It is important to realize that the perception of peace in a person's life can be truly deceptive. Those who live for the Devil and for themselves may seem to prosper and enjoy peace. They may even testify of the peace that they seem to enjoy while those living for the Lord honestly exhibit trials and temptations associated with such a relationship. Yet, we have God's word on the matter: the wicked have no peace. This truth is so important that the Lord repeated the thought of the wicked having no peace in Isaiah 57:21. The wicked may enjoy times of calm in their lives, but these times are not the true and enduring peace that only comes from a relationship with the Saviour. Consider this vivid description before embarking on such a life: “the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt” (Isaiah 57:20). Peace comes from God!
The Lord blessed the throne of David and desired to do the same for his posterity. Because the Lord wanted to establish Solomon’s rule, He provided some guidelines for Solomon. One prominent issue involved Solomon following in his father’s footsteps by living with integrity of heart. Integrity is very much a matter of the heart. In fact, four times in scripture integrity is associated with the heart. Twice the Bible refers to the integrity of Abimelech’s heart (Genesis 20:5-6) and another two times it refers to the integrity of David’s heart (1 Kings 9:4; Psalm 78:72). Though these men had little else in common, both understood that integrity involved a matter of the heart. A lack of integrity is first and foremost a heart issue.
Men used to be commended for their level of integrity and one's handshake was considered a man’s bond. As societies continue to crumble from the pollution of immorality, men of integrity are quickly disappearing. Unfortunately, churches seem far from immune to this moral decline. What is integrity? In a narrow sense, integrity as used in scripture can be difficult to pinpoint. The word integrity occurs sixteen times in scripture. By considering each occurrence, one can discover clues that provide insight as to its meaning. Integrity is contrasted with the words like perverse (Proverbs 19:1) and perverseness (Proverbs 11:3). Conversely, integrity is used in conjunction with words like upright (Job 2:3; Proverbs 11:3) and uprightness (1 Kings 9:4; Psalm 25:21). In our passage, the word integrity is used alongside the word innocency (Genesis 20:5). These facts would lead the believer to realize that integrity speaks of a moral purity and moral correctness.
