Thoughts to Ponder from Psalm 101:1-4

Psalm 101:1-4 (ESV)

I Will Walk with Integrity

A Psalm of David.

101 I will sing of steadfast love and justice;
    to you, O Lord, I will make music.
² 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;
³ I will not set before my eyes
    anything that is worthless.
I hate the work of those who fall away;
    it shall not cling to me.
⁴ A perverse heart shall be far from me;
    I will know nothing of evil.

     In my daily devotional time, I came across a very powerful quote from Albert Edward Day. In Discipline and Discovery, he writes, “True holiness is a witness that cannot be ignored. Real sainthood is a phenomenon to which even the worldling pays tribute. The power of a life, where Christ is exalted, would arrest and subdue those who are bored to tears by our thin version of Christianity and wholly uninterested in mere churchmanship. 

     We have talked much of salvation by faith, but there has been little realization that all real faith involves discipline. Faith is not a blithe ‘turning it all over to Jesus.’ Faith is such confidence in Jesus that it takes seriously his summons, ‘If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.’ We have loudly proclaimed our dependence upon the grace of God, never guessing that the grace of God is given only to those who practice the grace of self-mastery.’”

     This quote cuts right to the core of what the Psalmist is presenting before us today in Psalm 101. The Psalmist knew that faith could not be disconnected from practice. Put differently, a life of true righteousness before God is a life that is disciplined and in which one “practices the grace of self-mastery.” 

     Consider the language that the Psalmist uses. There is a profound connection between the Psalmists’ statement, “I will sing of your love and justice; to you, O Lord, I will sing praise” and his statement, “I will be careful to lead a blameless life.” What the Psalmist puts before us is the consistency that is required of the person of faith. You see, a person who truly knows God, who truly knows Jesus, cannot help but sing praises to God because of his grace, because of his mercy, because of his love and because of his justice. All of these things are tremendous blessings that our Benefactor bestows upon us and they are truly the things that the heart really desires. Though we may not understand these things fully, and often times, we understand them from our own flawed and human understanding of these things. Yet, when we cut to the quick, we know that we are looking for those things that will deliver us from the horrible, oppressive power of sin and death – the darkness that is in the world. 

     However, even though God is willing to bestow justice, mercy, grace, and love upon us, the walk of a Christian is never a walk of cheap grace. Cheap grace is that grace that wants all of the benefits without all of the costs. But, as the Psalmist and Day point out, in order to truly receive the benefits that our God wishes to bestow upon us, we must also have an entirely different perspective on life. You see, the only way we can fully receive the benefit of justice, mercy, grace and love is to strive towards that Wesleyan concept of perfection, or as the Psalmist calls it, the “blameless life.” 

     The Psalmist understood the dynamic interplay between Creator and creation and that dynamic includes an intentionality on our part as the creation. You see, there are so many in the church that play at religion: Give me the benefits and let me continue to play in the world in a way that makes me happy. In other words, many live a life in which they do not recognize the necessity of change. In the church and in the pulpit, we fail to place enough emphasis on the fact that the point of Christianity is a transformed life: a life that was once driven by the carnal, fallen nature, now is made new and takes on the image and glory of our Redeemer. 

     The truth that we fail to drive home is that in order to receive true salvation and redemption, it implies that we walk a blameless life. The Psalmist says, “I will be careful to lead a blameless life…I will walk in my house with a blameless heart. I will set before my eyes no vile thing.” The blameless life is an intentional, constant effort to guard the heart and soul from any and all things that will corrupt them and lead them away from that which can save them. When the Psalmist states that he will set no vile thing before his eyes, he makes a very astute statement: he will not allow anything to enter in to him, through his eyes, through his mind, that is not from God and does not glorify God. Further, he will have nothing in his house that does not honor and glorify God. He will allow nothing in his heart that will corrupt or sway him from that which will destroy him. 

     What the Psalmist and Day both point it is that the life of a Christian, a true child of faith, is a life that is disciplined and uncompromising. 

     We must come to realize that our faith, our salvation, is not a game and it is not something to take lightly. As Paul states emphatically, we are to constantly be working out our salvation with fear and trembling. Our salvation is not a given in the sense that we say a prayer and ask God to forgive and go on our merry way. It implies, on our part, that we live a life that is disciplined in prayer and meditation in Scripture. It implies that we attend to the Commandments. When God says do not do something or do something, we do not disregard these things. As I have mentioned many times before, we need to come to the realization that everything we do or don’t do, every thing we say or leave unspoken, has an eternal consequence. We have to come to a point where we knowingly sin and think we can just shoot up a prayer of forgiveness. We have to be making a conscious, intentional effort to change like Jesus every day. 

     I know in my own journey, this walking blameless and living a disciplined life is becoming something that is much more serious to me. I do not take my salvation for granted or as a given. I must constantly striving towards perfection because the blameless life is the only life that will see the Kingdom of God.

     As we get ready for the season of Lent, we have the opportunity to enter into a season of reflection that really asks the tough questions. Are we guarding our heart and walking blamelessly? Are we being choice in what we put before our eyes? What goes through the eyes, enters our minds and our hearts. Beloved, we cannot remain the same. As I progress in years, I have become far more intentional about who and what I surround myself with because I need people around me who are going to push me to live the faith I am called to live, not live like the rest of the world. 

     Jesus himself said that narrow is the path that leads to eternal life. Maybe we would do wise to hear those words. If that is true, which I firmly believe it is, we must take seriously a blameless and disciplined life. We may not always get it right, but we need to work with diligence and urgency towards that life. 

Pax 

Andy