INTRODUCTION
Opening Statement: In the book Strengthening Your Grip, Charles Swindoll tells the following story about integrity.
“Some time ago, I heard about a fellow in Long Beach who went into a fried chicken franchise to get some chicken for himself and the young lady with him. She waited in the care while he went in to pick up the chicken. Inadvertently, the manager of the store handed the guy the box in which he had placed the financial proceeds of the day instead of the box of chicken. You see, he was going to make a deposit and had camouflaged it by putting the money in a fried chicken box. The fellow took his box, went back to the car, and the two of them drove away. When they got to the park and opened the box, they discovered they had a box full of money… He realized there must have been a mistake, so he got back in his car and returned to the place and gave the money back to the manager. Well, the manager was elated! He was so pleased that he told the young man, “Stick around, I want to call the newspaper and have them take your picture. You’re the honest guy in town.” “Oh, no, don’t do that!” said the fellow. “Why not?” asked the manager. “Well,” he said, “You see, I’m married, and the woman I’m with right now is not my wife.”
Application: On the surface of life, we demonstrate integrity. We return money that’s not ours. We pay our bills on time. We work hard at our jobs. We volunteer at church. But if someone were to write a story about your life, would we really want him or her to write everything?
Series Review: We continue our series on God-glorifying excellence. We’re not about perfectionism. Neither are we about a snooty sophistication, elitism and professionalism. Rather, we believe that excellence in Christian living and work, when expressed with humility and authenticity, glorifies God and inspires people. When we do all we can within our God-given resources to pursue our tasks at hand with excellence in mind, that moves people toward the majesty and beauty, and order of God. It makes the New Community an inviting place to be.
Definition: The idea of completeness or wholeness is at the root of the Hebrew term (thamam) for integrity. The term “integrity” has within it the idea of an integer. What is an integer? Within the realm of mathematics, it is one whole number. It is not one number and part of another number. It is not fractionalized. Rather, an integer suggests completeness or wholeness.
Application: When we apply this concept to our lives, we understand that we are considered whole or complete people when our beliefs have been integrated into our behavior. A person of integrity is not fractionalized with duplicity or hypocrisy. A heart and life of integrity is consistent in one honest, simple direction. If a person of integrity begins a job, they finish it. If they make a promise, they keep it. If they commit a huge mistake, they admit it. If they believe something, they support that belief with their lifestyle. In this sense, they are whole and complete without a fractionalized life.
OUTLINE
David’s Right to the Throne – He Was Willing to Wait and Worship rather than Wreak Revenge (1 Samuel 24:1-22).
Explanation: David was already told that he would be the next king (1 Samuel 16), but he would have to wait for an indefinite period of time. David had opportunities to seize the throne and destroy Saul and from all indication, public opinion would have supported him. King Saul was an angry and bitter man. But David’s heart of integrity would not allow him to harm God’s anointed and to seize the throne prematurely. He was willing to allow God to orchestrate the moment when He should assume the throne. Integrity of heart is a heart that allows God room to orchestrate events in His time, not ours. He waited and worshipped. He did not wait for revenge.
Observation: How could David continue to wait for the Kingdom when King Saul was doing such a horrible job? Several things from David’s life under gird this willingness to wait.
1. He believed in the Sovereignty of God to both protect him and promote him whenever He saw fit (1 Samuel 23:10-14; 26:9-11).
2. He recognized that sometimes God uses an enemy to develop a closer walk with Him. When God wants you to wait, and gives an edge to the wait by inserting an enemy, He’s saying, “I want you to learn to love and worship me in a new way. Learn to give revenge to me.” David learned how to worship and love God in spite of being constantly pursued by an assassin like Saul. Some of David’s Psalms were written in excruciating circumstances with the breath of the enemy on his neck! David would retreat to some quiet, safe place and in his time of waiting, rather than nursing feelings of revenge, God taught him how to worship (read the following verses in The Message). 1 & 2 Samuel give the David-story from the outside. The Psalms give the David-story from the inside. I don’t want to give an exposition of these Psalms, but I do want you to pickup on the worship in them.
a. Psalm 18:1-3:
b. Psalm 59:1-8:
c. Psalm 142:1-7:
d. Psalm 63:1-11:
Observation: None of this sounds like revenge does it? This is what marked David as a man after God’s own heart. We don’t think this way, do we? We look for ways to settle the score, to get even. If you’re cursed at, curse back. If you’re cutoff in traffic, return the favor. One pastor calls this urge to get even the “most subtle temptation.” It is and you’ve been there. Someone shoots your idea down in a meeting and what do you feel like doing? Shooting down their idea! Integrity doesn’t do that.
Text: No place in the Davidic narrative is this willingness to wait more clear than an experience that David had in 1 Samuel 24:1-22. This passage gives us a window into David’s heart.
Recitation: 1 Samuel 24
1 Now when Saul returned from pursuing the Philistines, he was told, saying, "Behold, David is in the wilderness of Engedi." 2 Then Saul took three thousand chosen men from all Israel and went to seek David and his men in front of the Rocks of the Wild Goats. 3 [Saul pursued David with 3,000 of his finest soldiers, which gave him a five-to-one advantage over David, who had only 600 men (23:13). The “Rocks of the Wild Goats” was evidently a local site known by the residents.] He came to the sheepfolds on the way, where there was a cave; and Saul went in to relieve himself [Saul was answering the call of nature.]. Now David and his men were sitting in the inner recesses of the cave. 4 The men of David said to him, "Behold, this is the day of which the LORD said to you, ’Behold; I am about to give your enemy into your hand, and you shall do to him as it seems good to you.’" Then David arose and cut off the edge of Saul’s robe secretly. 5 It came about afterward that David’s conscience bothered him because he had cut off the edge of Saul’s robe. 6 So he said to his men, " Far be it from me because of the LORD that I should do this thing to my lord, the LORD’S anointed, to stretch out my hand against him, since he is the LORD’S anointed." 7 [That is integrity. Everybody around him would have approved, but David could not do it. He could only cut off the edge of this coat, something that he regretted later.] David persuaded his men with these words and did not allow them to rise up against Saul. And Saul arose, left the cave, and went on his way. 8 Now afterward David arose and went out of the cave and called after Saul, saying, "My lord the king!" And when Saul looked behind him, David bowed with his face to the ground and prostrated himself. 9 David said to Saul, "Why do you listen to the words of men, saying, ’Behold, David seeks to harm you’? 10 "Behold, this day your eyes have seen that the LORD had given you today into my hand in the cave, and some said to kill you, but my eye had pity on you; and I said, ’I will not stretch out my hand against my lord, for he is the LORD’S anointed.’ 11 "Now, my father, see! [Note the terms of respect.] Indeed, see the edge of your robe in my hand! For in that I cut off the edge of your robe and did not kill you, know and perceive that there is no evil or rebellion in my hands, and I have not sinned against you, though you are lying in wait for my life to take it. 12 "May the LORD judge between you and me, and may the LORD avenge me on you; but my hand shall not be against you. 13 "As the proverb of the ancients says, ’Out of the wicked comes forth wickedness’; but my hand shall not be against you. 14 "After whom has the king of Israel come out? Whom are you pursuing? A dead dog, a single flea? 15 [He may have compared himself to a dead dog and a single flea (v. 14) to help Saul realize that he viewed himself as harmless and insignificant, beneath Saul’s dignity to pursue. - Constable] "The LORD therefore be judge and decide between you and me; and may He see and plead my cause and deliver me from your hand." 16 When David had finished speaking these words to Saul, Saul said, " Is this your voice, my son David?" Then Saul lifted up his voice and wept. 17 He said to David, "You are more righteous than I; for you have dealt well with me, while I have dealt wickedly with you. 18 "You have declared today that you have done good to me, that the LORD delivered me into your hand and yet you did not kill me. 19 "For if a man finds his enemy, will he let him go away safely? May the LORD therefore reward you with good in return for what you have done to me this day. 20 "Now, behold, I know that you will surely be king, and that the kingdom of Israel will be established in your hand. 21 "So now swear to me by the LORD that you will not cut off my descendants after me and that you will not destroy my name from my father’s household." 22 David swore to Saul. And Saul went to his home, but David and his men went up to the stronghold.
Observation: Every key event in David’s life, whether marked by success or failure, or whether he was celebrating with friends or being pursued by enemies, was marked by this: God was always close by. God was always in his consciousness. He was so alive and God-responsive! I think this is why none of Saul’s evil got inside of David. David was so responsive to God. He had no room for revenge.
Illustration: Consider the words found on a website. “Have you been wronged, mistreated, annoyed or ignored? Is someone tormenting you beyond what you can bare? Are you ready for some PAYBACK?! Explore our site and find piles of good ideas and novelties.” Thus begins the description for the web site: www.revengeunlimited.com. Here you can buy from their store, read from their stories of successful revenge and get even with those who have wronged you. The site puts as their purpose/mission statement: “Revenge Unlimited believes that there are people in desperate need of a good dose of humility and we exist to help you make sure they get it!” David would have never purchased things from this web site. Integrity would not allow it.
Application: We are talking about excellence in leading and serving. Leaders cannot hold grudges. They cannot get even and be marked by revenge.
Exhortation: I want to extend the idea of waiting beyond the domain of revenge for a moment. This is an important component of integrity because in general we don’t like to wait on anything. Teenagers can’t seem to wait to express themselves intimately with a person who becomes their marriage partner, so they get bogged down in relationships and do things with others that cheapen the intimacy the Lord has for them later on. Young adults can’t seem to wait to live together after marriage and so they live together before marriage and many times find themselves entangled in a relational mess because they just couldn’t wait. Young families get in financial trouble early in life because they try to get all the things that their parents have. What they fail to realize is that it took their parents years to get what they have, and these young families try to get to that level in a few short years. They are unwilling to wait and the debt keeps growing. Some people of all ages but especially older adults can’t wait for the truth to be clarified over time, so they gossip about it and start all kinds of speculations that end up being far from the truth. You see, if we are unwilling to wait, we end up sacrificing the ultimate on the altar of the immediate. Let’s not do this. Excellence in Integrity demands more from us than this. But I must go on and say that when a heart of integrity expresses itself in a willingness to wait and worship until God makes his move, that heart then is positioned to receive the ultimate! I stand before the New Community and I call you to a season of waiting and worship. Integrity demands it. A heart of integrity waits.
1. If you’re a teenager or young adult, wait until you are married to express yourself intimately with the love of your life.
2. If you’re a young family, wait before burying yourself into debts that you cannot pay.
3. If you have an opportunity to totally humiliate an enemy, give God the room to do that. You leave that up to him.
4. If you can’t stand your boss, you respect him for the position that he or she holds. It’s not your calling to put them in their place. God will take care of that. You be honest, work hard, and tell the truth and God will vindicate you in time. He vindicated David; He’ll vindicate you.
At times, we want something so badly, but God says, “No.” And many times in hindsight we see that our unanswered prayers are some of God’s greatest gifts to us.
CONCLUSION
Explanation: I realize that I am talking to all of us. The fact is, we have all acted prematurely. We have not waited. We have not worshipped. Instead, we have jumped into things and experiences with no regard for God’s bigger plan for our life. Stephen Arterburn, popular radio host, is testimony to this.
Concluding Illustration: Stephen Arterburn tells of the day he was invited to speak to 2,000 students at a Baylor University chapel service. The chaplain warned him that the students might not listen well, but not to take it personally. Arterburn tells how that the warning made him feel a bit anxious as he stepped to the podium and began speaking. "I came here (BU) 20 years ago to get an education. But in my first year what I got was a girl pregnant. If the baby had been born, he or she would have been one of your classmates." There wasn’t a sound. Arterburn writes what he told them next: "Guilt haunted me. It seeped into every fiber of who I am, resulting in 80 internal ulcers. I could not forgive myself nor accept that God had forgiven me." It took Arterburn two years to get over that experience. But he continues and I quote: "Years later my wife, Sandy, and I discovered that we were an infertile couple. Guilt pangs returned. Some people questioned whether this was God’s punishment, and my belief in God’s provision slipped away. God didn’t need to punish me - I did that to myself." "Then in July, 1990, a young unmarried couple discovered that she was pregnant. With greater courage than I had possessed, they chose life and looked for a Christian couple to rear their child. They chose Sandy and me." "On Christmas Eve, we received the call to meet our baby. My heart soared at the realization that I would finally be a dad. It was the beginning of a new journey, but it was also the completion of an old one. When they placed Madeline into my arms, I wasn’t just receiving a baby. God was giving back to me, proving that He is the God of a second chance." To all those who have jumped into things and relationships with no regard for God’s bigger plan, I’m glad to tell you that grace and the gospel is all about a God who steps into our impatient, broken, and revenge-filled lives and redeems them for his glory.
Point Conclusion: Today, I want us to close in prayer that God would guide the integrity of our hearts.
