Psalm 26 & 27

from September 17, 2008

Psalm 26 is a bit difficult for me. David is telling God why He should vindicate him... how he (David) is blameless.. has unwavering trust in the Lord.. avoids evil... etc.

Now I'm not doubting David or saying he is a liar, but I cannot claim to be blameless.. to have unwavering trust etc. So for me, this Psalms is a list of things I want to be, but because of my humanness I can't. But I can pray these verses and ask God to strengthen my trust that it might not waver... to help me avoid evil... to praise Him that through the blood of Jesus I am blameless.

The scariest verse to me is verse 2 "Test me, O Lord, and try me, examine my heart and my mind." It takes courage and fortitude to pray that and mean it, but WOW the growth that comes from a time of testing is priceless.

Psalm 27 is an old friend. I struggled with a stronghold of fear for a number of years and Psalm 27:1 was one of my "fear" verses. I clung to these verses, praying them over and over.

Ps. 27:1 "The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life, of whom shall I be afraid?"

Today as I read, I was struck by 2 verses.. the end of verse 4 "to gave upon the beauty of the Lord and to seek Him in His temple" and verse 8 "My heart says of You, 'seek His face!' Your face, Lord, I will seek."

Jer. 29:13 assures us that when we seek the Lord, he will be found.

These verses contain a great goal...the ultimate goal for a believer... to seek God, to seek that deep personal intimate relationship with Him. What more could we want or need?