can not create table on install - error message - help!

[lilcori]

I am at a loss with this and hope someone can help me.   The whole MySQL is a new thing to me so can someone tell me what this error message means and how to fix it so I can continue with the install?

mySQL Error: You have an error in your SQL syntax near 'IF NOT EXISTS cpg143_sessions ( session_id varchar(40) NOT NULL default '', ' at line 23 on query ' CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS cpg143_sessions ( session_id varchar(40) NOT NULL default '', user_id int(11) default '0', time int(11) default NULL, remember int(1) default '0', PRIMARY KEY (session_id) ) TYPE=MyISAM COMMENT='Used to store sessions''

Thank you,
lilcori

[Nibbler]

Check that you have MySQL version 3.23.23 or better

[lilcori]

I have version 3.23.39.