January 20
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PSALM 101 DAVID’S VOW TO RULE WITH INTEGRITY
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. 5 Whoever slanders his neighbor secretly I will destroy. Whoever has a haughty look and an arrogant heart I will not endure. 6 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. 7 No one who practices deceit shall dwell in my house; no one who utters lies shall continue before my eyes. 8 Morning by morning I will destroy all the wicked in the land, cutting off all the evildoers from the city of the LORD.
– Psalm 101:1-8
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In verse 2, we get the meaning of someone who has integrity. It means that they will be blameless or someone who does the right thing and have a good moral behavior. In this psalm, we hear David who promises his Master to do what is right. David always begins with worshiping his Lord with a declaration of God’s steadfast love. He loves to make music for God. Here are some of the promises that he vowed to God as the anointed king:
• To ponder on the way that is blameless and follow God’s will in all he does
• To walk in good moral behavior that is pleasing to the Lord
• To focus only on what is of worth to the Lord and not with useless things
• To hate those who fall away from God and not have anything to do with them
• To have a pure heart and never let it be perverse and not participate in wickedness
• To destroy all those who slander their neighbor secretly
• To not tolerate haughty people, liars and deceivers
• To destroy all the wicked and cut off all evildoers
• To give favor to the blameless and allow them to be part of his household
What a man of integrity David was! No wonder he is called a “man after God’s own heart.” All these promises he made are all what God requires from his people. He was willing to commit to do these things for the love of his Master. He knew his Lord very well and would never compromise his relationship with Him. Can we make the same promises to our Lord?
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REFLECTION
• What happens when a believer doesn’t have integrity?