The Pursuit of Honesty
David pledged, “He who practices deceit shall not dwell within my house; he who speaks falsehood shall not maintain his position before me” (Psalm 101:7).
The Hebrew word translated “deceit” primarily means laxness or slackness, but it often has (as in this verse) the sense of dishonesty or treachery. And “falsehood” here simply means deception, fraud, lying.
David valued honesty and integrity. He did not want to be influenced by anyone given to deceit, whether in his personal life or in his role as Israel’s king. This wasn’t just a matter of pragmatism (a king needed to be able to count on honest dealings in his administration); it was a matter of principle. David knew that “Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, but those who deal faithfully are His delight” (Proverbs 12:22).
We need to pursue honesty in speech. In one survey on honesty, 91% of respondents confessed that they lied regularly. One in five said they couldn’t get through a day without a few premeditated “white lies.” That’s a scary prospect, given that so many of our interactions and decisions depend on getting truthful information from others. “Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices” (Colossians 3:9).
We need to pursue honesty in practice. In a survey of nearly 30,000 high school students, 25% admitted to having stolen from parents, relatives, or friends in the past year; 33% said they had shoplifted in the past year; and 64% said they had cheated on at least one test in the past year. (And yet, 77% said they believe they’re “better than most people” when it comes to doing the right thing!) It isn’t only dishonest speech, but dishonest behavior that plagues our world.
Am I honest on the job? Am I honest in my business and financial dealings? Am I honest in paying my taxes? Am I honest in facing my mistakes (do I admit them, or do I double down)? Can the people in my life trust me to speak and act truthfully? “A false balance is an abomination to the Lord, but a just weight is His delight…The integrity of the upright will guide them, but the crookedness of the treacherous will destroy them” (Proverbs 11:1, 3).
Let’s resolve to value truth and integrity as David did — as God does — not only in others, but in ourselves.
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