Integrity!

Vindicate me, O LORD, for I have walked in my integrity, and I have trusted in the LORD without wavering. Prove me, O LORD, and try me;
test my heart and my mind. For your steadfast love is before my eyes, and I walk in your faithfulness. I do not sit with men of falsehood, nor do I consort with hypocrites. I hate the assembly of evildoers, and I will not sit with the wicked. I wash my hands in innocence and go around your altar, O LORD, proclaiming thanksgiving aloud, and telling all your wondrous deeds. O LORD, I love the habitation of your house and the place where your glory dwells. Do not sweep my soul away with sinners, nor my life with bloodthirsty men, in whose hands are evil devices, and whose right hands are full of bribes. But as for me, I shall walk in my integrity; redeem me, and be gracious to me. My foot stands on level ground; in the great assembly I will bless the LORD. (Psalm 26 ESV)

Vindicate me Lord for I have walked with integrity…

How many of us can actually say we have walked with integrity? Are we sound in everything we do, tested and true to the values that we say we uphold? Do we say one thing and do another? Do we espouse to be inclusive and accepting of others, and then turn around and say that someone is not welcome until they change an aspect of their behavior? Can our lives stand up to the judging we will all have to face? Are we truly people of integrity?

This psalm tells of a man who does everything in his power to be a man of integrity. Not dwelling with evil doers and keeping himself away from those that might cause him to stumble. He proclaims the word of the Lord and tries to walk the narrow path of righteousness. Obadiah tells us of a different story in his vision of the humbling of Edom:

The pride of your heart has deceived you, you who live in the clefts of the rock, in your lofty dwelling, who say in your heart, “Who will bring me down to the ground?” Though you soar aloft like the eagle, though your nest is set among the stars, from there I will bring you down, declares the LORD. (Obadiah 1:3-4 ESV)

The pride of your heart deceives you. You think you are higher than you are, but no matter how high you think you can soar, God can bring you down. We can not get away from the integrity that God will hold us to. We have to be ready to move at a moments notice however and whichever way God tells us to move.

You see it is not about us thinking we have it all together and following after what we believe we have to do. It is about us living the life that God has called us to and being ready to go when He calls us, and doing what He commands us. Even when that is contrary to what we have been taught is how we follow God, or is following the rules.

When the final testing comes will God see you as a person of integrity, following where He leaded, or a person who upheld the traditions and rules of men to make yourself look good in the eyes of those who will not matter when God comes to judge each of us?

Look for your integrity from the one that will make the judgment on your eternal placement. Worry about what God thinks about you and no one else will ever matter! Have integrity with God and everything else will fall into place.