Integrity Triumphs over Deception

“Then these commissioners and satraps came by agreement to the king and spoke to him as follows: ‘King Darius, live forever! All the commissioners of the kingdom, the prefects and the satraps, the high officials and the governors have consulted together that the king should establish a statute and enforce an injunction that anyone who makes a petition to any god or man besides you, O king, for thirty days, shall be cast into the lions’ den. Now, O king, establish the injunction and sign the document so that it may not be changed, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which may not be revoked.’ Therefore King Darius signed the document, that is, the injunction” (Daniel 6:6-9).

O Lord, lead me in Thy righteousness because of my foes; make Thy way straight before me. There is nothing reliable in what they say; their inward part is destruction itself; their throat is an open grave; they flatter with their tongue. Hold them guilty, O God . . . for they are rebellious against Thee. But let all who take refuge in Thee be glad, let them ever sing for joy; and mayest Thou shelter them, that those who love Thy name may exult in Thee. For it is Thou who dost bless the righteous man, O LORD, Thou dost surround him with favor as with a shield.

That could have been Daniel’s prayer as well, being surrounded by men who were rebellious against God who and flattered Darius so they could have Daniel put to death. By their own devices they would fall, but not before Daniel’s integrity was tested.

Darius yielded to deceitful flattery, decreeing that he alone could grant petitions. (His ego is reminiscent of Nebuchadnezzar’s [Dan. 3:12].) Daniel, on the other hand, was unyielding in his convictions, and God literally surrounded him with favor as with a shield.

Pray that when your faith is tested, you will stand firm and have the assurance that God is surrounding you with His favor.

Psalm 5:12 says that God blesses the righteous man. According to Psalm 64:10 and Psalm 92:12-15, what are some of those blessings?

I’m reading through the early church fathers. It is a very laborious effort as it is difficult to read and one has to be forgiving of some of the heretical things said or incorrect scripture passages as this dates back to the very early church when understanding was just beginning.

That being said, I am absolutely impressed with our early fathers and the apostles who faced such fierce opposition from not only the Jews but from the Greeks. I can certainly understand Paul’s letter to Timothy, Peter’s letters, and John’s 1, 2, and 3. They KNEW the truth and fought to tell everyone about it. Many thought they were crazy. By comparison of the surround populus, few listen. But they kept preaching the truth, knowing that Christ was raised from the death and was the true Messiah. The need for us to repent of our sin and turn to Christ for salvation. They kept preaching this message even onto death.

And while they saw the church being added to daily, they also saw all the false teachers entering the church as well bring in false teaching. It must have been terribly disheartening but they kept on preaching. I sit and wonder what they would think of God’s efforts through them today-how they would marvel.

That is integrity.

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