Prayer and Psalm 26

By: Chris Gaffney

An overall theme of this psalm is characterizing the relationship with God in prayer as a place for the psalmist David.
In verses one and two, it says, vindicate me, “Oh Lord, for I have trusted the Lord without wavering, Test me, Oh Lord, and try me, examine my heart and my mind, for your love is ever before me, and I walk continually with your truth."
These are wonderful words, but how does it work into a visualized concept of the prayer relationship. A theme in this verses in continuity, the Lord’s love is ever before me says the Psalmist, and he has trusted the Lord without wavering and he will walk continually with his truth.
In the last verse, it says, “ My feet stand on level ground, in the great assembly I will praise the Lord."
Again the theme of continuity and the idea of leveling off into a ground that isn’t going to be bumpy or hilly for me. It isn’t going to involve extra striving and challenges and obstacles, just for the sake of the test. Once I can get to this place, I can savor it’s sweetness without worrying that it is momentary and it isn’t going to last or I am not going to find it again. It’s like finally setting eyes on the dream island you were always thinking of and the sight is going to hold, I can close my eyes, take a deep breadth and it’s still going to be there. The level ground is an evenness of the situation and place, it is a good place for me, comfortable and just right for me and there is no place better.
The warning of this psalm is about losing this place, Verse 9 says, “ Do not take my soul away with the sinners." Sometimes we think of a sin as an isolated thing that we might do. But also the reality is, we might be lumping ourselves not only with the misfortunes from our own sin, but compounding it all by getting into the whole group, which just compounds the disappointment, the loss of freedom and from what you might have had. Just look at someone who ends up in jail, part of the whole nighmare of the situation is, they are with people that could be of the elk of having the mentality that hopefully they are now trying to get away from so the loss of freedom is just accentuated by getting stuck or lumped together with a certain group rather than being freely able to move in various groups of society.
There is no reason to waver and fall away from God’s best for you which according to the theme of this psalm is a place as well, just to get inroads with the bad crowd, even is there is a false shiny surface to some of what they are involved with.
Go sit in a empty church and just close your eyes and visualize your favorite place you would ever want to be in. Now this is your place of prayer, and you prayer is going to be received in this place, there is no worries because this is where you are mailing your letter and your letter is going to your favorite place and it is going to get there and stay there. You can breath easy. It’s going to hold on.

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