The Path to Integrity
Psalm 119:1-8
January 21, 2024
What do people like - - - -
Matt Lauer Ellen Degeneres Bernie Madoff
Bill Cosby Harvey Weinstein Lance Armstrong
Milli Vanilli OJ Simpson Roseanne R Kelly
When you read those names, what comes to mind? I'm guessing it's not their accomplishments. Instead, it's probably that their reputations all took a serious hit for various reasons.
In many respects, your reputation is the only thing you can take with you throughout your life, and maintaining integrity allows you to cultivate and build that reputation. It also opens the door for you to talk about your faith. Who wants to talk to someone who lacks integrity and a good character? Not me!
Yet, it seems far too many people are willing to sacrifice their integrity for a quick shot of success. Cheating your character, your integrity, often times comes back to bite you in the end.
If you’re a baseball fan, I can ask you what do
Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and Rafael Palmiero all have in common.
Those are sure fire hall of famers who sacrificed the hall of fame because of a lack of integrity . . . they took steroids. Add Pete Rose to the list for gambling.
Your character is what people will remember about you. Your accomplishments may be vaguely remembered, but when someone hears your name, they’ll remember your character. Ultimately, perception is reality. If someone thinks something about you, then that’s their reality.
You could be the smartest employee, but if you give the impression you’re not, then that’s the reality. Or it could be the opposite, if you’re not the smartest, you may give the impression you are. It’s true in all of life.
We come across lots of people who fall into these categories. As a result, their character takes a huge hit. We may even question whether they genuinely deserved our admiration.
Their legacies are associated with shame and distrust. And that's largely because they chose to sacrifice their integrity and reputation.
Let me give you an example that occurred last weekend. The Houston Texans beat the Cleveland Browns in a NFL playoff game. After the game NBC interviewed the QB, C.J. Stroud and this is what he said . . .
VIDEO from youtube
That’s cool! I love that. Stroud is very vocal about his faith. He often starts interviews by giving thanks to Jesus. Yet, when NBC posted that video on social media, they cut out his comments about Jesus.
Does that change your view of NBC? They’re integrity took a huge hit. All to be what some would say is politically correct, yet many believe if he praised a different god, those comments would have been played. We really don’t know.
This is what happens with integrity and character.
What about you? What are you willing to sacrifice for success? Would you be willing to sacrifice your character in order to be successful in school? Would you cheat or lie? Would you be willing to sacrifice your career so you could get ahead, maybe get a better job by lying?
Do you remember when Notre Dame hired George O’Leary as head football coach in 2001?
Five days after he was hired, he was fired because he lied on his resume. He said he earned 3 varsity letters in football at the University of New Hampshire. But he never played football there. He also said he earned a Masters Degree at "Stony Brook University," which is a non-existent college. He claimed the inaccuracies were due to “resume padding.” Integrity counts.
Our series is asking the question . . . . ARE YOU SERIOUS ABOUT GOD? If you are, then you should be conscious of your integrity. You should want to honor God by the way you live. If you’re a new creation in Christ, then we should be living our lives a certain way.
So, as we look at integrity --- the question is if we’re really serious about God, then we should seek to be people of integrity, even if that means sacrifice.
We’re giong to look at the first 8 verses of Psalm 119. Let’s see what the psalmist says — —
1 Blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the LAW of the LORD
2 Blessed are those who keep His TESTIMONIES, who seek Him with their whole heart,
3 who also do no wrong, but walk in HIS WAYS!
4 You have COMMANDED your PRECEPTS to be kept diligently.
5 Oh that my ways may be steadfast in keeping your STATUTES!
6 Then I shall not be put to shame, having my eyes fixed on all your COMMANDMENTS.
7 I will praise you with an upright heart, when I learn your RIGHTEOUS RULES.
8 I will keep your STATUTES; do not utterly forsake me! – Psalm 119
If you really want to learn more about integrity and what it means to follow God, then Psalm 119 is the one to read. It’s the longest of all the Psalms, at 176 verses. It’s an acrostic Psalm, meaning, every 9th verse starts with the next letter in the Hebrew alphabet. 173 out of 176 verses speak about following God’s law.
Integrity doesn’t happen overnight. Integrity is a lot like the Christian faith . . . it’s a process that hopefully grows, and multiplies and others see it in you.
If you’re wanting to become a person of integrity, or you want to grow in who Christ has called you to be, then Psalm 119 is perfect.
When you read this psalm, a lot of the verses sound pretty similar. And I’d agree. In some ways Psalm 119 is saying the same thing over and over and over, with the psalmist hoping his message will sink in.
The psalm uses a number of terms for us to obey God’s call in our lives. We see words like - - - -
obey; law; instruction; testimonies; precepts; statutes; commandments; rules.
The person who keeps God’s instructions will find that their lives will more and more reflect God’s character.
The psalm calls these instructions “righteous” “true” and “sure.” They are worthy of trust, hope, and faith.
In Psalm 112, we read - - - -
1 Blessed is the person who fears the LORD, who greatly delights in His commandments!
That’s a great starting point, but it says we’re blessed if we fear - - - -
That’s really not how I want to stand before God, being afraid that if I do wrong, He’s going to smite me.
You see, the deeper meaning of the Hebrew, for the word fear, also means to ‘stand in awe, to revere, to honor.’ That’s a better way to say it. Another word, which I would prefer, is venerate.
Which is similar to revere, but I think takes it a step higher in devotion.
It means we have a deep devotion, honor and admiration for God. We seek to worship Him and EVEN to delight in His commands. We don’t always like rules. We don’t like to listen to anyone. But if we could actually delight in God’s commands, by being obedient to Him, we will grow closer to Him and greater in our character and integrity.
This should lead us to be more serious about who God is calling us to be. Verse 1 tells us - - - -
1 Blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the Lord!
This verse is similar to the opening verse of Psalm 112. The person is blessed when they choose the blameless way of life, as they walk with the Lord.
At this point in history, most of the world would say this is NOT the right approach to life
The picture most people have of Christians is they’re gloomy, depressing, and anti everything. We live by a bunch of “CANT’S.” You can’t gamble, you can’t drink, you can’t smoke, you can’t dance, you can’t have no fun.
And we’re a bunch of anti people. The world sees Christ followers as people who go to church, judge others, listen to boring sermons, dull music, and stupidly give our money away!
But the psalmist is telling us that the person who chooses to follow the ways of God, who tries to live an upright life, who tries to be blameless is going to be blessed. Now, the word for blessed is not the usual Hebrew word.
This word to be blessed means YOU ARE SUPER HAPPY! It means you’re feeling the overflow of joy in your heart and spirit and you can’t help but feel . . . BLESSED!
We tend to base our happiness on what’s happening in our lives. Happiness = good happenings. We equate happiness with our personal pleasure and comfort.
But being happy or blessed in the Lord comes from the most basic of sources. To have overflowing joy without holiness, without the Holy Spirit and without salvation through Christ . . . really seems impossible. So, this first verse takes us back to the root of faith, belief and trust in Christ as our Lord and Savior.
The second part of verse 1 — reminds us we need to walk in the law of the Lord! The word for law in Hebrew is the word TORAH! It’s the preeminent word in the OT for law. In the OT the first 5 books of the Bible are called the Torah.
I’ll be the first to admit - - - it’s not always easy to walk in the ways of the Lord. We have our ideas, our ways of doing life, and often times those compete with God’s ways.
So, the image of walking in the way of the Lord is like being an infant. As they grow and mature, they realize there’s more to life than lying on their back and suddenly they roll over, and there’s a new perspective on life. Then they learn to use their hands and knees together and are crawling everywhere. Finally, they see all these big people walking around and try to do the same. They struggle to their feet, balance themselves, and finally take a few steps. Before you know it, they’re running all over the place.
It’s kind of that way with God’s word and following the law. When we first begin to read it, and learn the law and what God expects from us, we kind of stumble and fall. We tend to lose our balance, because we’re not oriented to life that way.
As we study and grow, it becomes easier at times, yet difficult at times, because we know the law of the Lord, we know what God expects, but we have to admit, in some situations, we prefer our law over God’s.
Ultimately, if we’re willing, we find ourselves growing in the Lord and being blessed, as we’re filled with God’s happiness because of the joy within our heart and spirit.
This leads us to the next verses as we seek integrity
2 Blessed are those who keep His testimonies, who seek Him with their WHOLE heart, 3 who also do no wrong, but walk in His ways!
The person with integrity seeks to honor God in their daily lives. They’re filled with great happiness or joy because of the Spirit of God at work in their lives. They hold to the witness or testimony of God. They proclaim God’s goodness wherever they go.
And here’s what’s so important. That person is blessed -- because they’re seeking God with their heart! What word did I leave out? It’s really important. The person of integrity is seeking after God with their WHOLE heart.
We just don’t say “I’ll give God a small portion of myself today - - - OR I really don’t want to know what God wants me to do, that way I can do my own thing, so I’m only going to seek God with 30% of my heart.” That’s not integrity. That’s not taking God seriously.
I mean for Dustin and Brian the pressure has now been turned up. I didn’t tell you that before, but you’ve publically proclaimed Jesus today.
Brian and Dustin were baptized today. It would have been a mockery if they only gave God 50% of themselves today and tomorrow. This is a great day in their lives as they’ve proclaimed very publically who Jesus is in their lives.
Not to put the pressure on them, but God is celebrating your decision and your faith . . . . AND He expects you to be committed to serving Him and following His ways.
But that’s not just true for Brian and Dustin, but it’s true for all of us who proclaim Jesus as Lord and Savior. That’s why I believe James tells us in 3:1 - - - -
1 Not many of you should become teachers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.
Man, that’s a scarey verse. That’s why I always want to preach God’s word. God holds us accountable and responsible for sharing and teaching His word.
God wants us to seek Him, and to be diligent in moving toward and seeking after Him with our whole heart. We don’t worship God with ½ of our heart, we’re called to worship Him, to serve Him, to give to Him, to love Him and to love one another - - with our whole heart.
As we do that we strive to be blameless. We strive to walk in His ways. We will mess up, which is why we need a Savior. Yet, we try to follow the Spirit of God and His laws, so we can be obedient and the world would know who we are in a positive way because we’re following the Lord.
I see this verse linked with vs. 8, when the psalmist states -
8 I will keep your statutes; do not utterly forsake me!
The psalmist wants to keep the statutes of God. It’s like he’s saying to God,
“I’m doing my best to follow your laws, but Lord, I’m a sinner and in need of your grace when I mess up and miss the mark. Lord, this may take a little longer than I originally projected. I've got a longer way to go than I realized. Don't give up on me. Don't forsake me."
This is why we need Jesus. The person of integrity can admit their limitations, they can admit when they’re wrong. They know they don’t have all the answers. You know how God responds to us when we make those statements?
Consider David’s words in Psalm 103 - - -
8 The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
10 He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities.
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His steadfast love toward those who fear Him;
12 as far as the east is from the west, so far does He remove our transgressions from us.
God understands more than any of us will ever understand, that we’re on this journey to integrity. We’re sinful and selfish and rebellious towards God and one another, and we when we turn to Him in repentance — — He forgives us and removes our sinfulness.
The goal in moving towards integrity is an everyday decision we make. It’s a life long process as we become more Christ like in the process.
I’m going to end here. There’s so much more. But I want you to see that if we’re going to be serious about God, a lot matters about who we are.
Your integrity, your character will speak to the world about your seriousness about God. The world will see, the world will take note, whichever side your on.
It’s my prayer that you take those steps to seek Jesus more and more. Not out of fear of punishment, but because it’s a joy, it’s a celebration, it’s something you want to do;
and whether it’s a good day or bad day, we come together as one community, crying together and laughing together --- and in all things we will praise the Lord ---- together!
