Psalm 101 A Psalm of David

 ¹I will sing of mercy and justice;

To You, O Lord, I will sing praises.

²I will behave wisely in a perfect way.

Oh, when will You come to me?

I will walk within my house with a perfect heart.

³I will set nothing wicked before my eyes;

I hate the work of those who fall away;

It shall not cling to me.

⁴A perverse heart shall depart from me;

I will not know wickedness.

⁵Whoever secretly slanders his neighbor,

Him I will destroy;

The one who has a haughty look and a proud heart,

Him I will not endure.

⁶My 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.

⁷He who works deceit shall not dwell within my house;

He who tells lies shall not continue in my presence.

⁸Early I will destroy all the wicked of the land,

That I may cut off all the evildoers from the city of the Lord.

Preamble: In this Psalm we have the Holy Spirits prescription for Godly leadership

Commentary

Vs. 1 “I will sing of mercy and justice;

To You, O Lord, I will sing praises.

David begins this psalm with declaration as the nation’s leader that he will sing of mercy and justice. For these two are the hallmarks of Godly leadership, for mercy is what fills the heart of man with thanksgiving when mercy is shown him, just as justice satisfies the heart of just men and women when it is done. These two needed qualities are then most clearly seen in complete harmony with each other in the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ through whom God has executed His justice on Him, so that He might show mercy to us all who believe in Him (John 1:14). Therefore, “To You, O Lord, I will sing praises,” and so will you when you come to receive God’s grace by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Vs. 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.”

From verse two on David gives us great insights into his own heart as man who wants to be pleasing to God, who wants to meet with God on His terms. First and foremost then he seeks to set his own conduct right before Him, by saying that he will behave wisely in a perfect way. For David was renowned for his wise conduct, even while under the leadership of the less than wise king Saul (1 Samuel 18:5, 12-16 etc.) For even though David was young and greatly revered king Saul when he came to serve him, David did not follow Saul’s rashness and self-centered zeal, nor did he avenge himself on him when Saul turned against him (consider 1 Samuel 22:6-23; 24, 26). David’s statement then that he will walk with a perfect heart within his house is his saying that he will be a man of integrity before his family. So that that all who are his household can trust him and look to him as a man who believes and does the Word of God. He will then be a man whom all people can trust and turn too.

Vs. 3 “I will set nothing wicked before my eyes;

I hate the work of those who fall away;

It shall not cling to me.”

David’s statement that he will set nothing wicked before his eyes, is his saying that he will not be a partaker with those who plot schemes or do evil, he will not play the hypocrite then by partaking in other peoples sins. For a just man wants to see just things done, and not the schemes and works of those who fall away from the faith, who give themselves a license to do as they see fit. Therefore, David says he hates their work, all of it, it shall not cling to him (consider 2 John 2:10-11).

Vs. 4 “A perverse heart shall depart from me;

I will not know wickedness.”

In his desire to purify his life of all that is evil; of all that offends our God; David now says that a perverse heart shall depart from him, that is, he will not give himself over to the decay and corruption of this world, moral or otherwise. For once one lowers the bar they will just keep lowering it, allowing themselves to see and do worse and worse things. Therefore, “I will not know wickedness” is his (and our) desire to keep himself/ourselves far from all that is wickedness (consider 1 Tim. 5:22).

Vs. 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.”

Such then is David’s righteous desire to serve our God with a pure heart that he now says that he will not endure those who secretly slander their neighbor; who seek to harm or destroy their neighbors by stealth and deception, such people then he will destroy! Those who seek him then better not come to him with slanderous and deceptive words about those they hate, seeking to get him to destroy them for them, for they themselves will be the ones destroyed (Deut. 19:16-21). And as for those who wish come in his presence they better not bear a haughty look or proud heart; for as with the Lord Jesus Christ whose throne he was preparing for Him; he will not endure them either (consider Isaiah 2:11-12).

 Vs. 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.”

Yes, indeed a righteous leaders’ eyes are always on the faithful of the land, to show them his favor, to open the door to them, to bring them into his presence as counselors and cohorts, to make them fellow servants of the Lord with himself.

Vs. 7 “He who works deceit shall not dwell within my house;

He who tells lies shall not continue in my presence.”

David now expresses his desire to purge and remove all who work deceit from within his house; which in the broadest sense will encompass all of redeemed Israel; that he will remove from his presence all who tell lies; and so again as God’s chosen he will do what God Himself in Christ will do when He Reigns.

Vs. 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.”

In purging his own person and house David now moves out into the whole realm of his domain; for you cannot allow the wicked to dwell in the land (or in your presence) for they will corrupt it. Therefore he says, “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 New Jerusalem then will be a place where such people are not seen, amen.

Scripture Quotations

New King James (1982): Thomas Nelson.