READING: Psalms 100-102, 1 Corinthians 1
“I will live with a heart of integrity in my house.”
Psalm 101:2
All of us need role models who show us how to live for Christ. No matter how old we get or how faithful we try to be, all of us have room for improvement – and thus have need for a role model whose life compels us to deeper godliness. In Psalm 101, that role model is the king, who chose to be faithful to his covenant with God. It’s possible even that the Hebrews sang this psalm as they crowned their kings.
Listen to the commitment the king made, both for her personal life and for the people whom he led:
I will pay attention to the way of integrity. When will You come to me? I will live with a heart of integrity in my house. I will not set anything worthless before my eyes. I hate the practice of transgression; it will not cling to me. A devious heart will be far from me; I will not be involved with evil.
I will destroy anyone who secretly slanders his neighbor; I cannot tolerate anyone with haughty eyes or an arrogant heart. My eyes favor the faithful of the land so that they may sit down with me. The one who follows the way of integrity may serve me. No one who acts deceitfully will live in my palace; no one who tells lies will remain in my presence.
Every morning I will destroy all the wicked of the land, eliminating all evildoers from the Lord’s city. (Psalm 101:2-8)
His commitment was both simple and difficult at the same time. He would choose to be a person of integrity whose life on the inside would match his life on the outside. He would hate transgression so much that he would not allow sin to cling to him. He would, in fact, avoid it with all of his being. In no way would he deliberately and consciously allow sin to dwell in his heart. The commitments were simple to state but not so easy to live out, though. So high were these standards that David himself could not fully achieve them, but they remain valid standards for Christ-followers.
At the same time, the psalmist would not tolerate sin in the kingdom. He saw his role not only as a model of righteousness, but also as a guardian of the same. He would expect people to be persons of truth who rightly rejected arrogance. Indeed, the psalmist wanted no one who lived in willful disobedience to remain in his presence; the faithful, on the other hand, he would welcome before him. Godliness, it seems, meant that much to him.
ACTION STEPS:
- Use the scripture again to evaluate your life. Do you walk in integrity without exception? Do you let sin cling to you? Have you set “worthless” stuff before your eyes?
- Where needed, repent. Let today be a day of cleansing.
PRAYER: “Lord, I want to be a person of integrity. Please let no sin cling to my life.’”
TOMORROW’S READING: Psalms 103-104, 1 Corinthians 2
