NOTES for Psa 101

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¹I will sing of mercy and judgment: unto thee, O LORD, will I sing.

²I will behave myself wisely in a perfect way. O when wilt thou come unto me? I will walk within my house with a perfect heart.

³I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes: I hate the work of them that turn aside; it shall not cleave to me.

⁴A froward heart shall depart from me: I will not know a wicked person.

⁵Whoso privily slandereth his neighbour, him will I cut off: him that hath an high look and a proud heart will not I suffer.

⁶Mine eyes shall be upon the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me: he that walketh in a perfect way, he shall serve me.

⁷He that worketh deceit shall not dwell within my house: he that telleth lies shall not tarry in my sight.

⁸I will early destroy all the wicked of the land; that I may cut off all wicked doers from the city of the LORD.

Crying out to God for blamelessness, the psalmist begins his prayer with remarkable words: “I will sing of mercy and judgment; to You, O Lord, I will sing.” For him, mercy and truth are not merely certain aspects of God’s design, nor only attributes of the divine Person, but the Lord Himself. Behind these words stands the great mystery of God’s presence in the world: wherever mercy and truth enter our lives, God Himself enters them.

And as he looks to the Lord, the psalmist rejects all lawlessness, because it becomes abhorrent to him as well. In this the psalmist discerns the meaning of God’s saving action in Christ. God Himself comes to us so that, having seen Him, we might love Him and hate sin.

Other notes

For

¹I will sing of mercy and judgment: unto thee, O LORD, will I sing.

²I will behave myself wisely in a perfect way. O when wilt thou come unto me? I will walk within my house with a perfect heart.

³I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes: I hate the work of them that turn aside; it shall not cleave to me.

⁴A froward heart shall depart from me: I will not know a wicked person.

⁵Whoso privily slandereth his neighbour, him will I cut off: him that hath an high look and a proud heart will not I suffer.

⁶Mine eyes shall be upon the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me: he that walketh in a perfect way, he shall serve me.

⁷He that worketh deceit shall not dwell within my house: he that telleth lies shall not tarry in my sight.

⁸I will early destroy all the wicked of the land; that I may cut off all wicked doers from the city of the LORD.

A plaintive song resounds, a succession of sorrowful laments, a long enumeration of grievances. Yet one cannot bring oneself to call... Read more

A plaintive song resounds, a succession of sorrowful laments, a long enumeration of grievances. Yet one cannot bring oneself to call the psalm pessimistic, for what it does not contain is despondency. Even amid calamities, the sufferer continues to trust in God; his hope rests on the assurance that the Lord does not pass away even if the whole world should collapse.

Everything can come crashing down; even the firmest support can decay. But what is rooted in the Lord is secure. Everything will be swept away by the stream of time; everything on which we try to place our hope will disappear. But the One who stands beyond the stream of times and events and holds them before His gaze will not abandon those who seek refuge in Him.

Readings for 20 January 2024

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Ephesians 6:10-17

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2 Samuel 1:1-27

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