Psa 26 | EE | STEP | This is a psalm of David. LORD, say that I always walk with you. Say that I will never stop trusting in the LORD.

Psalms 26

Honest to God

This is a psalm of David.

1 LORD, say that I always walk with you.

Say that I will never stop trusting in the LORD. ^{▼▼26:1 Verses 1-3: We can walk with God when he makes us new, whole people. Only God can make us whole. When we are right with God then we can start being right with people. We become right with God, or honest to God, when we become Christians. We ask God to excuse us and we promise to become his servants. Then we are whole people – on the inside to God and on the outside to people.}

2 Examine me, LORD, and see what I am.

Look inside me, at my feelings and thoughts.

3 I will always walk in your good ways,

because I can see that you are loving and kind. ^{▼▼26:3 In Psalm 26:3 David wrote about God’s good ways. These are the rules that God gives to us in the Bible. If we do not obey these rules, we can start again. We ask God to forgive us and he does. Look after Psalms 1 and 5.}

4 I do not sit with worthless men.

I will not go with people that say that they are good, but they are not.

5 I hate bad people that meet together.

I will not sit with godless men.

6 I will wash my hands to show that I have done nothing wrong.

I will stand near your altar, LORD.

7 I will say with a loud voice that you are great.

I will tell people about all the wonderful things that you have done. ^{▼▼26:7 Verses 4-7: A part of the Bible is called Deuteronomy. In Deuteronomy 21:6-7 we read about people washing their hands. This was to show that they had not done murder. We find the same idea in verse 6. Here it is not murder, but anything that is wrong. In verse 6 we also read about the altar of the LORD. There were two altars. On the big altar, they killed animals. They burnt their bodies as a gift to God. On the small altar, they burnt incense. It made a nice smell. The small one was inside the house of God.}

8 LORD, I love the place where your house is.

It is the home of your glory.

9 Do not put my soul with sinners,

or my life with murderers.

10 In their hands are bad plans.

Their right hands are full of bribes.

11 But I will always walk with you.

Make me free and be kind to me.

12 My foot stands in a flat place.

In the congregation, I will say that the LORD is wonderful. ^{▼▼26:12 Verses 8-12: The house of God was a tent. A tent was a small building made of animal skins. The Jews carried it with them. When David was king, he took it into Jerusalem. In verse 8, David says that he loves the place where they put this tent. He did this because he believed that God was there as well as in his home in heaven. In verse 9, David means that when he dies he does not want to be with sinners. He wants to be free, as David wrote in verse 11. This means free after he dies. He wants to be with God in heaven, not with sinners. The flat place in verse 12 is a safe place.}