

Tell

One of the ways I tell is through this website.

I encourage you to find your unique ways of telling. 

But

be sure,

and tell your loved ones

and share

Bible stories with your little ones!

For all our Psalm pages - Click here

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