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Observations from today’s readings and today’s S-WOD, Sunday, 30 June 2024:
Psalm 26:1 — Vindicate me, O LORD, for I have walked in my integrity, and I have trusted in the LORD without wavering.
Psalm 26 is an important Psalm for Christian instruction, but it can be confusing to read until you understand what David is actually saying to God: The first verse might seem to imply that David felt he had achieved moral perfection, felt he was better than everyone else, and believed he could trust in his own righteousness rather than God’s grace for his salvation. However, we know this is not what David was saying, considering what David confessed about himself publicly and in his other writings such as Psalm 143 — “Enter not into judgment with your servant, for no one living is righteous before you.” (Psalm 143:2) Yes, David was often tempted, as we all are, to slip into self-righteousness as we can read about in the Biblical record of his life; however, that is not what he is revealing in Psalm 26; rather we see his commitment to growing in holiness and unity with God. What he is referring to concerning the “integrity” of his walk is his unwavering “trust” in the LORD, his commitment to serve the LORD, which was genuine but certainly not perfect. David wasn’t proclaiming sinlessness but rather the fact that he was “a man after [the LORD’s] own heart” (1 Samuel 13:14) who truly wanted to love, honor, and glorify God as his top priority in life but who desperately needed God’s grace along the way. Lets look deeper at Psalm 26 to learn how David pursued spiritual growth and deeper relationship with God:
“Vindicate me O LORD.” The Hebrew word for vindicate here is “shaphat” which means to judge or pass judgment. In prayer to the LORD, David is asking God to judge his integrity because he is trying to be a righteous as he can but also understands he is a terrible judge of his own behavior, motives, and heart. We should strive to be righteous very humbly, understanding that “the heart is deceitful above all things. (Jeremiah 17:9).” Only God can expose in you the truth of you, and only God can be trusted to reveal the truth of you to you – you and everyone else has an imperfect view of the real you. If you want to fulfill your John 17 and Romans 8:29 purpose for your life of becoming one with Jesus and just like Jesus, you require His continual presence, revelation and light in your life.
Psalm 26:3 — For your steadfast love is before my eyes, and I walk in your faithfulness.
The more we appreciate God and His love for us, the more we will genuinely desire to emulate Him, and the more we “gaze” upon the beauty of Christ mentally, the more we will be changed by Him. The secret to change is not by staring at yourself, your sins, or your circumstances but rather staring at Jesus. We grow in righteousness the way others grow in sinfulness but in the opposite direction. Think about how sin works: A person is tempted, they start to think deeply about the temptation, placing their mental gaze upon the sin, imaging themselves engaging in it, then that sinful thinking starts controlling their attitudes, behavior, and focus. Soon they become consumed in that sin, and it starts controlling their lives, changing who they are completely. Christlike character development occurs similarly but with a completely different outcome. When we desire Jesus, we start meditating upon Him, setting our mental gaze upon Him through prayerful Bible study and praise, and the more we focus on Him, the more our attitude, behavior, and focus changes; increasingly we are transformed by Him, and the closer we get to Him the more our holiness grows, into eternity.
– 1 Corinthians 2:2 — For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.
– Hebrews 12:1-2 — …let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
– Romans 12:2 — Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
– 2 Corinthians 3:18 — And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.
– 1 John 3:2 — Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.
Psalm 26:4, 5 — 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.
David understood that growing in righteousness and closeness to the LORD meant separating from the unrighteous and hating sin. You cannot walk with God and sinners at the same time. “Bad company corrupts good morals.” (1 Corinthians 15:33)
– Psalm 97:10 — O you who love the Lord, hate evil! He preserves the lives of his saints; he delivers them from the hand of the wicked.
– Romans 12:9 — Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good.
– Proverbs 8:13 — The fear of the Lord is hatred of evil. Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate.
– Jude 1:23 — Save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh.
– Psalm 119:104 — Through your precepts I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way.
Psalm 26:6-7 — I wash my hands in innocence and go around your altar, O LORD, proclaiming thanksgiving aloud, and telling all your wondrous deeds.
We grow in righteousness as we practice righteousness and proclaim righteousness, both are essential. Yes, you must practice what you preach, but you also have to preach what you desire to practice. You need to hear yourself say it as much as others need to hear it. You need to sing about it too. David understood this better than most.
Psalm 26:8-10 — 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, whose hands are evil devices, and whose right hands are full of bribes.
When David says he loves “the habitation of [His] house and the place where [His] glory dwells,” he is basically saying he loves abiding in the presence and will of God more than anything else the world might offer. In fact, David wants nothing to do with the world’s empty promises and prays that God will keep him from them. He prays much like Jesus taught us to pray, “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” (Matthew 6:13) Growing in holiness involves practicing the presence of God and preferring the “house” of the Lord over any place else – “For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness.” (Psalm 84:10)
Psalm 26:11-12 — 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.
Like David, reproclaim, again and again, to yourself and others your commitment to walk in integrity before the LORD, despite your continued failures, remembering that even though you haven’t achieved holy perfection, you are walking with Christ in a holy direction, becoming more Christlike every day for His glory and for the benefit of others and yourself. Walk confidently, boldly and persistently in God’s grace and strength, rejoicing along the way.
“Cross” Fit S-WOD (Spiritual Workout of the Day) – 30 June 2024: Today, recommit to walking with integrity before the LORD, with full dependence upon His grace and power. Remember, “Grace is not opposed to effort, just notions of earning.” We are saved by faith alone, but not faith that is alone. You can don nothing without God, but if you do nothing, it will be without God. Strive for the LORD’s glory.
Defenders Bible Reading Plan 