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\n\nO give thanks unto the Lord; for He is good: for His mercy endureth forever.<\/p>\n
O give thanks unto the God of gods: for His mercy endureth forever.<\/p>\n
O give thanks unto the Lord of lords: for His mercy endureth forever.<\/p>\n
To Him alone who doeth great wonders: for His mercy endureth forever.<\/p>\n
Psalm 136:1 – 4\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
<\/p>\n
Deliver Me From Evil<\/h3>\n
I did not sleep well. I woke up with anxious thoughts about work and the temptation to indulge sinful imaginations, the lure of escaping into a fantasy realm that is ultimately vain, empty, not satisfying, which ends up causing me shame and regret.<\/p>\n
Then this Scripture entered my mind:<\/p>\n
\nBy mercy and truth iniquity is purged: and by the fear of the Lord men depart from evil. <\/p>\n
Proverbs 16:6\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
So I got out of bed. I would rather give up sleep, or the attempt at sleep – which wasn’t going to happen because the pull to indulge was growing. I got up to reflect on God’s mercy and indulge in His truth instead. In this manner I sought to have this particular iniquity purged from my heart. I departed from the evil that was embracing me as I lay in bed. “Up and at ’em, fella! Time to seek the Lord!”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Integrity<\/h3>\n
The first thing I turned to was Psalm 26, which was the next one on my list of random Psalms to read. (The second one was Psalm 136.)<\/p>\n
\nJudge me, O Lord; for I have walked in mine integrity: I have trusted also in the Lord; therefore I shall not slide.<\/p>\n
Psalm 26:1\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Oh! My integrity seems so flimsy compared to the statements that David confidently made! But in my weakness I did<\/b> trust in the Lord. I did<\/b> make an effort to maintain integrity. My track record in maintaining inner integrity – there in my heart where only God can see – is so very far from flawless. That’s for sure! There is no perfection here. But David had a questionable track record at times too. Didn’t he? He should have fled off his roof instead of indulging his lust for Bathsheba. (See 2 Samuel 11) “Flee fornication, David!” (1 Corinthians 6:18) I humbly thank God that He gave me grace to shut the eyes of my mind to the Bathshebas of fantasy and seek His word instead this morning.<\/p>\n
As for my flimsy integrity,<\/p>\n
\nThis one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.<\/p>\n
Philippians 3:13, 14\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
It is God’s mercy that has purged me from iniquity this morning. “Therefore I shall not slide.” I cannot worry about later or tomorrow. I must look to Jesus. Just as the Israelites in the desert turned their eyes upon the brass serpent and were healed from the deadly venom of serpents, so I must look to Jesus only as the antivenom for my iniquity. (See Numbers 21 and John 3:14, 15)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Mercy and Truth<\/h3>\n
\nExamine me, O Lord, and prove me; try my reins and my heart. For Thy lovingkindness is before mine eyes: and I have walked in Thy truth.<\/p>\n
Psalm 26:2, 3\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
How similar in theme are these two verses and Proverbs 16:6.<\/p>\n
\nEXAMINE me. PROVE me. TRY my reins and my heart.
\nBy mercy and truth iniquity is PURGED.<\/p>\nThy LOVINGKINDNESS is before mine eyes.
\nBy MERCY… iniquity is purged.<\/p>\nI have walked in Thy TRUTH.
\nBy… TRUTH iniquity is purged.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\nIt is all so beautiful.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Redemption<\/h3>\n
\nBut as for me, I will walk in mine integrity: redeem me, and be merciful unto me.<\/p>\n
Psalm 26:11\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
David’s immediate flip from a declaration that he will walk in his integrity to a prayer for redemption and mecy causes me to see that integrity includes the acknowledgement that I need redemption. I need mercy. The act of turning from my self-confidence and relying on God’s redemption in Jesus Christ is fundamental, is necessary, is essential to my integrity – regardless of the stability of my integrity. Without this foundational acknowledgement of my need for salvation, I have no true integrity. Iniquity is still present with me. I can’t ignore that glaring fact of my daily experience. I can’t pretend that I don’t sin. I can’t pretend that I don’t struggle. I can’t pretend that I don’t often lose the struggle. To ignore the venom is to die. Both the need to live and the battle for integrity demand that I cry out to God for mercy and that I look to Jesus Christ as my Savior in this battle. He is my redemption – not just from the penalty of sin, which I deserve, but also from the ravages of this war with sin (aka – “sanctification”).<\/p>\n
Of course, St. Paul said this so much better:<\/p>\n
\nI find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. <\/p>\n
For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: <\/p>\n
But I see another law in my members, WARRING against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.<\/p>\n
O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?<\/p>\n
I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord!\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
<\/p>\n
The last word:<\/h3>\n
\nO give thanks to the Lord; for He is good: for His mercy endureth forever!<\/p>\n
Psalm 136:1\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It is 2:59 AM. It is quiet in the house. O give thanks unto the Lord; for He is good: for His mercy endureth forever. O give thanks unto the God of gods: for His mercy endureth forever. O give thanks unto the Lord of lords: for His mercy endureth forever. To Him alone who … Continue reading “Of Mercy, Truth, Departing from Evil, Walking in Integrity, and Redemption”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41,371],"tags":[379,376,325,380,255,378,375,381,333,317,377],"class_list":["post-11073","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-religion","category-thoughts-on-proverbs-16","tag-2-samuel","tag-evil","tag-john","tag-numbers","tag-proverbs","tag-proverbs-16","tag-psalm-136","tag-psalm-26","tag-psalms","tag-romans","tag-temptation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bloggingsam.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11073","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bloggingsam.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bloggingsam.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bloggingsam.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bloggingsam.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11073"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/bloggingsam.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11073\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11082,"href":"https:\/\/bloggingsam.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11073\/revisions\/11082"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bloggingsam.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11073"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bloggingsam.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11073"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bloggingsam.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11073"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}