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Time well-spent. Whether it be the gardener who double-digs the soil rather than merely turning it over. Or the decorator who thoroughly prepares the walls before papering them. The cook who spends hours preparing a special meal. The artist who blends the colours on the canvas to create a masterpiece. Time well spent in these ordinary experiences, but what about spiritual experiences? How do you spend time with your Lord? And how are you built up in the faith, and how is it nourished and enriched? Is it through worship – particularly as you participate in the Lord's Supper? Is it by hearing a moving testimony? Is it through a sermon, or studying the Bible in a group? Is it best experienced congregationally (with other Christians), or is silence and solitude the most rewarding? Of course it may well be a combination of all of these things.

As I've gone on in the Christian life I turn more and more to the book of Psalms. Here are words for daily use; whether for praise or confession; here are words to use when prayer is a struggle and our lips are silent; here are words that we can echo as we come before the Lord. When we are tongue-tied, the Holy Spirit can take the words of the Psalms and speak to our hearts.

For 1,000s of years the Psalms have shaped the devotional life of both Jews and Christians. The Psalms were used in the Jewish Temple, in synagogues, in monasteries, in cathedrals, in churches and in homes. Many of our hymns are taken from the Psalms and Isaac Watts (known as the father of hymnology) adapted all of the Psalms for Christian worship.

It's not surprising that at the dawn of the Reformation the Reformers preached on the Psalms and published commentaries on the Psalms. Martin Luther regarded the Psalter as 'the Bible in miniature' – and suggested for example that Psalm 130 was Pauline – because it speaks of mercy to the sinner, and of redemption and of forgiveness. And John Calvin said this: 'I have been accustomed to call this book, I think not inappropriately, [as] “an anatomy of all parts of the soul”, for there is not an emotion of which any one can be conscious, that is not here represented as in a mirror.' In the Psalms the Holy Spirit speaks to our 'griefs, sorrows, fears, doubts, hopes, cares, perplexities, in short, all the distracting emotions with which the minds of men are want to be agitated.' Quaint words but true.

We could say that the Psalter is like a treasure chest – full of precious stones and jewels. But not simply to be admired and put in a glass case but to adorn and to enjoy.

As we look at Psalm 26 and learn about God, we also look into a mirror and see things about ourselves that should inform and challenge us, and shape and mould us, and cause us to ponder and to reflect upon our faith and our feelings, our attitudes and our emotions. You can't read a Psalm in a detached sort of way; and create a take it or leave it, pick and mix spirituality. Here we touch base with something that is profound and transforming. Here is indeed 'an anatomy of all parts of the soul' not in black and white but in full, vibrant colour. And as we look at this Psalm, ask that the Lord that he would indeed speak to your heart, and warm it, and nourish it, and above all to help you find the words to shape and to mould your thinking and your prayers, and to meet your deepest needs.

During the course of the sermon I will be using two versions of the Bible, the ESV and sometimes the NIV.

1 A first impression

Think of when you meet someone for the first time. There might be a formal 'how do you do?' or an informal 'hello'. You hear their voice and their accent, you look at their clothes and perhaps their tattoos and facial ironmongery. And your first impressions might be the right ones or entirely misplaced. Your initial judgment may be false: it may be true.

What is your first impression as you read Psalm 26? Surely the writer sounds very arrogant? One commentator even calls him 'a self-righteous prig'. Everything about him sounded too good to be true. He would be a pain to live with. He sounded like a Holy Joe, a Pharisee. Someone to avoid sitting next to on a long journey. Anything – even watching day time TV - would be better than being in his company! Here then is our first impression. 'I have led a blameless life' (vv.1, 11); 'I have trusted in the Lord without wavering' (v.1); 'I do not sit with deceitful men' (v.4); 'I do not consort with hypocrites' (v.4); 'I hate meeting evil-doers' (cf. v.5); 'I refuse to sit with the wicked' (v.5). Goodness gracious! How insufferable! How hypocritical he must have been! This person is just too perfect, or so he would have you believe. But we need to put his words into a broader setting, and then in terms of the overall context of Psalm 26.

We know that king David was far from perfect. 'Paint we warts and all' Oliver Cromwell is supposed to have said. And in the Bible David is not airbrushed and sanitised. When you read his confession in Psalm 51, you know that he is much more like each one of us. He knew that he was a sinner, and had been a sinner since he was born. By nature as well as by practise he was a sinner. A sinner, a penitent sinner, who pleaded to God to hear his prayer and to cleanse him from his sin. If you need to ask God to forgive you, get on your knees and read Psalm 51!

Look for a moment at Psalm 26, at to vv.1 and 11. In some versions of the Bible it speaks of his 'blameless life' but in the ESV it refers to him walking with 'integrity'. And that apparently is how it should be understood. Charles Spurgeon helpfully observed that 'faith is the root and sap of integrity'. King David wholly trusted the Lord. 'Judge me', he said, 'judge me, test me, prove me, examine me'. Could you say that? Could I? We certainly need to!

The believer should echo the words of Psalm 86:11 – 'Teach me your way, O Lord, and I will walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name'. David's prayer (and our prayer too) should be just that – 'give me an undivided heart' – 'help me to live a blameless life'. One commentator says that 'David's heart really is the Lord's, however badly he sometimes lets him down'. That was certainly true of David and it's just like us, isn't it? We are committed to God, we trust in Christ, but sometimes we fall into sin, deliberately and intentionally, and we fail to live as we should. We ignore the one who has redeemed us. We prefer to wander away from the Lord and drift away from him. We need again and again to echo the words of the old hymn:

Bind my wandering heart to thee, prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love; Here's my heart – O take and seal it, seal it from thy courts above' (H. Smart, 'Come thou fount of every blessing').

Put it like that and the writer of Psalm 26 can be seen in a different light.

2 A second impression

Beneath the surface then, and with a more careful reading of Psalm 26, we have another narrative. This is the story not of 'a self-righteous prig' but of a sinner like you and me, who trusts in the Lord and is prepared to be examined by the Lord. His life without God is worthless. Without God and we are less than we ought to be. In St Augustine's words, 'without God, all is emptiness'. And that emptiness is the lot of the unbeliever. Here then in Psalm 26 is a sinner whose heavenly Father has reached out to him, and he has responded to the Father's love. While his enemies accused him of various wrongs, he asked that God (and not them) would be the final judge. In Psalm 26 we discover the covenant God who has pledged himself to his people, and that the individual believer is part of the redeemed, worshipping community.

Look again at the text and what do we find? Here is a faith that is consistent. 'I have trusted in the Lord' (v.1) so let him be the judge and not his enemies; 'I praise you and tell others of your wonderful deeds' (v.7); 'I love the place where your glory dwells' (v.8). David had no dealings with his enemies, he avoided them and hated being in their company!

Here then is a sinner who knows his God, and whose God knows him. The Psalmist delighted to enter the Temple and to be in the presence of the Lord. There he enjoyed fellowship with his Lord and his fellow believers. There the glory of the Lord was present (v.8), there the assembled gathering were free to praise him (v.12). There the Lord made himself known.

And yet there is more here too. King David invites the Lord to deal further with him. He knows in his heart that he is not all that he should be. 'Test me and try me, examine my heart and my mind' (v.2). 'I am open before you, redeem me and be merciful to me' (v.11). Could you say that? Could I say that? We certainly need to!

The Psalmist's apparent self-righteousness is really a call for a separation away from those who don't love the Lord, those who don't trust in him and obey him. They are described here as evil-doers (v.5); the bloodthirsty and the wicked (vv.10). What were their crimes? They bribed people, they deceived them, they were hypocrites (vv.10, 3-4). They too may have attended the Temple, but their hearts and their actions were far from the Lord.

So what then can we learn from this Psalm? How can we apply its truth to our lives?

1 We must be realistic before the Lord

Realistic about what we are really like. The Bible tells us (and we know it to be true) that we are sinners and we need to know God's cleansing and forgiveness. As individuals we need to experience that love and mercy and redemption for ourselves (vv.3, 11). Sin is part of our very nature, and iniquity is what we are rather than what we do. By nature we are sinners who commit sins. So be honest before the Lord. Wait upon him. Permit his word and his spirit to prompt your confession of sin and your acknowledgement of your indebtedness to such a great God, and loving heavenly Father, who can cleanse you, and forgive you and restore you, and make you more like Jesus.

2 We must submit ourselves to the Lord

That comes across in v.2 – 'test me, try me, examine me'. While his enemies might be hypocritical, the Psalmist sought to follow the Lord and to live a distinctive, consistent life. That needs to be true of each one of us. So that at work, and at home, and at our leisure, we are always the Lord's true people, and not just Sunday Christians. The Psalmist praises the Lord in the assembly of God's people (v.12). That's where we can praise him, that's where we come together before him, in obedience and humility. That's where we can worship him, and ascribe all the glory to him. We come together to celebrate, and to rejoice, and to worship the Lord!

3 We must be seen to be different

That is probably the hardest thing for each of us. Not to blend into the background. Not to be shaped by the world but by the Word. Not to be hypocritical. Not to wear a mask of pretended religiosity. Our walk before the Lord – as individuals and as members of the redeemed community – is far from perfect. It will remain like that until we reach heaven or until the Lord's return. We are not as we should be, but our intention, our aim, our focus should be clear. Our aim is to walk forward to heaven in the company of Jesus. He was there with the disciples on the Emmaus Road, he's there with you in your sorrow and despair, your grief and your pain, your anger and your hurt. He's there to support and to protect you and to encourage you.

The truths of Psalm 26 need to be etched in our hearts. We need to be echoing the words of the Psalmist. We need to be reminded that we are to trust God without wavering (v.1), to always walk in his truth (v.3) and to proclaim his love to others (v.7). Our aim is to live like Jesus and to be Christ-like in attitudes and actions. Yes, we constantly fall, and we fail to live as we should, but yes he constantly picks us up and dusts us down, that we might walk with him.

By way of conclusion and as a PS to studying the Psalms, you may have noticed that so far I've rarely mentioned the name of Jesus. That has been intentional. We must let the Psalms speak for themselves. Preachers can too quickly move from the OT and pass into the NT. Of course we read the OT through the filter of the NT, but we must allow the OT to speak for itself.

However, I am reminded of what the hymn-writer Isaac Watts said. Here are words that make sense and we must bear them in mind as we read the Psalms. 'Where the psalmist describes religion by the fear of God, I have often joined faith and love to it. Where he speaks of the pardon of sin through the mercies of God, I have added the merits of a Saviour. Where he talks of sacrificing goats and bullocks, I rather choose to mention the sacrifice of Christ, the lamb of God. When he attends the ark with shouting into Zion, I sing the ascension of my Saviour into heaven, or his presence in his church on earth' (the preface to Isaac Watts, Hymns, Psalms and Spiritual Songs).

That principle is clear to us in Psalm 26. In v.1, 'I have trusted in the Lord' (and we would say we have trusted in Jesus); 'I love your house where you live' (David meant the presence of the Lord in the Temple, and we would speak of our hearts as the temple of the Holy Spirit); 'My feet stand on level ground' (v.12) – (think of the level ground at the foot of the cross); 'In the assembly I will praise the Lord' (he meant the Jewish temple, and we mean the assembly of Christian believers). As someone has put it, 'In Christ we live in Zion'.

Let us then make the words of Psalm 26 our own.

To walk steadfastly before the Lord.To trust in him day by day.To live a life that is worthy of the Saviour's love.