Psalm 101

Time and again in the Scriptures God’s people are encouraged to be patient, to wait on the Lord.  In reading today this theme showed up in the great 40^th chapter of Isaiah.  The point of the chapter is that comfort is coming to Israel.  God’s word is eternal; and God is fully capable of fulfilling what He has promised.  So don’t think that God does not see your way, or that He has passed you by.  God is faithful and will not grow weary.  He will keep His word!

The reason for this repeated theme is that it is a repeated occurrence in the lives of the saints.  We grow weary.  And in our weariness we may have the tendency to mix our impatience with ungodly shortcuts.  What we mean is that we grow tired of the affliction and may choose to try ungodly means so as to avoid the pain or the disappointment.  

These shortcuts are frequently extenuated (i.e. we decide our impatience is excusable or not as serious a sin) because we set our focus on the wicked around us who, we think, are enjoying much easier lives.  Psalm 73, among others, dealt with this problem.  And so does Psalm 101.  Except that in the case of today’s Song the writer is addressing the problem head-on.

Notice that he is in a situation where he desires God to bring an answer (v2).  But notice that he openly confesses his desire and plan to maintain a walk in holiness, to walk within my house with a perfect heart.  There is no place more difficult to walk in holiness than in our own home because we may feel we have the possibility of hiding our unfaithfulness.  We may find it hard to continually keep from setting wickedness before our eyes (v3).  

But notice also that the hymnist also confronts the issue of those in his inner circle, so to speak.  He commits to have none in his focus who will lead him astray.  Rather my eyes shall be on the faithful of the land that they may dwell with me (v6).  This issue of focus is fundamental.  In the New Testament we see it often when we are again and again urged to set our minds on the things of the Spirit (Rom. 8:5), with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord (2 Cor. 3:18), to not lose heart as we look on the eternal things which are not seen (2 Cor. 4:16-18), to meditate on the things that are true, noble, pure, lovely, of good report (Phil. 4:8), to seek those things which are above, where Christ is (Col. 3:1-4), to remember that Jesus Christ … was raised form the dead (2 Tim. 2:8), to look unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith … to consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls (Heb. 12:2-3), to rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ (1 Peter 1:13).

We must choose what we set before our eyes so as to behave wisely in a perfect way and with a perfect heart!