This transcript was generated by whisper.ai.

(upbeat music) - Hi, this is Pastor Tom, and I want to welcome you this week to
our look at Psalm 26 to 30. We're in day one, looking at Psalm 26 today. In
Psalm 26, one and two, David asks God to do what might seem like a very scary
thing.

Listen to these verses. Vindicate me, O Lord, for I have led a blameless life. I
have trusted in the Lord without wavering.

Test me, O Lord, and try me. Examine my heart and my mind. David does here what
might seem like a very scary thing.

He invites God to test him, and then he doubles down. He says, and try me, and
then he triples down. He says, and examine my heart and my mind.

To invite God to test you, that seems like a scary test, but just remember, no
one knows you better, and no one loves you more. God knows what you're feeling.
He knows why you're feeling what you're feeling.

Now, I'm like a lot of you. I like to take tests that I know all the answers to.
It makes me feel smart.

Oh, I know the answer to that one, got that one, got that one, but that doesn't
really help me, that kind of a test. It's better to take a test that shows you
what you lack and shows you what you need to know. And when you ask God to test
you, he will do that in love.

He's the one who loves you the most. He's the one who knows what you need to
know the best. As you read through Psalm 26, I pick up on six specific things to
ask God to test you in.

So I invite you to do this with me the next few minutes. To ask God to test your
heart and your mind as we walk through this together. Ask God to, number one,
ask God to test your love.

In verse three, he writes, David writes, "For your love is ever before me. "
There's nothing more important about us than the way that we love God and we
love others. So ask God to test your love.

You just say, God, how am I doing? How am I doing, Lord? Now I gotta tell you,
if you think you passed this test perfectly, you're far better than I and
anybody else that's ever lived, any human being.

Jesus tested perfectly on this one as God in human flesh, but we don't. We
always need to strengthen our love. So it's good to ask God to test our love.

And I love the phrase he uses, your love is ever before me. If love is your top
priority, it's going to be ever before you. That's a good question in this test.

What is ever before you today? Is it worry? Is it hurry?

Is it your to-do list? Is it money? Or is love the motivation behind it all?

Now, if you're like me, you go back and forth on that one. I got the wrong thing
ever before me right now. God, test my heart, now I'm going to get the right thing
ever before me, your love.

Your love for me and my love for others. So you ask God to test your love,
number one. Number two, ask God to test your walk.

The last half of verse three, he says, for I walk continually in your truth. So
the test is whether you're walking in God's truth. Now, the opposite would be
walking in a lie.

The world lies to us, others lie to us, we lie to ourselves, so it's very easy
to listen to a lie and get on the wrong path. But it's also easy to get back on
the right path because the minute you listen to God's truth, that will get you
back on the path you should be on. Walk continually in God's truth.

What's God's truth? And how can you walk in that today? What's God's truth about
you, about your circumstances, about your business, about your family, about
your relationships?

How can you walk in that today? Ask God to test your walk. And then number
three, we just mentioned this, you ask God to test your relationships.

David talks about this in verses four and five. He says, I do not sit with
deceitful men, nor do I consort with hypocrites. I abhor the assembly of
evildoers and I refuse to sit with the wicked.

Now David, he's kind of an overachiever here. He tells God what he's doing to
pass the test. I'm not doing this, not doing this, got this one down, God.

And although that may sound prideful, in one sense there's something good about
that because it makes us honest about what's really happening in our lives. He's
just telling God what's really happening. So can you say, God, I am not hanging
out with the wrong people?

Now David uses the phrases, I don't sit with, I don't consort with. He's not
saying here that you should never spend time with people who don't know Jesus. I
mean, Jesus himself spent a lot of time with people that others thought he
shouldn't spend time with that they called sinners.

No, he's talking about those who are your best friends, your closest advisors,
the people that you consort with. And throughout Psalms you see the powerful
influence of your closest relationships. You have to be very careful of who you
allow into your life to give you the closest advice, who you allow into your
life at a level that they can begin to influence your life.

We all think we could never be influenced by evil, but the truth is we all can,
every one of us. That's who we are as human beings. So you test your
relationships.

Am I hanging out with the wrong people? But not just that, more importantly, can
you say, God, here's how I'm making the intentional choice to spend time with
the right people. Unless you're spending time with godly people, you're going to
have a very difficult time living in a godly way.

Now, it is possible, but it's very, very difficult. So test your relationships.
Number four, in this test of six things, you test your worship.

In verses six to eight, David writes, "I wash my hands in innocence "and go
about your altar, O Lord, "proclaiming aloud your praise "and telling of all
your wonderful deeds. "I love the house where you live, O Lord, "the place where
your glory dwells. " Something that really tests my heart is how I feel about
worship.

Do I love being in the place of worship? You get the sense that David loved
being in the place of worship here. Or is it something I've become bored by or
even begun to dislike?

Now, I understand, we can get tired of certain types of songs in worship or even
certain styles of worship, but what about the overall sense of being in God's
presence with God's people, even if you don't like the song or even if you don't
like the message this week? I'm in your presence, God. What about the joy you
take, the enjoyment you have in being there?

Now, as a pastor who goes to church a lot, I find I need to test this often. Is
it just another week at church? Or is there a sense of amazement in my heart
about who God is?

Ask God to test your worship. Number five, the fifth test is you ask God to test
your character. In verse 11, "But I lead a blameless life.

"Redeem me and be merciful to me. " Now, blameless doesn't mean perfect. None of
us are perfect.

Blameless means I've dealt with all that I know to deal with before the Lord. If
blameless meant perfect, this verse wouldn't make sense. I lead a blameless
life, be merciful to me.

Why would you need God's mercy if you were perfect? No, to be blameless means
you bring everything that you know you might have done wrong before the Lord.
You bring it to him.

If you've wronged someone, being blameless means you have gone to that person
and you've sought their forgiveness. And now you are blameless before them. Not
perfect, but blameless.

If you've committed a sin, being blameless means you've confessed it to God.
You're not sinless, but you're blameless because that confession to God
recognizes the power of the cross to forgive all sin. In 1 Thessalonians 5:23,
Paul prays this for us.

"Now may the God of peace make you holy "in every way, and may your whole spirit
"and soul and body be kept blameless "until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again. "
That's the day that we're living towards. And as we're living towards that day,
we live that way today.

We test our character. Am I living blameless before the Lord? A sixth test, the
final test in this psalm is you test your balance, your spiritual balance.

In verse 12, "My feet stand on level ground. "In the great assembly I will
praise the Lord. " Level ground is a place of security.

And we think level-headed today, but they thought a place where it's not so easy
to fall 'cause they were often in places where you had to find level ground
where you couldn't be knocked over easily. So you ask God to test you, to show
you if your spiritual balance is off. When your balance is off, Satan is setting
you up for a fall.

Now yes, God will pick you up after a fall, but why not ask him to test you now
and show you if you need to get on level ground? What I'm asking is this, is
there some place where you feel wobbly in your faith? Step back onto level
ground.

Level ground is the place of love for God. Level ground is the place where
you're trusting in him and not in yourself, your idea. Level ground is that
place of faith in his leading in your life.

Now this test of six things, we pray these next few minutes, let's just in our
hearts walk back through this test. Would you pray with me? And in prayer, just
say, God, I ask like David did.

I ask you to examine my heart and my mind. Examine my love. What is it that's
ever before me?

Examine my walk. Am I walking in the truth? Examine my relationships.

Am I spending time with the right people? Or am I getting caught up in wrong
relationships? Examine my worship.

Do I love being with you, Lord? Examine my character. Am I living blameless
before you?

Examine my balance. Am I standing on level ground? That place of faith, that
place of hope, that place of love.

I ask you to examine my heart, God, because I know that you will in tenderness
and in love. Show me the right path. So I ask you to tenderly show me.

Don't devastate me with the answer. Show me the answer. And I know you'll give
me the strength to live the way that you're calling me to live.

I ask this in Jesus' name, amen. Tomorrow we're going to look together at Psalm 27,
what to do when you're afraid.