David's Spiritual Disciplines - Psalm 101

Psalm 101

1 I will sing of steadfast love and justice;

to you, O LORD, I will make music.

2 I will ponder the way that is blameless.

Oh when will you come to me?

I will walk with integrity of heart

within my house;

3 I will not set before my eyes

anything that is worthless.

I hate the work of those who fall away;

it shall not cling to me.

4 A perverse heart shall be far from me;

I will know nothing of evil.

5 Whoever slanders his neighbor secretly

I will destroy.

Whoever has a haughty look and an arrogant heart

I will not endure.

6 I 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.

7 No one who practices deceit

shall dwell in my house;

no one who utters lies

shall continue before my eyes.

8 Morning by morning I will destroy

all the wicked in the land,

cutting off all the evildoers

from the city of the LORD.

This Psalm hearkens back to an earlier time for me. I remember the days, from 2002-2006 when I owned my 1991 maroon Honda Civic with a 1.5 liter engine and a 5 speed manual transmission. I remember when it was broken into for the second time and the radio that I had placed in the mount was once again stolen. So I printed off a word doc with Psalm 101 on it and taped it over the unsightly mess that used to contain my radio. Aesthetically speaking, the printed word doc that was now taped up over the old spot made a bad situation look worse...at least it was God's truth that was plastered over my dash. At the time, I didn't care about aesthetics. 

I memorized the Psalm, although it doesn't do much good now because I have switched to the ESV from the trusted old NASB. Funny how those little changes can make all the difference. Something I had down cold at one point almost works against me now, given the fact that it was in a different translation. I almost need to undue what I had previously known in order to begin afresh. Oh the struggle that it is to be me. Aren't you glad you didn't commit large portions of Scripture to memory in a different translation...if I only had discovered the ESV at my conversion!! I am sure world evangelization would now be complete. Looking back, I think this was definitely the thing that held me back from making a bigger dent in the kingdom of darkness;)

 On to the Psalm, here are some insights:

1. The Psalm focuses very much on the action of David. This confronts my passive approach to discipleship and spiritual discipline. I tend to think that if I am going to grow that God will cause growth. Now, to be sure, God is the one who causes growth, which is why a closer look at what David says here is so enlightening. We see the paradox balanced, between God's sovereignty and human responsibility. Yes, God is sovereign. Yes, God ultimately causes growth...but we have a part to play in it too. Unless I roll up my sleeves and put my faith in practice I cannot expect to grow spiritually. This Psalm shows us what David is doing to roll up his sleeves and grow as a man of God.

2. The Psalm is split in roughly two parts, generally characterized by what he will do and what he will not do. It seems the Psalm goes back and forth between what he will actively pursue and what he will actively avoid. 

Verses 1-2 tell us David will sing of God's justice and give himself to careful thought about what is      to God. David decides that being a man of integrity in the most private places of his life (within his house) is going to be his standard. 

Verses 3-5 focus on what David will avoid and completely root out of his life: those who fall away, a perverse heart, evil, slander, haughtiness...these people and attitudes will have no place in David's life. 

Verses 6 David is back on the positive, telling us that he will look with favor on the faithful people in the land and the one who walks in the way that is blameless. 

Verse 7-8 David is back on the war path against those who do wickedness. This time it is the one who practices deceit and utters lies in verse seven and verse eight he generally addresses wickedness and evildoers to cut them off of the land. 

3. Speaking of verse eight, David was the king who had the power to enact some of these things. Cutting off the wicked in the land and from the city of the Lord points us to the King Jesus who will judge the quick and the dead and who will separate the wheat from the tares. When the Kingdom of God comes to its climax in the New Jerusalem, no evil will be allowed to enter (Revelation 21:8). For us it is important to remember that David was the anointed king of Israel and that role now belongs to Jesus. This means that it is Jesus' responsibility to cut evildoers off from the land but our responsibility to cut evildoers off from their destructive influences against our godliness. 

4. Interestingly, Psalm 101 highlights the relational aspect of growing spiritually. When David talks about what he will and will not tolerate he talks about it in terms of people. David grasps the effect of people on his life and the way they do have the ability to steer him to either worship or idolatry. 

5. David speaks in harsh terms that offends our sensibilities. Yet, sin is harsh and if it isn't dealt with sternly it will consume. David seems to understand the stakes and realizes that fighting sin is more like a war than it is a game. The strong language "I will destroy" suggests that the fight against sin must be a war against sin.

6. In verse eight "morning by morning," David suggests this war is ongoing and daily. 

7. David seems to be searching for God "oh when will you come to me?" David isn't searching in the way we understand a seeker. Rather, he is searching in the way that he wants more of God, more of his presence and more of his fulness. The underlining conviction is that David doesn't dwell with wickedness because God doesn't dwell with wickedness Therefore, David wants none of that because he wants more of God. 

8. As a practical application, we today must consider our friends that we order our lives around. However, we have to do more than this. We must also consider our choices of entertainment and the like. If you are the temple of the living God, and you are, then you don't have to be king in order to cut off evil from the city of God. As long as you cut off the workers of wickedness from taking root in your heart and mind then you too are cutting off all evildoers from the city of the LORD because right now, believers are the city of God. This you can control, therefore you are responsible for doing at least this. This is part of your obedience to Christ and part of your reign with King Jesus.