Exercising Integrity at the Moment of Decision

November 25, 2015

Exercising Integrity at the Moment of Decision

“May integrity and honesty protect me, for I put my hope in you”

Psalm 25:21

Psalm 25, in its original form, was written in the acrostic poetic form with the first verse beginning with the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet; each succeeding verse began with the next letter in the alphabet. The careful composition of the psalm suggests David, the traditionally accepted author, wrote the psalm as an aid to discipleship. (This is similar in purpose to such things as the ACTS acrostic for prayer: Adoration; Confession; Thanksgiving; Supplication.)

In the orthodox tradition, this psalm is used as a prayer at the beginning of a work day. The opening lines, “O Lord, I give my life to you. I trust in you, my God!” are in the same form as the versicle used so often in the church today: Lift up your hearts. We lift them up to the Lord. Let us give thanks to the Lord our God. It is right to give our thanks and praise.

In his acrostic form, the psalmist moves from calling out to God, to a plea for mercy coupled with a confession of sin. Affirming the character of God, he then affirms the character of God’s disciples. In his closing plea for deliverance, the psalmist affirms his belief that staying in a right relationship with God will be his protection: “May integrity and honesty protect me, for I put my hope in you” (Psalm 25:21).

Psalm 25, as an aid to discipleship for David, sought to build his character so that he would exercise integrity at every moment of decision. John Wesley called this scriptural holiness; walking in harmony with God. Ponder this for a long moment: walking in harmony with God. Can there be any higher ambition for our lives?

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

·        The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188.