Dear Veritas,

This is the first in an ongoing series of articles where the pastors and elders of Veritas get to write you a letter on a regular basis. Who doesn’t like to get some mail?! These letters can be anything that is on our hearts we wish to share with you as we try and shepherd this flock, hopefully continuing to lead you to the green pastures of our God and king. I am first up and wanted to share with you a bite of scripture that I recently chewed on for some time and found very nourishing.

As I get older I am constantly seeing new things in the mirror. A bit more gray on the sides, or a rogue eyebrow hair that somehow seemed to grow an inch overnight, or a few more wrinkles. We often look at our outward appearance, making sure we are presentable to those we encounter each day. It is good to examine ourselves, but what about looking deeper than just our outward appearance? We need to often take a look at our soul—is our conscience or compassion hardening? Did some rogue, unhelpful thought or emotion grow too big seemingly overnight? What is going on inside? Do we examine that more than we fix our hair in the mirror? Veritas, let’s be people who often examine our own hearts, and there is no better mirror to do that with than God’s Word.

As I was saying, during some of my own Bible reading recently I came across what I found to be a very reflective section of scripture that helped me take a closer look inside that I want to share with you. I call it The Psalm 101 Assessment. I know, quite a creative title. Guess where it is found? In reading Psalm 101, I found the text leading me to ask myself six questions that I want to now pose to you. Below is the psalm with the questions added in. I would encourage you to slow down, find a quiet spot alone to read the verses, and then take time to answer each question. I hope this assessment will be a helpful time in front of the mirror of God’s Word, pointing out anything that may need to be plucked or dealt with, and that we would all be more presentable in the most important ways.

Love,
Jake

I Will Walk with Integrity

A Psalm of David

101
I will sing of steadfast love and justice;
   to you, O Lord, I will make music.
²I will ponder the way that is blameless.
   Oh when will you come to me?
I will walk with integrity of heart
   within my house;

What have I been making much of lately in my life? What have I been worshiping?

³I will not set before my eyes
    anything that is worthless.

What have I been taking in lately? What TV shows, movies, books, articles, podcasts, social media, etc. have I been absorbing? How much? What is it reinforcing in me?

I hate the work of those who fall away;
   it shall not cling to me.

⁴A perverse heart shall be far from me;
    I will know nothing of evil.

⁵Whoever slanders his neighbor secretly
   I will destroy.
Whoever has a haughty look and an arrogant heart
   I will not endure.

What have I been hating lately? What is the evil around me that I have a healthy hatred of?

⁶I will look with favor on the faithful in the land,
    that they may dwell with me;
he who walks in the way that is blameless
   shall minister to me.

Who have I been learning from lately? Who has been ministering to me? What have I been learning lately?

⁷No one who practices deceit
    shall dwell in my house;
no one who utters lies
   shall continue before my eyes.

Who have I been surrounding myself with? What is the company I have been keeping lately? What has that been reinforcing to me?

⁸Morning by morning I will destroy
    all the wicked in the land,
cutting off all the evildoers lies
   from the city of the Lord.

What have I been fighting to improve lately? What have been my efforts to confront evil and endorse good?