Songs of the Soul: A Lent DevotionalSample

King David begins this psalm by singing the truth of God’s Steadfast Lovingkindness and Justice. He acknowledges and believes that God is the Source of love and justice, and this truth motivated him to live in a right relationship with God and conduct his life upholding integrity.

The Hebrew word for “integrity” is “tōm” which means completeness and fullness. To walk with integrity is to live your life where your words, thoughts and actions are consistent. David was far from perfect, but he desired to walk with integrity consistently not just within his own house but also before the courts in his kingdom. If anything caused him to be out of alignment with God, he would confess and repent of his wrongdoing and reorient his life back to God.

I remember a time when I had lied at an interview. Not long after becoming a Christian, I wanted to serve as a camp counsellor at our church’s summer camp. All the applicants went through an interviewing process by the church staff before joining.

I really wanted to do well in the interview and win their approval so I lied about reading the Bible. I was too ashamed to tell the truth — that I wasn’t reading the Bible.

After the interview, I felt a deep sense of guilt and shame; it was like a heavy weight on my heart and I wanted to find a hole and hide in it. That evening, it was the first time I sensed the Holy Spirit convicting me of the wrong I had committed, not just against the church staff, but against God. It grieved God that I was dishonest, so I confessed to my parents and repented to God and asked for His forgiveness.

Since that incident, God taught me an important lesson about walking with integrity of heart and choosing to do what is right even when your flesh tells you otherwise. The Bible describes David as a man after God’s own Heart because David knew the Heart of God and desired to follow in it. He continually made a cautious choice to choose to honour God with his life because he recognised that God was far more worthy than anything else in his life, including the approval of men.

Jessica Leung
Hope of the City

Prayer:
Thank You Father God that it is Your Lovingkindness that leads me to repentance! I desire to live a life of integrity that honours You. Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the Way Everlasting!