Versions

When I read these verses, I was not impressed with it.  I read it out of the New American Standard and then the King James version.  It didn't speak to me.  I didn't like the tone.  It's seemed like this guy was tooting his own horn.  Okay, so whoever it is, may be bragging.  But then I read it from The Message.  What an eye opener.  I love the the last six verses.  Do you always read from the same Bible?  Do you have other versions that you read, so that if you need to say something another way, or get on a different level to talk to someone about God, you can?  I do.  We have at least four different versions.  The one I take to church is from Max Lucado, I've used the New American Standard for years, and I have the Bible I gave my Grandma my first Christmas, which is a King James Version. 

So this devotion today isn't so much about Psalms 26, as it is about using the right version to get the message across.  Some people think you should use this version only, or that version.  If they all have the same message, about God loving you so much he sacrificed his Son for you and if you accept his gift and live in his ways and are obedient, then what does it matter which Bible you read?  God doesn't speak to us all the same.  He goes about it differently.  Some people hear him in creation.  Some people, in a song.  Some in a devotion, or message.  Some, by the lives they see led by Christians.  What is your favorite version?  How does God speak to you?

Psalm 26
 ¹ Clear my name, God; I've kept an honest shop.
   I've thrown in my lot with you, God, and
      I'm not budging.

 ² Examine me, God, from head to foot,
      order your battery of tests.
   Make sure I'm fit
      inside and out

 ³ So I never lose
      sight of your love,
   But keep in step with you,
      never missing a beat.

 ^4-5 I don't hang out with tricksters,
      I don't pal around with thugs;
   I hate that pack of gangsters,
      I don't deal with double-dealers.

 ^6-7 I scrub my hands with purest soap,
      then join hands with the others in the great circle,
      dancing around your altar, God,
   Singing God-songs at the top of my lungs,
      telling God-stories.

 ^8-10 God, I love living with you;
      your house glows with your glory.
   When it's time for spring cleaning,
      don't sweep me out with the quacks and crooks,
   Men with bags of dirty tricks,
      women with purses stuffed with bribe-money.

 ^11-12 You know I've been aboveboard with you;
      now be aboveboard with me.
   I'm on the level with you, God;
      I bless you every chance I get. --The Message