Psalm Devotional
The King's Commitments
Written by Ian Wise. This devotional was first published in the November 2011 issue of The Reformed Presbyterian Witness.
In the early days of his administration, the mayor of one of the United States’ largest cities made this statement: “There is no relationship between an official’s personal life, and the way he does his job.” Few were surprised when it was discovered several years later that the mayor had not only been unfaithful to his wife, but also corrupt in his public affairs. Against the backdrop of that all-too-common story, King David’s words are a breath of fresh air.
Psalm 101 has long been referred to as “The Magistrate’s Mirror.” With certain caveats, it’s natural to draw lessons for our public leaders from these verses. But, more to the point, this is a song of Zion. Here we find David’s words giving way to Christ’s. David’s life only imperfectly does justice to the full extent of these unswerving commitments. King Jesus sings of “covenant love and justice” (v. 1). What do these commitments mean to His people? There are eschatological, ethical and evangelical angles for us to consider.
A Future to Look For
Commentators set this song in the “royal psalm” genre of our hymnody. Such psalms are intended to sharpen our appetite for the Messiah’s kingdom. In two ways David accomplishes this goal:
We won’t always dwell in the presence of our own sin (vv. 1-4). Believers always sing the psalter in faith, and, therefore, in Christ. So as we say, “I will behave wisely in a perfect way” (v. 2), or, “I will set nothing wicked before my eyes” (v. 3), or, “I will not know wickedness” (v. 4), we are, among other things, anticipating the day when His kingdom will fully come and we will have been delivered not only from the penalty and power, but also from the very presence, of sin.
We won’t always dwell in the presence of sinners (vv. 5-8). With sternness and certainty the Lord Jesus promises a day when those who taunt and threaten and seek to destroy the Church will no longer be a bother to her.
Remembering these things draws from our hearts and lips a yearning: “Your kingdom come!”
A Model to Live By
If I am united to Christ, then my life will and should increasingly resemble Christ’s life. In Old Testament Israel, the king’s virtues were meant to be adopted by the people. So we have here a pattern to follow, a “perfect” (vv. 2, 6) life–one of sincerity, consistency, integrity. David’s “eyes,” his “tongue,” his “heart,” his “walk”–all point in the same direction.
But what of this talk of destroying and cutting off evildoers? Obviously David as king and Christ as head have that authority, but do we? Here’s the value in recognizing that we’re singing about the King, first of all, not our own personal experience. But we may secondarily apply this language to ourselves by saying, “Within my own sphere of authority and responsibility–as parent, as supervisor at work, as elder, etc.–I will not wink at sin, but deal with it appropriately.” But to say this is putting our own sinfulness squarely in the crosshairs, isn’t it? Removing the plank from our own eye (Matt. 7:5) is our first priority!
The life of integrity (i.e., life in Christ) means dealing relentlessly and ruthlessly with our own sins first, never trivializing or excusing what God calls wickedness. It means following the example of our upright Lord, in whose steps we’re commanded to walk.
A Warning to Listen To
Judgment begins with the house of God (1 Pet. 4:17). The King saves His most solemn warnings for those who claim the Lord’s name: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!” (see Matt. 23). Yes, Jesus sings of “steadfast love,” but also of “justice” (v. 1). And don’t be fooled: You and I don’t live up to the standard of Psalm 101, not even on our best day! As the Puritans used to say, “Even our repenting needs repenting of.” May the Spirit of Christ give us ears to hear the inherent warning of these verses.
What we need is someone who can sing these words with a clear conscience, who can sing them with us because He has become one of us, and who can sing them for us because He has become “the Lord our righteousness” (Jer. 23:6).
Think of what Jesus Christ committed to. The King was Himself “cut off” from the “land” of the living; He was taken outside “the city of the Lord” (v. 8); He embraced the curses of this psalm for our sakes–so that we can “sing of mercy”!
In the 17th Century English port town of Dartmouth, a forlorn sailor sought unsuccessfully to take his own life. A minister named John Flavel was called for. The sailor asked, “Can Christ forgive one who shed his own blood?” Take to heart the pastor’s reply: “Christ shed His blood for those who shed His blood. There can be forgiveness for you.”
