Psalm 101
A Psalm of David.
1I will sing of mercy and judgment: unto thee, O Lord, will I sing. 2I will behave myself wisely in a perfect way. O when wilt thou come unto me? I will walk within my house with a perfect heart. 3I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes: I hate the work of them that turn aside; it shall not cleave to me. 4A froward heart shall depart from me: I will not know a wicked person. 5Whoso privily slandereth his neighbour, him will I cut off: Him that hath an high look and a proud heart will not I suffer. 6Mine eyes shall be upon the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me: He that walketh in a perfect way, he shall serve me. 7He that worketh deceit shall not dwell within my house: He that telleth lies shall not tarry in my sight. 8I will early destroy all the wicked of the land; That I may cut off all wicked doers from the city of the Lord.
King David made some determinations in Psalm 101
If my count is correct, he said “I will”, “will I” or “I may” ten times.
Bible Scholars tell us that Ps 101 was written very early in the reign of King David and that very possibly it is the inaugural speech of his reign. He is making some determinations about his house and his administration. David is setting resolutions for his reign and he is setting them high.
I believe in setting goals and sharing them with God
Is it Biblical to set goals, to make determinations?
Certainly, let me give some examples of how the Lord encourages goal setting in Scripture.
Psalm 37:5 Commit thy way unto the Lord; Trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.
Most positive changes start with a commitment. Rarely does the man or woman without vision and goals get anywhere. One reason that you don’t go anywhere is because you don’t decide to go.
I have heard it said, “A person without a goal will get nowhere and won’t know when he gets there”
Isaiah 19:21 21 And the Lord shall be known to Egypt, And the Egyptians shall know the Lord in that day, And shall do sacrifice and oblation; Yea, they shall vow a vow unto the Lord, and perform it.
God commends people who will vow a vow unto the Lord and perform it!
James 4:7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Make a resolution to follow God, resist the devil and he will run!
I have also heard it said, “Goals are like stars: they may not be reached, but they can always be a guide.”
You may fail in your attempt but you will, with God’s help make progress in the attempt.
I believe we can sum up David’s resolutions of Psalm 101 with four things
1. I Will Sing!
Psalm 101:1 I will sing of mercy and judgment: unto thee, O Lord, will I sing.
It isn’t the fact that David sings that is important but what he sings. He said, “unto thee, O Lord, will I sing”
God loves to hear his people sing – he actually commands it.
Someone, may say, “But Bald Believer, I ain’t a good singer, I don’t have a great voice, it won’t sound good.”
My reply, “It will sound good to God!”
God wants to hear you sing, he will hear it and he will love it when you do!
2. I Will Guard My Heart
One of my mentors heard me singing from my nose one day and he tapped a place on my belly and said, “sing from the right place!” I feel like David in Heaven wants to teach us singing lessons. I hear him “sing from the right place!” We see an emphasis on the heart in verses 2, 4 and 5.
David understood that the song needed to be from a place of sincerity, it must come from the heart.
3. I will Behave
David had a plan and it was a good one.
Psalm 101:2 I will behave myself wisely in a perfect way. O when wilt thou come unto me? I will walk within my house with a perfect heart.
Perfect here does not mean sinlessness but “complete” or “consistent”.
He is saying, “I’m going to live better so when my lips sing, my life will confirm what my lips are saying.”
4. I will Be Close to the Lord
Psalm 101:2 I will behave myself wisely in a perfect way. O when wilt thou come unto me? I will walk within my house with a perfect heart.
Here is the ultimate motive of the psalmist, he desires a closer walk with the Lord.
Sins are the weeds in the garden of your life that will choke out your heart’s affections and take away your song.
Sin will hurt your closeness. David is not expecting perfection but an undivided heart.
Psalm 101:3 I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes: I hate the work of them that turn aside; it shall not cleave to me.
Someone said, our eyes are the window to the soul. If true, it would help us all to shut the blinds on our windows and not let in so many temptations.
Psalm 101:4 A froward heart shall depart from me: I will not know a wicked person.
A “Forward Heart” is a perverted or twisted heart. David is saying, “I want a singular focus, an undivided heart that is properly set on the right things”
He said, “I will not know a wicked person” which was a determination that his closest relationships were not going to lead him astray.
Psalm 101:5 Whoso privily slandereth his neighbour, him will I cut off: Him that hath an high look and a proud heart will not I suffer.
David determines not to permit lies and slander, his ears are not going to be someone’s garbage can. He will avoid prideful competition; he understands that when you do so you lose something every time.
Keeping up with the Jones’ will break your bank and you.
Psalm 101:6–8 6Mine eyes shall be upon the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me: He that walketh in a perfect way, he shall serve me. 7He that worketh deceit shall not dwell within my house: He that telleth lies shall not tarry in my sight. 8I will early destroy all the wicked of the land; That I may cut off all wicked doers from the city of the Lord.
The psalmist resolves to pick Godly examples and truthful administrators in his kingdom who will judge the lawbreakers and protect the innocent.
Certainly, these were great intentions and worthy resolutions.
So, how did David’s “I wills” turn out?
He said “I will Sing” – He did!
He said, “I Guard my Heart”. Well, he was called a man after God’s own heart in the Scriptures.
He said, “I will behave”
I read in 2 Sam 11 about a day that he didn’t guard his heart and he failed to behave. He made commitments and failed to keep them all. I am sorry to say that we will too! But, there is one who came after David who didn’t fail, Jesus Christ, the King whose administration is perfect and never fails. He understood that we would fall so he suffered in our stead so we could share in his success.
So try dear reader, set your goals like the Psalmist and strive. Just know that when you sometimes fail to deliver, and you will, Jesus Christ will pick you up, clean you off and empower you to persist by faith.