Psalm 26 - Living in all Tenses

“...for I have walked in my integrity…I will walk in my integrity.” Psalm 26:1a, 11a

Being an English speaker since, well, forever, had me very unknowingly taking the grasp of the language for granted. Now that I am embraced in an intense battle with a new language, it makes me appreciate English on levels I never knew possible. And one of them is the power over the tenses. I eat, I am eating, I ate, I will eat, I have eaten, I have been eating, or even good ol’ Texas slang, dya’ eet yet? The seemingly countless verbal conjugations simply roll off the tongue as easy as pie. But in Spanish, learning all of the tenses that I take for granted in English, has been quite the journey indeed. I have made so many mistakes speaking to locals in the wrong tenses that I am rather getting used to the blank stares of confusion I receive daily. Yet in Psalm 26, we see David flex his mastery over the tenses of the verb ‘to walk.’ We see him clearly tell of his past, present, and future journey in the walk of Godly integrity.

A great definition of integrity is “doing what is right even if nobody is watching.” Yet another more encompassing definition is “the state of being whole and undivided.” You see, to have integrity you first need to have integrity in something. And for David, he knew who he believed in, he knew what he believed in, and then in the most important step, he lived and walked in that Godly integrity. And in Psalm 26, where David utilizes his tense mastery, we see that he declares to God that he has walked in integrity, a past tense inflection of his integrity and then goes on to say that he will walk in integrity in all of his days to come. And folks, what a declaration that is to make before Almighty God.

The world throws around the concept and the word integrity today cheaply. There are so many exceptions built into it by dishonest persons, that you can pretty much explain away any sin in your life and still claim personal integrity. But really think about the definitions mentioned above. Godly integrity is doing the righteous thing of God no matter the cost, no matter the situation, no matter the penalty, and no matter what other people may think. And then, within that unwaivering Godly integrity, staying whole, undivided, and true to it. And then, as you commit to that level of integrity in the Lord, commit to it in all tenses. As you walk in Godly integrity today, tomorrow will soon become your yesterday and your today will become your past. You will soon be able to say, I have walked in integrity.

Today your tomorrow is only a setting sun away, commit to the Lord that your tomorrow will find you walking in the integrity of the Lord. And in mastering the tenses of your walk with Christ, you will see your past, your present, and your future, firmly rooted in walking in the integrity that lies embedded as instructions on the pages of the Word of God. Study the Word, love it, live it, and then as David did, proclaim to the Lord that He is the God of all of your tenses. And as you do the Word (James 1:22), walk confidently in Godly integrity. For as David’s own son, Solomon, would soon write in Proverbs, a man of Godly integrity does indeed walk securely in this world.

Blessings ~ Dan

“Whoever walks in integrity walks securely, but he who makes his ways crooked will be found out.” Proverbs 10:9

“Better is a poor man who walks in his integrity than a rich man who is crooked in his ways.” Proverbs 28:6

“The integrity of the upright guides them, but the crookedness of the treacherous destroys them.” Proverbs 11:3

los colores de abajo (the colors below), Atlixco, Puebla, Mexico