Gen 30:32+33, let me pass through your entire flock today, removing from there every speckled and spotted sheep, and every black one among the lambs, and the spotted and speckled among the goats; and such shall be my wages. So my honesty will answer for me later, when you come concerning my wages. Every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats and black among the lambs, if found with me, will be considered stolen." 
	In our reading this morning, we have the recorded births of the children of Israel, as well as his preparation to leave Laban and return to his own lands. In the process of making those arrangements, we become privy to the conversation that transpired between Laban and Jacob in which Jacob negotiated his rightful pay for all that he has done to make Laban rich in flocks and herds. 
	The key that we want to consider is that Jacob felt that it was important to leave his father-in-law in a worthy manner. He did not want to steal from him or to allow Laban the opportunity to come back later and say that Jacob had defrauded him. 
This brings to mind the encouragement of the Apostle Paul in Rom 12:17+18 where he gives instruction to each of us in the manner in which we are to deal with all men. Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all men. If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men. This appears to be the heart with which Jacob desired to leave Laban in peace and without reason to doubt or to accuse Jacob in any manner of his years of service.
In the New American Standard Version, the phrase reads So my honesty will answer for me later… In other versions, the word for honesty is translated as righteousness or integrity. It is this matter of righteousness, integrity or honesty with which we need to spend some time this morning. It has a very significant impact in our dealings with God, with others, and with ourselves. It matters tremendously in the testimony that we present before all the angelic hosts and all of creation. The every reality of Who Jesus is to us finds expression and fulfillment in the honesty, integrity, or righteousness with which we conduct our lives on this earth. 
1 Sam 26:21, And the Lord will repay each man for his righteousness and his faithfulness; for the Lord delivered you into my hand today, but I refused to stretch out my hand against the Lord's anointed. In this passage concerning David’s interaction with King Saul, we see the heart of David as he considered this one who had been ruthlessly tracking him in order to kill him. Saul was put into a place where David could have struck him down, and done so with the impunity of self-defense and the just reality that David would have done absolutely nothing to so bring this death sentence upon him. David had continually treated Saul with kindness and with discretion and with integrity, yet Saul was caught up in bitter jealousy and rage at the perceived threat of David to Saul’s honor and throne.
When given the opportunity to put an end to all the harassment and the anguish and the need to hide and to seek shelter in caves as an exile, David refused to so sully himself and his hand against the one whom God had anointed over the people. David acted with integrity and with righteousness, not taking upon himself the need to avenge and to put right.
This is something that we often find ourselves invested into with the greatest struggle of trying to make things right by our own endeavors and strength. We see injustice and wrong done to us and to others and we feel that we must be the ones to take up the cause and to bring our limited sense of fairness into the situation. The problem is that we often fail to see the whole picture of what God is in the process of doing. We get ourselves entangled in all sorts of projects and programs and efforts which will only serve to distract us from keeping our eyes and our focal point centered fully on what pleases the Lord. 
Yes, we do respond to those needs that He presents to us, but not with the human wisdom and the limited intellect that we each put forth as our contribution to make things better and just. We ask God to guide and to direct in the manner in which He will provide for His righteousness and His wisdom and His manifest plan and purposes to go forth in perfection.
If David had killed Saul, justified though he might have been in that action of self-defense, it is entirely possible that God would not have given David the throne of Israel. God often removes those things that we try to take with our own hands. David could very easily have been rejected by the people as a usurper and the practitioner of regicide to claim the throne for himself, and thereby would not have hade the support and the hearts of the Children of Israel. However, in abiding by that which honored the Lord in his integrity of dealing with Saul, David was eventually given the throne over all of Israel by the very hand of God.
As we read in 2 Sam 22:21+22, "The Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness; According to the cleanness of my hands He has recompensed me. "For I have kept the ways of the Lord, And have not acted wickedly against my God. David faithfully waited for the Lord to do what the Lord chose to do and thus kept his hand from soiling the plan of God to install upon him the kingship that would ultimately flow down upon the head of Jesus Christ through the lineage of David.
The Psalmist, in Ps 37:5-11, reaffirms how we are to trust in God to be the source and the strength of all our righteousness and integrity and honesty. Please follow along as we read it together and even mark it in your Bibles so you can find it when encouragement to righteousness is required. Ps 37:5-11, Commit your way to the Lord, Trust also in Him, and He will do it. And He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, And your judgment as the noonday. Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him; Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, Because of the man who carries out wicked schemes. Cease from anger, and forsake wrath; Do not fret, it leads only to evildoing. For evildoers will be cut off, But those who wait for the Lord, they will inherit the land. Yet a little while and the wicked man will be no more; And you will look carefully for his place, and he will not be there. But the humble will inherit the land, And will delight themselves in abundant prosperity. 
	We are to trust in God and to wait for Him to show forth His righteousness in the every manner of how we walk on this earth. Please note that we have, in this reality, the manner in which we are to consider all those who do evil. We are not to fret about them for they will find themselves dealing with the righteousness of God in due time. 
	I have often been bombarded by those who, in the midst of the dealings of the Lord to make Himself known to them in life and in reality, have questioned the very integrity of God. In the course of the trials and the struggles and the seeming persecutions and travails, they often declare that those who do evil can get away with everything. It seems to be a constant complaint throughout the course of human history that the evil seem to flourish as the righteous seem to struggle and to face turmoil and injustice and poverty and anguish. 
	However, as the Psalmist so rightly points out, those who practice evil will be cut off. They will face the Holy and Just God Who will righteously deal with their temporary success of wickedness. If they do not repent and seek God, they will stand before the judgment throne of God and be thrown out into darkness, while those who continue in the righteousness of God, waiting for Him and counting on Him will inherit the land and be prosperous. This is not just a one time matter of obedience, but a continual manifestation of waiting upon God and counting upon Him to do all that He so chooses to do in the time frame and the manner in which He so chooses to do it. We do not tell God what to do and how to do anything! We simply trust and obey as He so faithfully and constantly directs. As we do so, He will be our shield ans our comfort and our source of strength.
	Then we have the following encouragement unto integrity of heart and honesty and righteousness given to us in Prov 11:2-10. Please turn to it so we can read it together. Prov 11:2-10, When pride comes, then comes dishonor, But with the humble is wisdom. The integrity of the upright will guide them, But the falseness of the treacherous will destroy them. Riches do not profit in the day of wrath, But righteousness delivers from death. The righteousness of the blameless will smooth his way, But the wicked will fall by his own wickedness. The righteousness of the upright will deliver them, But the treacherous will be caught by their own greed. When a wicked man dies, his expectation will perish, And the hope of strong men perishes. The righteous is delivered from trouble, But the wicked takes his place. With his mouth the godless man destroys his neighbor, But through knowledge the righteous will be delivered. When it goes well with the righteous, the city rejoices, And when the wicked perish, there is glad shouting. 
	Once again, we are presented with a distinct difference in the manner in which we are to conduct all our affairs on this earth. Whether they are between other people or with God, we are to manifest the integrity of heart and spirit which is completely honoring to God. We see the differences between those who are righteous in all their dealings with others and those who are evil or treacherous or wicked. Note the descriptive terminology that is used to present those who practice wicked dealings and unrighteousness. Pride, dishonor, treachery, destruction, wrath, greed, perish, and godlessness. These are the attitudes, perceptions, and actions that permeate and infuse their every dealing with others and with God. When those who practice evil fall, and fall they will, there is rejoicing and jubilation which accompanies that collapse. There is nothing up building or positive associated with those who practice such vile disregard for others and no one to mourn their demise.
	But, as we are told by Jeremiah, for the righteous, the Lord will bring forth vindication and rejoicing and triumph for those who will but wait for Him to do all that He has purposed. Jer 33:14-16, 'Behold, days are coming,' declares the Lord,' when I will fulfill the good word which I have spoken concerning the house of Israel and the house of Judah. 'In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch of David to spring forth; and He shall execute justice and righteousness on the earth. 'In those days Judah shall be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell in safety; and this is the name by which she shall be called: the Lord is our righteousness.' 
	In this passage, we have the promise of the Christ to come, as we have already mentioned this morning, through the lineage of David. At the time of the writing of this passage, there was no conception of what all it would entail for the Christ to be manifested. The people were looking for their salvation through their own limited understanding. They thought it would involve an earthly king who would deliver them from all those tyrannical nations who seemed to so easily overwhelm them. However, God was going to make Himself known through the manner in which His People, who were called by His name would receive His Only Begotten Son. 
	Please note, that His people would be called … the Lord is our righteousness. It would not be because they were able to claim any righteousness or integrity or honesty of their own accord, but because they were absolutely and completely relying upon Him to be their righteousness. He was going to make Himself their, our, everything through the very presence and salvation of Himself, Jesus Christ.   
	Jeremiah made this known earlier in his writing, as recorded in Chapter 23, verses 5+6, "Behold, the days are coming," declares the Lord, "When I shall raise up for David a righteous Branch; And He will reign as king and act wisely And do justice and righteousness in the land. "In His days Judah will be saved, And Israel will dwell securely; And this is His name by which He will be called, 'The Lord our righteousness.' …'The Lord our righteousness. 
	Everything is set in the fact that Jesus Christ has now become the very righteousness of God in you and in me and in all those who so fully and freely and livingly call upon Him. He is all righteousness to those who believe that He is the Son of God, sent to die for our sins and was resurrected on that third day by the power of the Holy Spirit. In our faith unto salvation, all the righteousness of God is made to dwell in us and to become our every course of dealing with others.     
Next week, Lord willing, we will look at this course of righteousness in all our interactions with others and with God as proclaimed in the New Testament. Let us seek God to make known that which will cause us to ever wait and trust in Him to make known always His Goodness and His Grace and His Mercy in our every dealings with one another, with others, and most especially with Him. So be it!
"Behold, the days are coming," declares the Lord, "When I shall raise up for David a righteous Branch; And He will reign as king and act wisely And do justice and righteousness in the land. Amen.

This morning’s benediction is Phil 1:2. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.