“By this I know that you delight in me: my enemy will not shout in triumph over me. But you have upheld me because of my integrity, and set me in your presence forever.” -Psalm 41:11–12
The Psalmist’s closing prayer recognizes that victory over his enemies—or their lack of victory over him—serves as a token of sorts affirming God’s approval of him. Further, he has been restored to God’s presence in the temporal and assured of being kept in the presence of God in the eternal because of his integrity. Integrity here does not mean he is sinless or even guiltless in the matter for which he had been chastened. Rather, he is asserting that he has, to quote Koenig, demonstrated “a comparatively high measure of virtuous conduct.”
Integrity means to possess an inner consistency of being. In other words, even amidst his sin and subsequent chastisement—for “Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.”-Ecclesiastes 7:20—the Psalmist has continued to glorify the Lord and seek his face for forgiveness, healing, and even protection from his enemies.
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