“A Psalm of David. Vindicate me, LORD, for I have walked in my integrity, And I have trusted in the LORD without wavering.” (Psalm 26:1)

A clear conscience is a glorious thing. When we can go to bed at night without having to relive situations and rethink conversations to make sure we don’t get caught in lies, we can enjoy sweet sleep. And when we talk to our spouse and children or a colleague at work, we can look them in the eye because we don’t have any fear of being caught in fabrications of the truth. We can pray “Vindicate me, O Lord,” with confidence when someone challenges us.

Why do we lie or as we might say exaggerate the truth? We may be trying to look good to someone else, we may want to avoid blame for something we’ve done, or we may have developed a habit of shading the truth. As followers of Christ, we are called by God to live in truth. Sometimes that truth is glorious, but sometimes it shows our dark side.

King David encourages us to speak truth, live truth and be an example of truth to others. Trusting God gives us strength to face the sometimes painful facts of our lives. When we’ve failed, we can embrace God’s forgiveness, confess our deception to the person we’ve lied to and choose the path of truth.