BLAMELESS-Psalm 101

Video (11/3/24): CONDUCT (Psalm 101). Prayer: Psalm 101:1-8. Powerpoint: Psalm 101–CONDUCT. It’s not who you are underneath… (Batman Begins 2005): “Who you are” and “what you do.”

Conduct. “I will be careful to lead a blameless life—when will you come to me? I will conduct the affairs of my house[hold] with a blameless heart” (Ps 101:2).

Love and judgment sing together. “I will sing of your love [mercy, ḥeseḏ] and justice [judgment, mišpāṭ]; to you, Lord, I will sing praise” (Ps 101:1).

Overview. The 5 books of the Psalms.

1. Book I (1-41): Confrontation.
2. Book II (42-72/31): Communication.
3. Book III (73-89/17): Catastrophe / Devastation.
4. Book IV (90-106/17): Consecration / Maturation.
5. Book V (107-150/44): Consummation.

Book 4: “The Lord reigns” (Ps 93:1; 97:1; 99:1).

• Psalm 90: ETERNITY. “…from everlasting to everlasting you are God” (Ps 90:2). 4/7/24.
• Psalm 91: SAFETY. “Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty” (Ps 92:1). 8/18/24.
• Psalm 92: PRAISE. “It is good to praise the Lord” (Ps 92:1).
• Psalm 93:  KING. “Your throne was established…from all eternity” (Ps 93:2). 9/4/24.
• Psalm 94:  JUDGE. “Rise up, Judge of the earth: (Ps 94:2). 9/4/24.
• Psalm 95: WORSHIP/Listen. “Today, if only you would hear his voice”  (Ps 95:7). 9/15/24.
• Psalm 96: WORTHY. “For great is the Lord and most worthy of praise” (Ps 96:3). 9/22/24.
• Psalm 97: FORMIDABLE. “you are exalted far above all gods” (Ps 97:9). 10/13/24.
• Psalm 98: RULER. “He will judge the world in righteousness” (Ps 98:9). 10/24/24.
• Psalm 99: HOLINESS. “God is holy” (Ps 99:3, 5, 9). 10/20/24.
• Psalm 100: KNOWLEDGE. Gratitude. “Know that the Lord is God” (Ps 100:3). 10/20/24.
• Psalm 101: CONDUCT. “I will be careful to lead a blameless life—when will you come to me? I will conduct the affairs of my house with a blameless heart” (Ps 101:2). 11/3/24.
• Psalm 102: AFFLICTED. A prayer of an afflicted person who has grown weak and pours out a lament before the Lord. “Hear my prayer, Lord; let my cry for help come to you. Do not hide your face from me when I am in distress. Turn your ear to me; when I call, answer me quickly” (Ps 102:1-2). 11/17/24.
• Psalm 103: BENEFITS. “Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits” (Ps 103:1-2). 4/28/24.
• Psalm 104: CREATION. “How many are your works, Lord! In wisdom you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures” (Ps 104:24).
• Psalm 105: COVENANT. “He remembers his covenant forever, the promise he made, for a thousand generations” (Ps 105:8).
• Psalm 106: FAILURE. “We have sinned, even as our ancestors did; we have done wrong and acted wickedly” (Ps 106:6).

Prayer: Psalm 101:1-8. [Various titles: Conduct. Blameless. Ideals. Walk with Integrity. Commitment to Excellence. Living a Holy Life. Living and Ruling Righteously. The Leadership Challenge. Beginning/Heart of Good Leadership. Flee from Toxic People. The Mirror for Magistrates. The Householder’s Psalm.] Outline:

1. Blameless in Private (Ps 101:1-4).
2. Blameless in Practice (Ps 101:5-8).

The Ideal Man/Leader/King. Psalm 101 is David’s meditation on the standards and practices that should mark the ideal leader/king, the gist of which is similar to his advice to his son Solomon when he passed on the throne (1 Ki 2:2-4). But (like his advice to Solomon) the ideals were lost in translation! Nevertheless what David failed to achieve remains as a testament to true kingship, and a foreshadowing of the True King. It is a psalm for every leader, man or woman, to ponder.

The irony of Psalm 101. David resolved to have nothing to do with evil by being committed to a life of integrity (Ps 101:2), both inwardly and outwardly, vertically and horizontally, privately and publicly, personally and interactively, both in his own house and for his nation. “…the affairs of my house” (Ps 101:2b) is tragically ironic. One’s house is where godliness begins, but here would be his own fall, to the poisoning of his family and his whole kingdom. How far he was to fall short of this in his own acts and in his appointments is told in 2 Samuel, despite his resolve to uphold righteousness in his own conduct and in the governance of his house and nation. He had determined to shun evil influences and to associate only with the faithful and blameless. It is a call to a life of intentional integrity, rejection of evil and the embrace of God’s standards in every area of life, whether privately and in practice, both personal or in leadership roles.

Conduct in the Cross of Christ:

• “I will sing of your love [mercy, ḥeseḏ] and justice [judgment, mišpāṭ]…” (Ps 101:1).

1. Justice “sings” and loves [the unbearable]. “Love [ḥeseḏ] and faithfulness [truth, ĕmeṯ] meet together; righteousness [ṣeḏeq] and peace [šālôm] kiss each other” (Ps 85:10). “Love [ḥeseḏ] and faithfulness [truth, ĕmeṯ] keep a king safe; through love [ḥeseḏ] his throne is made secure” (Prov 20:28).

• “I will be careful to lead a blameless life” (Ps 101:2).

2. “Be perfect as…” (Mt 5:48; 2 Cor 10:5).

• “I will not look…on anything that is vile” (Ps 101:3a).

3. Watch your eyes. “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!” (Mt 6:22-23).

• “I hate what faithless people do” (Ps 101:3b).

4. Shun bad company (1 Cor 15:33). Ps 1:1-2. Prov 1:10.

• “My eyes will be on the faithful in the land…” (Ps 101:6a).

5. Love God’s people. “Show proper respect to everyone, love the family of believers, fear God, honor the emperor” (1 Pet 2:17). “Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers” (Gal 6:10).

“…the one whose walk is blameless will minister to me” (Ps 101:6b).

6. Walk blamelessly.

7. [Irony] Sin causes sorrow, guilt and loss of joy (Ps 13:1-2; 38:1-4; 51:8, 12).

How Psalm 101 points to Christ:

• “I will be careful to lead a blameless life” (Ps 101:2).

1. Jesus is perfectly blameless without sin.

“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin” (Heb 4:15).

• “My eyes will be on the faithful in the land” (Ps 101:6).

2. Jesus’ eyes are on you who are faithful.

“…his eyes were like blazing fire” (Rev 1:14; 19:12).

• “I will sing of your love and justice…” (Ps 101:1).

3. Jesus sang God’s justice with tears and blood.

“When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives” (Mt 26:30; Mk 14:26).

4. Jesus sang on his way to his execution because…

“The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing” (Zeph 3:17).

Notes:

Rabbi Harold Kushner (author of When Bad Things Happen to Good People): “We are not who we say we are, but what we do with what life has given us. Our actions reveal our character and align us with the divine or move us away from it.”

• * justice [judgment, mišpāṭ]
• * righteousness [just, ṣeḏeq]
• * faithfulness [truth, ĕmeṯ]
  
  • “I will sing of your love [mercy, ḥeseḏ] and justice [judgment, mišpāṭ]…” (Ps 101:1).
  • “Love [ḥeseḏ] and faithfulness [truth, ĕmeṯ] meet together; righteousness [ṣeḏeq] and peace [šālôm] kiss each other” (Ps 85:10).
  • “Love [ḥeseḏ] and faithfulness [truth, ĕmeṯ] keep a king safe; through love [ḥeseḏ] his throne is made secure” (Prov 20:28).

God and the godly show both love and judgment, both mercy and justice, both faithfulness and righteousness (Ps 101:1). But if you show love and mercy you’ll be accused of compromise or of being soft. And if you show justice, judgment or righteousness, you’ll be accused of being harsh or Pharisaical.

Holiness/blamelessness is both severe and strict, but also happily singing…and crying. David desires a blameless/holy life, a blameless/holy house and a blameless/holy administration that displays both love and mercy and also justice and righteousness. Holiness/blamelessness includes both righteousness/justice and love/mercy. Holiness/blamelessness is straight and narrow, spotless and pure. But holiness/blamelessness is musical. It “sings” (Ps 101:1); holiness is happy and it delights. If you’re not happy and you don’t delight, but are upset, agitated and irritated, you’re not holy. Holiness/blamelessness that does not flow musically is not holiness at all. Severity without singing is not holiness and blamelessness. Proud men are generally hard men, and strictness is often confused with holiness. But holiness overflows with “psalms, hymns and spiritual songs” [songs from the Spirit] (Eph 5:19). When you enter into holiness and blameless you enter into joy (Phil 4:4; 1 Thess 5:16), and the vocabulary of joy is music and singing. The fusion of love and justice, or mercy and judgment is a song of praise (Ps 101:1). Holiness and blamelessness always sings. When David sinned, he lost the joy of his salvation (Ps 51:12). But obviously not everything that sings is holy and blameless, but “a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal” (1 Cor 13:1). [Affirming the consequent: “If you’re holy you’ll sing [the consequent]. But not everyone who sings is holy. When you accept the blood of Christ, you’ll sing hymns of gratitude [the consequent]. But singing hymns does not mean you’re accepted the blood of Christ.]

There’s nothing worse than holiness in public and at church and in the community, but not at home. This is the problem in every era (Eze 33:31; Isa 29:13; Mt 15:8).  Hypocrisy is warned throughout the Bible.

Outline:

1. Commit to a Life of Integrity (Ps 101:1-2). Conduct. David begins with a promise to sing of God’s mercy and justice and to walk in integrity, especially in his own house.
2. Reject Wickedness and Evil (Ps 101:3-4). Evil. David vows not to set any wicked thing before his eyes and to avoid the company of those who are deceitful and perverse.
3. Choose Right People (Ps 101:5-6). Faithful. David pledges to cut off the slanderer and the proud, while favoring the faithful and blameless in his service and leadership.
4. Remove Evil from Your Midst[/house/kingdom] (Ps 101:7-8). David concludes by expressing his intention to rid his land of evildoers, ensuring that those who practice deceit and lies will not remain in his house or city.

Personal Application:

1. Practice love/mercy and justice/righteousness (Ps 101:1). Holiness sings; it is happy, not just harsh and strict, for holiness sings, not curses. Holiness encompases both mercy [love, forgiveness] and justice [judgment and righteousness].
2. Commit to Integrity in Daily Life. Like David, commit to walking in integrity in your personal life (Ps 101:2). Evaluate your habits, relationships, and entertainment choices to ensure they reflect God’s righteousness. Are there areas where you allow unwholesome influences into your life that need to be cut off? It is quite possible to worship God on Sunday, and between Sundays have our lives [hearts] shaped by the worship of something else. Everyone is designed, hardwired and created by God to be worshippers. Worship is something that lays claim to our hearts, that motivates and directs us. We’re always living for something or someone [Bob Dylan]. Worship is 1st out identity before it is our activity. It is both vertical and horizontal.
3. Guard Your Eyes and Heart. David vowed not to set wicked things before his eyes (Ps 101:3). Consider what you expose yourself to through media, social interactions, or even thoughts. Make conscious decisions to avoid what corrupts (Ps 101:4-5, 7) and embrace what edifies.
4. Seek Faithful and Godly Friends. Surround yourself with people who are faithful to God (Ps 101:6). Just as David sought to associate with the faithful in the land, build relationships that encourage you to walk in righteousness and hold you accountable to live with integrity.
5. Reject Gossip and Pride. David opposed slanderers and the proud (Ps 101:5). Examine how you speak about others and how you view yourself. Avoid gossip, slander, or prideful attitudes that damage relationships and do not honor God.
6. Leadership in Righteousness. If you hold any leadership position (in your family, workplace, church, etc.), lead with integrity and righteousness. Like David, strive to create an environment where truth, justice, and mercy prevail (Ps 101:1). Take action to address and remove negative influences or behaviors within your sphere of influence (Ps 101:7).

Illustration: Consider a home as a fortress. David, in Psalm 101, is like a vigilant gatekeeper of his fortress. He ensures that what enters is wholesome and good while rejecting anything that would weaken its walls. Just as a gatekeeper would carefully inspect what is allowed into the fortress to preserve its strength and purity, David vows to guard his life, his home, and his leadership by embracing righteousness and rejecting wickedness.

Imagine a parent who decides to guard their home against negative influences, being mindful of the media they allow, the friends their children associate with, and the behavior modeled within the family. This illustrates the heart of Psalm 101, where David, as both a ruler and a man, strives to maintain a space of integrity for himself and for those he leads.

Jeff Bezos oped, 10/28/2024: The hard truth: Americans don’t trust the news media.