Psalm 26
Dear RTB’ers,
Psalm 26. Integrity. In the past: …for I have walked in my integrity… (v. 1b) And in the future: …I shall walk in my integrity… (v. 11a) In my life, an incident from graduate school comes to mind. One of my major professors asked me to help him with something – something that I felt was not right, and I turned him down. Then he lightened his request a bit, but I turned him down again. We parted and, to his credit, he did not hold it against me. He was not one of those hypocrites, evildoers, the wicked (vv. 4-5) that David was claiming to avoid. But my integrity from back then comes to mind here, even a small item from some 40+ years ago. Doing the right thing, in spite of the consequences. I was fortunate, indeed, to be writing under an honorable man. [NOTE: Later he saved me from another professor’s questioning during my dissertation defense!]
Many times I have asked us to put ourselves “into the story”. That might be easier done with Acts, where we see Peter, Paul, and others actively serving the Lord in their evangelistic ministries. But we also need to do that with the Psalms – putting David’s words onto our lips – confession, repentance, petitions, praise. Calling to mind where we’ve come from and where we’re headed. Integrity: I have walked; I shall walk.
Blessings!