SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR
7/1/2012 8:22:50 AM
My Worship Time Focus: Psalm 101 PT-1
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Psalm 101:1-2
Message of the verses: We will begin to look at Psalm 101 this morning by looking at several introductions to the psalm from several different commentators in order to better understand what the psalm is all about and how it can help us to better know the Lord.
“David was certainly the penman of this psalm, and it has in it the genuine spirit of the man after God’s own heart; it is a solemn vow which he made to God when he took upon him the charge of a family and of the kingdom. Whether it was penned when he entered upon the government, immediately after the death of Saul (as some think), or when he began to reign over all Israel, and brought up the ark to the city of David (as others think), is not material; it is an excellent plan or model for the good government of a court, or the keeping up of virtue and piety, and, by that means, good order, in it: but it is applicable to private families; it is the householder’s psalm. It instructs all that are in any sphere of power, whether larger or narrower, to use their power so as to make it a terror to evil-doers, but a praise to those that do well.” (Matthew Henry)
“A Psalm of David. This is just such a psalm as the man after God’s own heart would compose when he was about to become king in Israel. It is David all over, straight forward, resolute, devout; there is no trace of policy or vacillation, the Lord has appointed him to be king, and he knows it, therefore he purposes in all things to behave as becomes a monarch whome the Lord himself has chosen. If we call this THE PSALM or PIOUS RESOLUTIONS, we shall perhaps remember it all the more readily. After songs of praise a psalm of practice not only makes variety, but comes in most fittingly. We never praise the Lord better than when we do those things which are pleasing in his sight.” (Charles H. Spurgeon)
“This Davidic psalm expresses commitments of the mediatorial king (David) to his eternal king (the Lord) in regard to 10 his own personal life and 2) the lives of those who inhabit the kingdom. Possibly, this psalm was used later at the coronations of future kings over Israel. Ultimately, only King Jesus would perfectly fulfill these holy resolutions (cf. Is. 9:6, 7; 11:1-5).” (The John MacArthur Study Bible)
“When David became king, first in Hebron and then at Jerusalem, he inherited a divided land and a discouraged people whose spiritual life was a low ebb. Asaph described the situation in 78:56-72 and name David as God’s answer to Israel’s problems. Everything rises and falls with leadership, but many of King Saul’s officers were fawning flattering ‘toadies’ who were unable to work with a man like David. Once David was established on the throne in Jerusalem, he had a consuming desire to bring the ark of God back to the sanctuary so that God’s throne might be near his throne. His question in verse 2, ‘When will you come to me?’ reflects this desire. The ark had been in the house of Abinidad for many years (1Sam. 6:1-7:2) and then in the house of Obed-Edom after David’s aborted attempt to relocate it (2Sam. 6:1-11). This psalm of dedication was probably written early in his reign in Jerusalem. We could accurately call this psalm ‘Leadership 101’ because in it David spells out the essentials for successful leadership in the work of God.” (Warren Wiersbe)
Devotion to God (vv. 1-2): “1 A Psalm of David: I will sing of lovingkindness and justice, To You, O LORD, I will sing praises. 2 I will give heed to the blameless way. When will You come to me? I will walk within my house in the integrity of my heart.”
Verse one shows that this is a psalm that King David wrote, and he begins this psalm with something this is in my prayers most every day, and what he mentions here is surely seen at the cross of Jesus Christ as love and justice are two of God’s attributes. When we look at the Ark of the Covenant we see two cherubim, one at each end and if we think of one being the righteousness or justice of God and the other the love of God, I believe we can understand the ark better. When the High priest came in to put the blood on the ark once a year at the Day of Atonement we can picture what happened at the cross, for both the justice and love of God were satisfied when He saw the blood of the Sacrifice. David says that he will sing both of the lovingkindness and justice of God.
When David became King of Israel he knew that he was God’s representative on earth and in his rule he was expected to rule the way that God commanded which is spelled out in Deuteronomy 17:14-20, and can also be seen in 2Kings 23:1-3. We see in verse two that the heart is involved in the leadership of the king, or at least is suppose to be, and this is not just for kings, but for all leaders. We see in the trinity that there is submission to each of the Members, for the Son of God submitted to the Father, and the Holy Spirit submitted to the Son and the Father. When God set up the way humans should live He would use submission, for all people are to submit to the Lord and to the leaders that God has given to them. In the marriage the wife is to submit to the husband’s leadership just as is seen in the trinity. In order to have submission the leaders need to have a heart like the Lord, full of compassion, love and justice, justice in the way the Lord has justice, for God is never vindictive and a leader should never be that way either.
David opened the psalm with the words “I will” and we will see those words eight times in this psalm eight I will’s meaning eight promises as his desire was to be a leader like God wanted him to be, a man after God’s own heart. One may think that when we see the word “blameless” in verse two that David was perfect, but this word does not mean sinless, for we know that David was a sinner from reading about his life. Dr. Wiersbe writes that “blameless is another word for integrity, cultivation wholeness of heart and singleness of mind, instead of a double heart and a double mind. Believers today should have integrity whether we are leaders or not (119:1; Matt. 5:8; Eph 1:4; Phil 1:10; w:15). Faith is living without scheming and the way of faith is ‘the blameless way’ (v.2 NASB). David vowed to live a godly life in his ‘house’ (palace) and have an administration characterized by mercy, justice and integrity.”
Spiritual meaning for my life today: I like what Dr. Wiersbe says when he writes, “Faith is living without scheming.” I suppose if I were honest with myself then I would have to confess that at times some of my prayers involved scheming, and I suppose that is true of most people. Of course this is wrong, for as he writes having true faith does not involve scheming, but total trust in the Lord. Before I became a believer I prayed to the Lord while just being inducted into the army that if God would get me out of the army then I would clean up my mouth. This was surely scheming on my part, but God did answer my prayer and I was only in the army for 23 days, but I did not keep the bargain or the scheme that I made with the Lord. After I became a believer in January of 1974 the Lord cleaned up my dirty mouth and I have not used that kind of language since.
My Steps of Faith for Today: No Scheming.
Memory verses for the week: 2Peter 1:1-4 Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ: 2. Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; 3. seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. 4. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.”
7/1/2012 9:37:17 AM
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