Psalm 101: Heart Determinations of David

Of David. A psalm.

[Preliminary Comments: Another short psalm of David. In this one, in the first Part, he expresses his heart that seeks to be blameless, faithful, & righteous. [v.1-5] In the second Part the Lord responds with affirmation of such people and rejection of those who are evil.  [v.6-8].  The two parts complement each other.]

PART 1: v.1-5: The Psalmist’s Nine-fold Determination

v.1 Determination to sing & praise the Lord

v.1 I will sing of your love and justice;
    to you, Lord, I will sing praise.

v.2 Determination to be righteous

v.2 I will be careful to lead a blameless life –
    when will you come to me?

I will conduct the affairs of my house
    with a blameless heart.

v.3 Determination to reject the unfaithful

v.3 I will not look with approval
    on anything that is vile.

I hate what faithless people do;
    I will have no part in it.

v.4 Determination to keep the wicked far from him

v.4 The perverse of heart shall be far from me;
    I will have nothing to do with what is evil.

v.5 Determination to deal with such people

v.5 Whoever slanders their neighbor in secret,
    I will put to silence;
whoever has haughty eyes and a proud heart,
    I will not tolerate.

PART 2: v.6-8: The Lord’s Response

v.6 The Lord looks for the faithful & blameless

v.6 My eyes will be on the faithful in the land,
    that they may dwell with me;
the one whose way of life is blameless
    will minister to me.

v.7 He rejects deceivers and liars

v.7 No one who practices deceit
    will dwell in my house;
no one who speaks falsely
    will stand in my presence.

v.8 He will deal with the wicked

v.8 Every morning I will put to silence
    all the wicked in the land;
I will cut off every evildoer
    from the city of the Lord.

[Additional Comments: Take the nine things that David, the man after God’s own heart, says he will do, and ask yourself, are these my goals? See those the Lord approves and disapproves and check which group you are in.

After perhaps going back and meditating on individual verses, now read it meaningfully out loud straight through

1 I will sing of your love and justice;
    to you, Lord, I will sing praise.
2 I will be careful to lead a blameless life –
    when will you come to me?

I will conduct the affairs of my house
    with a blameless heart.
3 I will not look with approval
    on anything that is vile.

I hate what faithless people do;
    I will have no part in it.
4 The perverse of heart shall be far from me;
    I will have nothing to do with what is evil.

5 Whoever slanders their neighbour in secret,
    I will put to silence;
whoever has haughty eyes and a proud heart,
    I will not tolerate.

6 My eyes will be on the faithful in the land,
    that they may dwell with me;
the one whose way of life is blameless
    will minister to me.

7 No one who practices deceit
    will dwell in my house;
no one who speaks falsely
    will stand in my presence.

8 Every morning I will put to silence
    all the wicked in the land;
I will cut off every evildoer
    from the city of the Lord.

For those who may wish to make a study of this chapter, to perhaps think some more about what you have been reading, use the link below: