1 Kings 9:4-6

1 Kings 9:4-6^ESV

And as for you, if you will walk before me, as David your father walked, with integrity of heart and uprightness, doing according to all that I have commanded you, and keeping my statutes and my rules,  5 then I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever, as I promised David your father, saying, 'You shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel.'  6 But if you turn aside from following me, you or your children, and do not keep my commandments and my statutes that I have set before you, but go and serve other gods and worship them,

 

Solomon's father was a murderer, an adulterer, a despot, one who held grudges—deadly grudges, among all the normal sins of lying, stealing, and whatever other commonplace sin you can imagine.

 

Solomon on the other hand, at least 3000 years later appears to be just a normal run of the mill hedonist who got lucky: he became the richest king up to his time. 

 

What then does it mean that David was a man who walked 'with integrity of heart and uprightness'?

 

I did a very quick word study through the Bible (ESV) on the word 'integrity'.  It shows up 25 times (once in the NT).  These are the definitions I came up with based on the uses listed at the end:

 

"honesty, consistency in your dealings with what you claim; a way of life that affects every area of life; not 'crooked', not false to what is right; also relates to how one speaks/teaches others" Genesis 20:5; Job 2:9; Psalm 26:1; Proverbs 10:9; Titus 2:7

 

The American Heritage Dictionary:

Integrity noun

1. Steadfast adherence to a strict moral or ethical code.
2. Soundness.
3. Completeness; unity.

From the Latin integer, whole

 

So how is it that David's heart could have integrity?  Certainly his moral code demanded better behavior?  Certainly he was crooked in at least some of his schemes?

 

Wrong answer: 

It is not that (as some Christians might say) that he had Christ and therefore perfect righteousness was won for them and their sin doesn't matter (may it never be!).  Christians who hid their own cowardice in fighting their own sin behind a piety of 'well I have a proper view of the atonement' are fooling themselves and in danger of hearing 'I never knew you!'  (Rom 6:1-4; John 8:34-38; Matthew 25:45-46)

 

Another wrong answer:

"It is God's job to forgive sins just like it is my job to sin."  This is a paraphrase of a French guy (Voltair?).  His answer is of course blasphemous; American Evangelicals wouldn't say this of course, but we so easily overlook our little sins (Respectable Sins is what Jerry Bridges calls them—run, don't walk to buy and devour that book!).  Read what Jesus says about that: Matthew 6:27-30—really, read it, ponder it, then think of ways to obey it by ruthlessly cutting out those things that tempt you and would ultimately cast you into Hell because of their deceitfulness.

 

Potentially right answer:

What is interesting in my heart is that I think both of the answers above contain the truth.  The problem is (and David evidently didn't have this problem which is why God declared he had a heart of integrity) is that we rely on them without faith as it were.  In other words: we rely on them half heartedly.  We hear them and we assent to them with our heads: "Oh yeah, I know that's true.  I must be good!"  But we haven't allowed the impact of their truth to change us.  We haven't allowed our hearts to hear what is true for us to make us like Christ (now go back and re-read those passages I listed above: no, do it before you read on!). 

 

In one of the most important passages in the Bible on how to understand the OT faith Paul explains why the majority of Jews were not redeemed (Romans 9:30-10:4).  David trusted in God's righteousness instead of his own.  David combined faith: trusting in the promises of God for you in Christ (ok, His Anointed because Christ hadn't yet come in the flesh).  When we look to God as the source of our righteousness and our power to overcome sin then we will begin to live the integrity David had.  Then we will be a part of God's effective PR campaign because people see us as living examples of what it means really to trust Jesus with every aspect of our lives.

 

Praise Jesus!

 

Praise You Father for showing us what righteousness looks like.

Praise You Son for living that righteousness and crediting that righteousness to us.

Praise You Spirit for living that righteousness out in us.

 

Living with integrity with you,

Pastor Greg