A psalm of David
101
📚I will sing of mercy and justice.
I will sing to you,
O LORD.
2 📚I will conduct myself wisely
in a perfect 📖 way.
Oh when will you come to me?
I will walk in my house
with a perfect heart.
101:1-2 David wrote this psalm, not as a private person, but as king. He had found in the LORD (Jehovah) perfect grace and perfect justice. God knows just when and to whom to show mercy, and just when and whom to judge and punish. Now David praises Him for that and resolves to strive ever to follow the King of heaven and be blameless in his conduct as the leader of his people and in the administration of the kingdom.
This is a great resolution and one every leader of Christian organizations and churches needs to make before God. David never achieved perfection, but he aimed at it. It is far better to aim at perfection and miss it than to aim at imperfection and achieve it. See the prayer in the midst of the resolution. He knew that if his resolution was to stand and produce fruit he needed God’s presence and power with him.⚜
3 📚I will set nothing wicked
before my eyes.
I hate the deeds of those
who turn aside.
They will not cling to me.
101:3 No vain or wicked thing would be a model for him. He refused even to contemplate such. And he was aware that when we come into contact with evil it can stick to us (1 Cor 15:33). So he kept his distance from evil men and evil deeds.⚜
4 📚A perverse heart will depart
from me.
I will not become acquainted
with wickedness.
5 📚Whoever secretly slanders
his neighbour,
him I will cut off.
I will not endure one who has
a haughty look and
a proud heart.
6 📚My eyes will be on
the faithful of the land,
that they may dwell with me.
The one who walks in a
perfect way,
he will serve me.
101:6 Faithfulness to God and blamelessness of life were the two qualifications for which David looked. To him they were more important than talent, intellect, strength, courage, or any other such quality. If a person did not have integrity he had no place in David’s work.⚜
7 📚He who acts deceitfully
will not dwell in
my house.
He who tells lies will not remain
in my sight.
8 📚Early I will destroy all the
wicked of the land,
so that I may cut off all evildoers
from the city of the LORD.
101:3-8 David resolved that he would keep himself from all evil and would not permit evil persons to serve in the palace or in the administration of the kingdom. He would choose only those who were faithful to God, people of integrity. He refused to select anyone as workers, ministers, or administrators simply because they were relatives or friends, or of the same tribe or community. He knew how ruinous nepotism can be, how it leads to corruption and abuse of power. No matter who people were, if they were evil, slanderers, proud, deceitful, or liars they had no part in his work or kingdom. Today we need such wise, holy, and determined leaders.⚜
101:8 Court was held in the morning and judgment given. David was determined to rid the nation of evil doers. For sins that required the death penalty under the law see note at Ex 21:36. It is a very sad thing that sins which were considered worthy of death under the law of Moses are often viewed with complacency in some Christian circles and nothing is done about them. Often this is not because leaders want to show God’s grace, but because they abuse His grace.
Of course, it is not the business of the church to execute the death penalty for offenses against God’s law. But it is the business of the church to try to keep itself pure and holy, and to maintain standards of integrity. God’s heavenly city is a holy place prepared for a holy people. This was David’s desire for the earthly city of Jerusalem. Dare we desire it less for the church and Christian organizations?⚜