“He who walks with 1integrity walks 2securely…” (Prov. 10:9) 1tôm: completeness, fulness, innocence. 2beṭach: confidently, safely, unsuspecting. We should be able to walk in completeness in fullness and in innocence. Feeling confidently safe and unsuspecting. That’s the VALUE OF INTEGRITY! This is a decree a king wrote about a man of integrity who was serving in a high position. “I make a decree that men must TREMBLE AND FEAR BEFORE…GOD. For He is the living God, And steadfast forever; His kingdom is the one which SHALL NOT BE DESTROYED, And His dominion shall ENDURE TO THE END.” (Dan. 6:26)
So, who was this man of integrity? Well, it was DANIEL of course! And because of Daniels integrity, King Darius appointed him to be second in charge of all 120 satraps (rulers) over the King’s 120 districts. King Darius, “…placed three leaders over the satraps. One was Daniel. Daniel did a better job than…any.” (Dan. 6:2-3) The king planned to put Daniel over all, because of his of integrity, “…the other two leaders and the satraps…tried to find something wrong with the way he ran the government…but Danial NEVER did anything wrong.” (Dan. 6:4)
“All the governors (a lie because Daniel did not) and satraps, established a royal statute, that whoever petitions any god or man for thirty days, EXCEPT YOU, O KING, shall be cast into THE DEN OF LIONS.” (Dan. 6:7) Daniel heard about it and went home, “…in his upper room, windows open toward Jerusalem, knelt down and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as was his custom.” (Dan. 6:10) This was reported to the king so he had to have Daniel thrown into the Lion’s den. God stopped their mouth and Daniel pulled up a lion and slept. The king worried all night and went the next morning to check on Daniel. Daniel responded, “O king, live forever!” (Dan. 6:21) He got Daniel out and “they brought those men who had accused Daniel, and they cast them into the den of lions—them, their children, and their wives; and the lions overpowered them, and broke all their bones in pieces BEFORE they ever came to the bottom of the den.” (Dan. 6:24) That’s when the king makes the above decree.
We must be persons of integrity, “…in all things showing yourself to be a pattern of good works; in doctrine SHOWING INTEGRITY, reverence, incorruptibility, sound speech that cannot be condemned, that one who is an adversary may be ashamed, having NOTHING EVIL TO SAY OF YOU.” (Titus 2:7-8)
-Bill Stockham