“I
will walk with integrity of heart within my house; I will not set
before my eyes anything that is worthless. I hate the work of those
who fall away; it shall not cling to me. A perverse heart shall be
far from me; I will know nothing of evil.” -Psalm 101:2b-4 (ESV)
[Read Psalm 101]
After
several Psalms by anonymous authors, Psalm 101 is again attributed to
Israel’s great psalm-writer, David, King of Israel. Psalm 101 is
recognized by scholars as a royal psalm, one that gives the place the
Davidic monarchy holds in God’s plan for His people. It describes
the idealistic kind of leader a king or monarch should be.
Summarized,
verses 1-4 declare that the king will seek to be blameless in his
conduct and actions. Next, in verses 5-8, the psalm indicates the
king will seek to destroy the wicked and favor the faithful and
righteous people. The determination of the monarch himself is the
key verse of this psalm: “I will walk with integrity of heart
within my house.”
Oh,
that every ruler of a nation would make such a vow before the Lord:
to walk in integrity and to know nothing of evil. How differently
would a nation be ruled if the monarch, president, whoever is at the
helm of government would determine so to walk before the people, and
lead the people themselves to follow in faithful and upright paths.
The
focus in this psalm is political ethics. The history of David’s
40-year rule indicate that he did not always follow his own
determination to be filled with integrity. He succumbed to
temptation and knew much heartache because of wrong choices. He had
severe problems with sins of commission and omission in his life. He
failed to have the trust of his sons and sometimes of his generals.
But there was good during his 40-year reign. The borders of Israel’s
kingdom were expanded. He gathered the wealth so that his son
Solomon could build the Temple in Jerusalem. He was in the direct
earthly ancestral line of Jesus Christ the Messiah. He authored many
psalms which we still read as the inspired word of God.
I
well remember a lecture my father had with me before I went away to
college. He sat me down, and in a serious frame of mind said that I
should remember that I had been reared to choose the good and right
over the wrong and that which would degrade my character and reflect
poorly upon family upbringing. “Remember who you are and where you
came from,” was his advice. That strong admonition followed me
from my home into a different world, one where my decisions mattered
greatly in the direction my life would take and what I might become.
Samuel
Johnson 1709-1784), English writer, gave this advice: “Integrity
without knowledge is weak and useless, and knowledge without
integrity is dangerous and dreadful.”
Eugene
Peterson in The Message Bible renders Psalm 101:1 in
this way: “My theme song is God’s love and justice, and I’m
singing it right to you, God.” With a theme as lofty as this
before one as he goes into the avenues and byways of life, how could
he walk any other way than with integrity and purpose? -Ethelene
Dyer Jones 04.10.2016
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