(Psalms 7:8) “The LORD shall judge the people: judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness, and according to mine integrity that is in me.”

King David was petitioning God to deliver him from those that persecuted him. The basis for God to deliver David, according to David, was his own righteousness and integrity. David is not giving a reason for God to justify himself as far as being worthy of eternal life in God; for there is no righteousness man has, or could ever have, to justify eternal life on his own merits; for he could never be a perfect sacrifice for his own sin debt to God.

This is not David’s petition to God. This Scripture is not a foundation for a “works salvation”; but rather, it is a reminder of the purity of David’s behavior to other men (Ps. 7:3-5), and the results thereof. David reminded God of his righteous and upright dealing with God and with man, according to God’s standard of Righteousness. David is speaking of “fruits” that were being borne in his daily behavior among men, and before God, because he was Righteous in God’s Righteousness. David was not speaking of “Position”; but, of his daily actions, or his daily practice.

David is dealing with a physical salvation (or some call it a temporal salvation); that is, a physical deliverance from his enemies. These words of David are very illustrative of how we should approach God. David’s desire is revealed in (Ps.7:9) “Oh let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end; but establish the just: for the righteous God trieth the hearts and reins.” God, manifest the reward of being “just,” or justified, in God. God, stop the wicked; let the wicked come to an end in persecuting the just (or those who walk in righteousness and in integrity).

Then, David declared in (Ps. 7:10-11), God was his Defense and his Savior, even in the physical; for God is the righteous Judge and is angry with the wicked. David proceeded in (Ps. 7:12-16) to reveal what God would do with the wicked, if the wicked turn not.

The focus of this devotion is not David; it is not the wicked; but it is the purity of the child of God; that is, his attitude, actions and attire before God and man. When a child of God petitions God, and uses comparisons of himself and of others, the petitioner must be aware of the following:

Unrighteousness Cannot be Hidden

When the child of God approaches God in prayer, he must be aware that nothing can be hidden from God; nothing internal or external. (Job 34:11) “For his eyes are upon the ways of man, and he seeth all his goings…” (also see Ps. 34:15; Prov. 16:2).

A prime example of this is when Sarah, Abraham’s wife, heard the LORD tell Abraham that Sarah would have a child. She was already 89 years old; then she “laughed within herself” (Gen. 18:12). God questioned Abraham as to why did Sarah laugh (Gen. 18:13); then God continued (Gen. 18:14), “Is there anything too hard for the LORD?” We read in (Gen 18:15) “Then Sarah denied, saying, I laughed not; for she was afraid. And he said, Nay; but thou didst laugh.” God sees the very thoughts and intents of the heart (Heb. 4:12d). You cannot hide your internal thoughts from God.

Therefore, when you come to God, be sure you are clean internally and externally. (Job 31:4-6) “Doth not he see my ways, and count all my steps? (5) If I have walked with vanity, or if my foot hath hasted to deceit; (6) Let me be weighed in an even balance, that God may know mine integrity.” Therefore, David knew, just as Job knew, that God knew all his ways, internally and externally.

Question: Could you say to God at this moment, ‘God, Judge me according to my righteousness and according to mine integrity (or according to my honesty, morality, uprightness, virtue)?’ Are you ready to say with Job, “Let me be weighed in an even balance, that God may know mine integrity?” Only you know the answer to these questions. But, if you cannot answer as David and Job did, it means one of three things:

• You are not praying on a regular basis; for you know God knows the truth. So, you try to hide from God.
• Your flesh is happy in your unconfessed sin; and at the present, the flesh is winning the battle.
• You have not faced that you are in a down-fall, headed for defeat, or maybe even physical destruction.

When a child of God cannot say, “Let me be weighed in an even balance, that God may know mine integrity?” – then, it means he is running from God and from his calling; and he has no perception of the shame that he is bringing on God, his church, and even himself before others.

But, the truth of the matter is, unless you communicate with God in purity, you cannot communicate with Him at all. (Isa 59:1-2) “Behold, the LORD’S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: (2) But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.” The problem is not God, or even that you are His child. No, the problem lies in unconfessed sins on your part; and even in your denial that you are in unconfessed sins.

Child of God, let it be stated plainly – until you come clean before God, God will not answer you, and He will be as a stone wall to your petitions. When this is the case, there is no growth for the child of God; there is no fellowship with the Father; there is no confession of sin, and therefore, no cleansing of all unrighteousness. Child of God, God is not the loser; you are, if you are trying to hide your sin. The child of God in this position need not to wonder, cry, etc., or continue blaming God for not hearing and answering his prayer; for God is where He has always been, in Holiness and Righteousness. The problem is the child of God hiding in his own sin.

Many children of God, who are living in unconfessed sin, read the text verse and asked, ‘It worked for David, why can’t it work for me?’ It will, if you read and do as David did in (Ps. 51:1-18), and make confession of your sin to God. And do as the Apostle John wrote in (1 Jn. 1:7-10); that is, to confess your sin – it will work for you. This devotion is not to condemn you; but, to encourage you to come to the place that all saved sinners must come daily; and that is to daily confess the sins of the flesh.

The child of God is to daily be led of the Holy Spirit; walk in the Holy Spirit; and live in the Holy Spirit (Gal. 5:16, 18, 25). What Paul was ultimately saying is, (Eph. 5:18) “And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; (that is, don’t fill your spirit with the lust of this world) but be filled with the Spirit.” That is, to be controlled by the Holy Spirit in body, soul, and spirit daily in the life of the believer. That is, to come out of this world and be not in fellowship with the philosophy and ways of this world (2 Cor. 6:14-18). But, to do as Paul exhorted in (Col 3:1-3) “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.  (2)  Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.  (3)  For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.”

Every regenerated/converted person to Jesus Christ has a great deceiver still abiding in them; it is the “flesh” (Rom. 7:14-24). The flesh is the seat of where “sin” dwells in a person, even after regeneration/conversion. Yes, the flesh has been crucified (Rom. 6:6), which means the flesh is not in control of the regenerated spirit; but, he remains the hunter, the deceiver in the saved man, until physical death. However, the saved man does not have to yield to the flesh; for he now has the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, Who is now in control of the spirit of the saved man. (Read Rom. 6:1-23; Heb. 4:12; 1 Cor. 3:16; 6:19-20.)

(Rom. 7:24-25) reveals the answer for the problem of the flesh, (Rom 7:24) “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” Note; the Apostle Paul was a regenerated and converted man to Jesus Christ when he wrote these words. Paul knew very well of the war between the flesh (or the old man; Eph. 4:22) and the new man (or the new creation in Christ; Eph. 4:23-24; 2 Cor. 5:17); so, he posed this question. His answer is in the next verse, (Rom 7:25) “I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.” Paul explained that he had been given the “mind of Christ”; and this mind of Christ is what caused him to serve the law of God, which is the law of Love. But, the flesh (the seat of sin) was still in his human nature; and the flesh tried daily to get him to serve the law of sin.

Jesus Christ is the Answer for all the children of God (Rom. 8:1-2; Col. 1:27). The Hope is the Righteousness of Christ; and upon His Righteousness is the forgiveness of sin now, and forever, for His people. Therefore, when the child of God is in unconfessed sin; the answer is (1 Jn. 1:9) and that is to confess his sin, and God will cleanse him from all unrighteousness, and restore his fellowship with God. Make no mistake Reader, the child of God never loses his “position” in the Righteousness of Christ; for that was sealed in the Atonement of Christ on the Cross (Rom. 3:24-25; 10:4; 1 Cor. 1:30; Eph. 1:7; Gal. 2:16). However, unconfessed sin in the believer’s life breaks his fellowship and communion with God. Until the sin, or sins, are confessed to God; the child of God will not be heard of God, nor will God reveal His face to him (Isa. 59:2).

Child of God, this is when you begin to feel all alone; and feel that God has forsaken you; and all sorts of vain imaginations fill your spirit. If this condition persists; you are headed in the wrong direction and need to repent, confess your sin, and turn to God and make your petitions known to Him; for chastisement (Heb. 12:5-11) lies ahead for you, if there is no confession of sin by the believer.

When confession comes, and communion is restored to the believer, then he can say in his petition to God in prayer, (Psa 7:8-10) “The LORD shall judge the people: judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness, and according to mine integrity that is in me.  (9) Oh let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end; but establish the just: for the righteous God trieth the hearts and reins.  (10)  My defence is of God, which saveth the upright in heart.”

Reader, having taken the time to read this devotion; please take one step more and ask yourself could you say to God; “ judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness, and according to mine integrity that is in me?” If you cannot; please face God, and confess, repent, and turn from your sin, and experience the restoration of sweet, sweet fellowship with God, and walk again in the daily victory over the flesh and sin. Finally, once again, experience the Joy of being an Overcomer in Christ.