Psalm 101

“I will sing of mercy and justice; to You, O Lord, I will sing praises. I will behave wisely in a perfect way. Oh, when will You come to me? I will walk within my house with a perfect heart. I will set nothing wicked before my eyes; I hate the work of those who fall away; it shall not cling to me. A perverse heart shall depart from me; I will not know wickedness. Whoever secretly slanders his neighbor, him I will destroy; the one who has a haughty look and a proud heart, him I will not endure. My eyes shall be on the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me; he who walks in a perfect way, he shall serve me. He who works deceit shall not dwell within my house; he who tells lies shall not continue in my presence. Early I will destroy all the wicked of the land, that I may cut off all the evildoers from the city of the Lord.  Psalm 101:1-8 (NKJV)

Today’s psalm is a promise of faithfulness to the Lord, with David declaring a series of “I wills and I will nots.”  We all desire to be faithful, so we can relate to David here.  We relate to both his desire to set goals for personal righteousness and his inability to maintain a sinless life!  It is one thing to say, “A perverse heart shall depart from me,” but a whole other thing to keep oneself from perversion.  Sin has consequences.  

“So David said to Nathan, ‘I have sinned against the Lord.’ And Nathan said to David, ‘The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die. However, because by this deed you have given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, the child also who is born to you shall surely die.’”  2 Samuel 12:13-14 (NKJV)

We see similar declarations (and failures) in the New Testament.

“And the Lord said, ‘Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.’ But he said to Him, ‘Lord, I am ready to go with You, both to prison and to death.’ Then He said, ‘I tell you, Peter, the rooster shall not crow this day before you will deny three times that you know Me.’” Luke 22:31-34 (NKJV)

So, were the Bible “heroes of the faith” actually hypocrites?  No.  They were humans.  All Christians are recruited from the human race, which means that while we desire to remain sinless, the best we can hope for is to sin less and less. Perhaps, that is why David begins his declaration with this idea, “I will sing of mercy and justice; to You, O Lord, I will sing praises.”  If God is fully just, He will not allow anything (or anyone) sinful to stand in His presence.  But because God is also merciful and Jesus prays on our behalf while Satan demands justice be served against us, we have something to sing about!  We can commit to following God with our whole selves because we know that, on the occasion we sin, He is faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  His mercy may bear the sting of rebuke, but it is intended to remind us to never stray into the path of His justice.  After all, that is the job of Messiah on our behalf.  (Romans 5:8; Ephesians 2:8-9)