by Becky
LINK: Psalm 100 and Psalm 101
BACKGROUND AND REFLECTION
Psalm 100
This psalm is full of delight in the LORD.
It is all about Him. He is God. He made us – we didn’t make ourselves. Implication: we are here for Him, not ourselves. We belong to Him; we are His sheep. Implication: We follow Him and trust Him, just as sheep trust their shepherd.
Read this psalm out loud. When my husband and I were first married, we were part of a Bible study and sang some great scripture songs with a guitar. This psalm was one of them. I still want to sing it when I read it.
KNOW that the LORD – HE IS GOD! HE IS GOOD; HIS MERCY and TRUTH are EVERLASTING.
Augustine said this: “ I call [love to God] the motion of the soul toward the enjoyment of God for his own sake, and the enjoyment of one’s self and of one’s neighbor for the sake of God .” (from On Christian Doctrine)
Psalm 101
It is generally thought that this psalm was written by David either just before or at the beginning of his reign. Luther called it “David’s mirror of a monarch.” In it, David makes certain resolutions about how he will live. The more I’ve meditated on this psalm, the more it reminds me of Proverbs!
David begins this psalm with this verbal praise:
I will sing of your love and justice.
I will praise you, LORD, with songs.
He goes on to recount ways he will praise God in the practice of his life. So I think that’s an important reminder to us. God is characterized by love and justice; if we are called by His name then our lives should reflect those characteristics. Yes, we are to worship and praise God with our lips, but living life with integrity is also a way to praise Him. I will go so far as to say that if we are truly praising God in our hearts, it will overflow both to our lips and to the way we live.
David isn’t making these resolutions lightly.
I will behave wisely in a perfect way.
Oh, when will You come to me?
His heart’s desire is for wise actions and to walk perfectly with God. But he knows himself and his weakness and that he needs God’s help. So he cries to God and asks when He will come. What a wonderful way to begin.
He resolves to live with integrity in his own home. What is integrity? Well, it’s the opposite of hypocrisy. There’s an idea of wholeness to integrity – that the goodness seen is there all the way through – not a façade. In a sense, it’s simplicity of character – no cover-ups or subterfuges. Sometimes our homes are the hardest places to live with integrity. Our families see us as we truly are.
David wants to avoid certain actions and kinds of people. Look at the list (vv 3-5):
I will not look at worthless things.
I will not be gripped by dishonest dealings.
I will reject having a perverse mind/heart/understanding (perverse means willfully turned
away from what is right).
I will not tolerate someone who secretly slanders (maliciously tells a false report about) her neighbor.
I will not endure someone who looks down on others and acts arrogantly (displays a sense of overbearing self-worth or self-importance).
David concludes the psalm by saying that he will watch for those who are faithful so that he can to spend time with them, that they can serve in his court. He wants his reign to be characterized by faithfulness and goodness, rather than falsehood and evil which have no place in the city of God.
It seems to me that David would define faithful people as those who live Micah 6:8:
“He has shown you, oh man what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justly [do what is right], to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.”
APPLICATION
From Psalm 100 - Am I delighting in the LORD? Do I offer Him shouts of of praise and songs of thanksgiving?
From Psalm 101 – Am I delighting in the LORD? Do I fix my gaze on what is ultimately worthless or is my gaze fixed on the LORD Jesus? Do I value what He values? Does my life reflect Him?
PRAYER
We praise You, our Creator and Shepherd. Thank you for Your mercy and goodness. Thank you that You are truth. Help us to live our lives in the light of that mercy, goodness, and truth. Help us to reflect You in what we value and how we live.
2 comments:
It is great to get to a "delighting" psalm after so many "imprecatory" psalms! I delighted in God in Psalm 100 while on the cruise, and I saw such a contrast with the way the world "delights"! It was a humorous and sad contrast all in one breath!
Yes. I understand. I just finished reading _The Great Divorce_, by C.S. Lewis and he makes the point that often our "pleasures" here are perverted forms of what is real joy. Empty shells.
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