—Psalm 25:21
My Easter sermon yesterday talked about how Christ takes our broken parts and brings them together into an undivided heart. And today's psalm talks about integrity. In a way, that is referring to ethical behavior. But at its root, integrity refers to wholeness, or, in this case, not having divided loyalties—what the psalmist here says is necessary for preservation.
But the last part of this psalm makes it clear that neither my integrity nor my uprightness is my own doing. If I long for preservation (which, in this case, I think is the same as "salvation"), I must wait for God. I lack integrity on my own, and my righteousness will always fall short. Indeed, when I try to be righteous independent of God, the best I can hope for is self-righteousness. But waiting for God means accepting God's free gift of Christ's righteousness which I humbly accept as my own.
Thank you, God, for the free gift of your grace through Jesus, my Lord. Forgive my futile attempts to look good in your eyes, and help me to settle into the arms of my Lord, spread wide for me on the cross. For it is in his Name that I pray as he taught me: Our Father...
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