Psalm 101 - The Life of Integrity

May 16, 2021

Randy Hageman

Music has

.

Music has great

when it’s used to grow our relationship with

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.

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. —Colossians 3:16 (ESV)

psalm – to

If I’m reading Psalms more like prose instead of poetry or song and just look at the

, they don’t necessarily flow easily or smoothly.

Songs often go straight to our

, bypassing our

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almost completely

Psalm 101, like about half the Psalms, tells us that

composed it.

Psalm 101 sets out a picture of how the ideal

should aim to be.

This Psalm lifts up for us a vision in song of the

Christ’s disciples should live, and it motivates us

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to desire this kind of life and strive for it.

I will sing of steadfast love and justice;
to you, O LORD, I will make music. —Psalms 101:1 (ESV)

This Psalm begins by offering

to God – in fact, this is the foundation for everything else David will say in this Psalm.

“Steadfast love” speaks of a love that never

, while “justice” speaks of doing what is

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, regardless of what others think or want.

The challenge for every human being is holding up love and justice

.

For God, it is never an either-or love or justice but always a both-and, which demonstrates why we need

help so much.

I will ponder the way that is blameless.
Oh when will you come to me?
I will walk with integrity of heart
within my house;
I will not set before my eyes
anything that is worthless.… —Psalms 101:2-3a (ESV)

David is saying that because he truly knows God and God’s ways, he is driven to live a life that avoids wrongdoing, that seeks

.

David bases integrity on the realization that this loving and just God is, in fact,

looking – there’s no hiding our integrity or lack of integrity from Him.

Because David speaks of walking “with integrity of heart,” he’s acknowledging that integrity goes beyond whether my actions are consistent with God’s ways, but is my

consistent, for that is where integrity is born or dies.

There is the very real danger of the

, of rationalizing one small, simple step away from God as one that shouldn’t matter, that God won’t notice, or He’ll understand.

The essence of the Christian life is not morality as my focus but the realization that I need

help to enable me to move toward a life of genuine integrity that reveals itself in, among other things, moral living.

…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.
Whoever slanders his neighbor secretly
I will destroy.
Whoever has a haughty look and an arrogant heart
I will not endure. —Psalms 101:3b-5 (ESV)

David is showing us that part of a life of integrity for the glory of God, of avoiding that slippery slope, is staying away from

in any form in which it appears to us.

‘So commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these words of mine. Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders.’ —Deuteronomy 11:18 (NLT)

We need constant reminders of who God is and what He desires for us, and so the Bible tells us to focus on

constantly rather than on seeing how close to the edge we can get.

Jesus: ‘But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.’ —Matthew 6:33 (ESV)

David, like Jesus, is telling us to

focus on God and the “Kingdom of God” rather than on things that could be dangerous.

I will look with favor on the faithful in the land,
that they may dwell with me;
he who walks in the way that is blameless
shall minister to me. —Psalms 101:6 (ESV)

Scripture teaches us to mainly hang out and allow other disciples of Jesus to be our primary influencers, and that happens most in and through the

.

David commits that he will do all in his power to both live with integrity and help others do

.

No one who practices deceit
shall dwell in my house;
no one who utters lies
shall continue before my eyes.
Morning by morning I will destroy
all the wicked in the land,
cutting off all the evildoers
from the city of the LORD. —Psalms 101:7-8 (ESV)

David says he will work to

evil and practices that destroy integrity for the sake of all those who dwell in God’s family.

We have a God-given responsibility to not only look out for ourselves, but to love our

by helping them as much as they will allow.

The fruit of living Psalm 101 is a genuine life of integrity, that’s consistent through and through, in both our thoughts and actions, that honors God, and in the process, draws others

to see what makes us different.

Next Week: Psalm 118 – Facing Struggles with People

Spend more time with other believers. Join the Dream Team!