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10182015MakeACommitmentToTheLordPsa101DonRuhl

Make a Commitment to the Lord 

Here is what I will do Lord; what will you do?

Psalm 101

Don Ruhl • Savage Street, Grants Pass, Oregon • October 18, In the year of our Lord, 2015

Scripture Reader and Reading: Mike Crisp, Jr. – Luke 14.25–27

Song Leader and Song Suggestions: Phil Joseph –

Prelude: 

  1. What comes to mind when you think of the nature of David? 
    1. Undoubtedly, some of what you think of him
    2. you will find in Psalm 101.
  2. Psalm 101 shows his heart zealously on fire 
    1. for righteousness and
    2. against wickedness.

Persuasion: 

  1. Psalm 101.0 – A Psalm of David

    0 A Psalm of David.

    1. David had physical strength, but
    2. he also had strength in his spirit,
      1. especially when it came to the Lord.
      2. David knew how to express himself with words, because
        1. he knew the power of words, and
        2. so does the Holy Spirit who spoke by David.
    3. In Psalm 101,
      1. David made several promises to the Lord, and
      2. we know that these promises were not vain, nor made hastily, but
        1. he meant them and he kept them,
        2. which is why the Spirit included this Psalm in the Scriptures.
  2. Psalm 101.1–4 – Life of a Worshiper of the Lord

    1 I will sing of mercy and justice;
    To You, O Lord, I will sing praises.
    2 I will behave wisely in a perfect way.
    Oh, when will You come to me?
    I will walk within my house with a perfect heart.
    3 I will set nothing wicked before my eyes;
    I hate the work of those who fall away;
    It shall not cling to me.
    4 A perverse heart shall depart from me;
    I will not know wickedness.

    1. First, David would sing.
      1. David, the-lion-bear-giant-slayer, loved to sing.
        1. He began this Psalm announcing that he would sing!
        2. Is that not what the Book of Psalms is?
          1. A Book of songs?
          2. A Book of prayers?
          3. A Book of prayers as songs?
          4. A Book of songs as prayers?
            1. Singing comes from a heart full of emotion.
            2. Singing is speaking the heart in song.
        3. And as Jesus once said,

          34b “…out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks” (Matt 12.34).
        4. What filled the heart of David that he wanted to sing about it?
          1. Mercy, justice, and praises for the Lord filled David’s heart.
          2. Are those things for which we can sing?
      2. If you examine most of our songs,
        1. they speak of the Lord’s mercy and
        2. they praise Him for many things.
          1. I do not know of many songs that sing of His justice, but
          2. perhaps you can write one.
    2. Second, David would behave wisely in a perfect way.
      1. Yes, the Lord shows mercy, but
      2. that does not relieve us from responsible living.
        1. David would not play the part of the hypocrite,
        2. telling others what to do without doing it himself.
    3. Third, David would walk within his house with a perfect heart.
      1. David did not drop off his godliness at the doorstep, but
      2. he knew that the Lord witnessed his affairs at home,
        1. even as the Lord spoke through Malachi centuries later,

          13 And this is the second thing you do:
          You cover the altar of the Lord with tears,
          With weeping and crying;
          So He does not regard the offering anymore,
          Nor receive it with goodwill from your hands.
          14 Yet you say, “For what reason?”
          Because the Lord has been witness
          Between you and the wife of your youth,
          With whom you have dealt treacherously;
          Yet she is your companion
          And your wife by covenant.
          (Mal 2.13–14)
        2. The Bible never hesitates to show the sins of its heroes.
          1. When David sinned, the Holy Spirit informs us.
          2. Yet, what it shows of his home life is
            1. that he walked within his house
            2. with a perfect heart.
              1. When you read Proverbs,
              2. Solomon informs us what his father used to teach him.
                1. Solomon never spoke of his father being a hypocrite.
    4. Fourth, David would set nothing wicked before his eyes.
      1. Idolatry surrounded Israel.
      2. David would have no part of it, and
        1. the Bible shows that he never did.
        2. Apparently he was not even tempted by it.
          1. I will not say that David never sinned, but
          2. he never put something before his eyes in place of the Lord.
    5. Fifth, David would not know wickedness.
      1. He knew of wickedness, but
      2. he did not want to know it by experience.
        1. This is what happened to Adam and Eve.
        2. They wanted to know good and evil as God does, but
          1. God knows good by experience, and
          2. He knows evil by identification.
            1. They sinned when they knew evil by experience,
            2. having grown discontent with knowing it by identification.
  3. Psalm 101.5 – No Life for the Slanderer

    5 Whoever secretly slanders his neighbor,
    Him I will destroy;
    The one who has a haughty look and a proud heart,
    Him I will not endure.

    1. Keeping evil from himself, also included keeping others from evil.
      1. He was his brother’s keeper.
      2. First Thessalonians 5 shows that we have a responsibility to our brother,

        15 See that no one renders evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue what is good both for yourselves and for all (1Th 5.15).

        1. If a brother slanders another,
        2. we rebuke the slanderer.
    2. Therefore, sixth, David would destroy anyone slandering his neighbor.
      1. Not only would he not take part in the slander, but
      2. he would take action against the slanderer.
        1. As king he had to act against the slanderer.
        2. As Christians, the conscience of our nation, we have to stop slander.
    3. Seventh, David would also have nothing to do with the haughty.
      1. The haughty see themselves as better than others.
      2. David knew that he was not better than others, but
        1. whatever good he experienced or did,
        2. he credited to the Lord.
  4. Psalm 101.6–7 – Living with the Faithful

    6 My eyes shall be on the faithful of the land,
    That they may dwell with me;
    He who walks in a perfect way,
    He shall serve me.
    7 He who works deceit shall not dwell within my house;
    He who tells lies shall not continue in my presence.

    1. Eighth, David would keep his eyes on the faithful of the land.
      1. They are the ones who make the land a better place to live.
      2. They are the salt of the Earth and the light of the world.
        1. Psalm 84 uses images of the Earth
        2. to picture what the faithful do for the people of the Earth,

          5 Blessed is the man whose strength is in You,
          Whose heart is set on pilgrimage.
          6 As they pass through the Valley of Baca,
          They make it a spring;
          The rain also covers it with pools.
          7 They go from strength to strength;
          Each one appears before God in Zion.
          (Psa 84.5–7)
    2. Ninth, David would not allow the deceitful within his house.
      1. He would have no part of them.
      2. He would not extent fellowship to them, for
        1. you never know when they might be deceiving you.
        2. Or they might spread lies about you and the way you live.
  5. Psalm 101.8 – No Life for the Wicked

    8 Early I will destroy all the wicked of the land,
    That I may cut off all the evildoers from the city of the Lord.

    1. Tenth, David would destroy all the wicked of the land,
      1. cutting off all evildoers from the city of the Lord.
      2. David wanted to do what he could.
    2. He knew that the Lord did almost everything, but
      1. the Lord also left somethings for David to do,
      2. even as the Lord does with us.

Exhortation: 

  1. I take you back to the middle of verse 2, 
    1. where we noted the only request that David made of the Lord,

      2b Oh, when will You come to me?
    2. David knew what he needed to do.
      1. However, none of those things substituted for the Lord Himself.
        1. David wanted the Lord.
        2. David needed the Lord.
      2. Therefore, David asked the Lord when He would come to David.
  2. Why does the Lord sometimes hold Himself back? 
    1. After all David had to ask the Lord, “When will You come to me?”
    2. showing that the Lord was away from David in some sense.