Integrity 

"O Lord my God, in thee do I put my trust: save me from all them that persecute me, and deliver me: Lest he tear my soul like a lion, rending it in pieces, while there is none to deliver.

The Lord shall judge the people: judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness, and according to mine integrity that is in me."
Psalms 7:1‭-‬2‭, ‬8. How many situations in your life have been fair? How about unfair? In the unfair situations, it is so hard to "keep our cool." We have no control over what's going on, and we feel helpless. But in order to have the best possible outcomes in those situations, we have to maintain our integrity and trust in God. This is exactly what Jacob's (Israel's) son Joseph had to do.

But wait! Wasn't Joseph the first son finally born to Rachel, after being barren for so long? Shouldn't he be appreciated and favored? Why is the above Psalm talking about persecution, and rending in pieces?! The truth is, Joseph WAS greatly favored by his father, Israel. So favored in fact, that Joseph's brothers had an overwhelming sense of jealousy which got the best of them...

Joseph had dreams of his brothers bowing down to him, and they didn't like that. Israel also gave Joseph a coat of many colors, and that coat was the last straw. When Joseph came to meet his brothers in the field, they were so angry, and they wanted to kill him. But never fear, they used their better judgment and just threw him in a pit and eventually sold him to Egyptians. Harsh!

But what to tell Dad? They thought. Here's what they did:

"And they took Joseph's coat, and killed a kid of the goats, and dipped the coat in the blood; And they sent the coat of many colours, and they brought it to their father; and said, This have we found: know now whether it be thy son's coat or no. And he knew it, and said, It is my son's coat; an evil beast hath devoured him; Joseph is without doubt rent in pieces."
Genesis 37:31‭-‬33.

The brothers deceived their father Israel. Now remember, Israel used to be Jacob. He used to deceive. And now Israel was tested by his own sons. Israel mourned this supposed loss severely, and rent his own clothes in mourning. But what was happening to Joseph in Egypt? Turns out, although the coat was stripped away, his integrity stayed the same:

"And the Lord was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian. And his master saw that the Lord was with him, and that the Lord made all that he did to prosper in his hand."
Genesis 39:2‭-‬3.

Joseph prospered! But one of his brothers, Judah, did not prosper. God judged Joseph for righteousness, but God judged Judah for the unrighteousness he did to Joseph. In Genesis 38, Judah was deceived by his widowed daughter-in-law, Tamar. She removed her widow garment, put on clothes of a harlot, and went to lay with him. She ended up getting pregnant with twins. As we can see, she was not the same person underneath it all. Joseph, however, maintained his integrity and his love for God!

There was even a point at which Joseph was thrown into prison in Egypt. But why? Again, wasn't he in a favored position with Pharaoh & Potiphar!? It's not so much about other people favoring us as it is about God's favor...we need to prove ourselves true unto God as well!

Joseph was thrown into prison because his master's wife wanted to lay with him, but he refused. She did not want to look bad, so she blamed Joseph for the whole thing:

"And it came to pass, when she saw that he had left his garment in her hand, and was fled forth, That she called unto the men of her house, and spake unto them, saying, See, he hath brought in an Hebrew unto us to mock us; he came in unto me to lie with me, and I cried with a loud voice:" Genesis 39:13‭-‬14.

But once again, that torn garment and layer did not mean his trust in God was broken. In fact, Joseph even prospered in prison! Even in that tough situation, he couldn't escape God's favor. He always had integrity!

No matter what layers were removed, they uncovered the same person, because he had integrity in every situation: "Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine." 2 Timothy 4:2. All that was revealed beneath the layers was a desire to please God, and it certainly showed! As it says in our opening Scripture: "...judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness, and according to mine integrity that is in me." Psalm 7:8. Once again, God definitely did judge Joseph according to his righteousness:

"The keeper of the prison looked not to any thing that was under his hand; because the Lord was with him, and that which he did, the Lord made it to prosper." Genesis 39:23. Although he was in prison, he did not let his environment destroy his integrity to do the right thing. He didn't "lash out." Joseph brought God right along with him wherever he went, and the best was always made of a bad situation!