Commit to Follow the LORD

Psalms 101:1-8

A Psalm of David.

1 I will sing of mercy and justice;
To You, O LORD, I will sing praises.

2 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.

3 I will set nothing wicked before my eyes;
I hate the work of those who fall away;
It shall not cling to me.

4 A perverse heart shall depart from me;
I will not know wickedness.

5 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.

6 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.

7 He who works deceit shall not dwell within my house;
He who tells lies shall not continue in my presence.

8 Early I will destroy all the wicked of the land,
That I may cut off all the evildoers from the city of the LORD.

The psalmist sincerely set the stage for us to walk upon with him to commit to follow the LORD our God.  Our praises should ring out in thanksgiving for His justice against the evil of sin, but also for His great mercy to cover that sin on our behalf.  This atoning mercy in grace should of course lead us to follow in wisdom, imitating those who imitate Him (1 Corinthians 11:1), with perfection as a direction of our lives, not a source of judgment of each other.  With this perfect heart, one set on following God’s word to the best of our ability according to His word, we walk through life as we await His coming to us.  Of course, we have a clearer understanding of the details of His ultimate return in coming to us, beyond what the psalmist hinted at in just coming alongside in this life.  Some ways to walk rightly are found here; it begins with guarding what we look at, what we allow ourselves to view and be influenced by.  It then moves to not consenting with the ways opposed to God’s ways, not tightly holding on to them and allowing these to change us, and becoming bad habits which are difficult to shake (1 Corinthians 15:33, 1 John 2:15-17).  Another thing to avoid is perverse thoughts; it is more than the fruit of these, the outward actions, which God is concerned with.  He wants clean hearts as well as clean hands (Psalm 15:2, 24:4, Job 17:9).  Wickedness should not be our companion or acquaintance.  In verse 5 we also find that love for our neighbor is next to our love for God by not slandering them, wagging the loose tongue to harm others with false or destructive words to defame them.  Would we do that to God in such blasphemy?  Neither should we blaspheme our neighbors.  God is the avenger of such (1 Thessalonians 4:6).  Pride is also to be avoided; God abhors a haughty look of superiority over another, to believe we are better than others for any reason, whether due to position or power or supposed righteousness.  Humility of the heart and mind results when we consider our state apart from grace!  We should seek to band together with others who are faithful to build each other up according to His word; this is why we meet together (Hebrews 10:24-25) that we may live lives pleasing to the Lord and encouraging to one another in true fellowship.  We who live like this serve our God well, but if we live by deceit in self-service, we are not welcome in God’s house without repentance, which is the basis for church discipline.  Dwelling in His presence requires humility in service.  Remember that God will destroy the wicked in the end, though He bears long with them for the present time to purify for Himself a people as Titus 2:14 encourages us in Christ to do good for Him and each other.  May we constantly commit to following God in Christ, living as called for His glory and the good of each other.