Joel M Bradshaw

11But as for me, I shall walk in my integrity;
redeem me, and be gracious to me.
12My foot stands on level ground;
in the great assembly I will bless the LORD.–Psalm 26

I journey with people who have lost loved ones. I oversee a grief support group at my church. And we have a saying, “We don’t move on, but by God’s grace, we can move forward.”

We don’t know exactly where this psalm fell in David’s life. Was it after a time of great victory or great sin? What was David going through? The text just doesn’t tell us. The beauty of David was that he is so relatable. A wondrous man of faith and trust, but also a broken, depressed, selfish mess of a man. He did wondrous things. He also did unconscionable things. But most of us can see ourselves somewhere in David’s story.

So let’s look at his four lines as he moved forward.

1. He pledges to walk in integrity. He knew the honesty and the moral principles that God required. He knew the undivided person of faithfulness to God he was to be. And so he proclaims this was him moving forward.
2. He called on God to give him grace. David saw himself as a slave needing redemption. As a debtor needing relief. He had no answer for his own sins. Even the right living of point number 1 wasn’t going to be the answer here. Grace can never be earned or deserved. No, David called on God to do what only God can.
3. I live on a corner lot with a decent amount of grass to mow. And there are parts of my lawn that are bumpy and slanted. My ankles hurt after too much of those sections. Then I have straight and flat portions that are much easier to walk upon. David was saying that God had blessed him with a better path to walk in this integrity. This is the perspective of seeing God’s faithful hand at work in your life.
4. David proclaimed that he would respond publicly with his praise of God. Now this might have not been a big problem for David when he was king. But during the times of his life when he was a fugitive on the run? This would have proved more difficult. You may be in a position where public praise of God is a costly thing for you. It may put you at risk. Our world is so public about allegiances today. You might not want to make your feelings about God public. All I know is that for David faith was not just a private matter. He wanted the world around him to know how great our God is.

Moving on implies that we are giving the old football stiff-arm to other things. Nothing gets to travel with me anymore. Those things are gone. And for those who grieve, moving on is disrespectful and hurtful. We don’t want to move on from our loved one. But moving forward means that we intentionally carry things with us and take steps.

Each of us has a past that needs redeemed. Our past isn’t forgotten and completely left behind. It travels with us. But not in a controlling, dominating way. No longer in a defining way. It serves as a reminder and a great teacher to keep us humble and purposeful. Our present provides opportunities to be faithful and to walk with God correctly. Our future exists to grow trust in God and to submit unknown matters into his hands.

David wasn’t perfect, but he did have a great perspective. These are good principles by which to move forward.–JMB