Tuesday, August
21, 2018
I will sing of your love and justice, Lord. I will praise you with songs. I
will be careful to live a blameless life—when will you come to help me? I will lead a life of integrity in my own
home. I will refuse to look at anything
vile and vulgar. I hate all who deal
crookedly; I will have nothing to do with them. I will reject
perverse ideas and stay away from every evil.
I will not tolerate people who slander their neighbors. I will not endure conceit and pride. I
will search for faithful people to be my companions. Only those who are above reproach will be
allowed to serve me. I will not allow deceivers to
serve in my house, and liars will not stay in my presence. My
daily task will be to ferret out the wicked and free the city of the Lord from
their grip. Psalm 101:1-8(NLT)
Man, there are a LOT
of I
will’s and I will not’s in that Psalm! The author is David, according to many scholars,
and it agrees strongly with what Scripture says about Israel’s king: …for the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart. 1 Samuel 13:14b(NLT) But David didn’t live up to that list of do’s and don’ts. In fact, if you simply read the account of David’s
sin with Bathsheba[2], you’ll
find that the list-maker broke every single vow he made in Psalm 101.
Lists are everywhere; there are checklists, to-do lists,
parts lists, bucket-lists, and some-assembly-required lists…the (ahem) list
of lists is endless!
Lists can be very helpful, such as when I go to the
store to pick up a few items…or many; without that list my life would be one continuous
treadmill of return trips for a hundred forgotten items. In my life’s work of ministry lists of the
sheep for which I’m responsible is a must.
I have lists of who is in the hospital, in-crisis, has a need, or is just
someone I haven’t contacted in a while. I
do depend upon my lists!
But lists can also set you up for a fall! Once you make a list you become something of
a slave to its completion. And you also
create evidence of neglect when you don’t finish what you started.
One thing I noticed about David’s list of wills
and won’t
is how he set himself up for a lonely life.
If you eliminate contact with all the people he categorized as he
attempted to lead a “blameless life” you will also experience the loneliness of
a deserted island. David promised he
would not be around anything vile or vulgar, crooked people, perverse ideas,
slander, conceit, pride, reproachable people, deceivers, and liars.
David didn’t list the hypocrites (how could he…he was
guilty of all of that in his adulterous affair with Bathsheba, and the ensuing
cover-up, which included murder and conspiracy?). So, with all those unacceptable types
of people in David’s life, who’s left?
The only answer I can come up with is:
children and dogs. All the adults I know (including the one
sitting at my keyboard) have all those human traits David didn’t want to be
around.
The truth is, spending your life avoiding the sins of
other people can be more than a full-time occupation; it can consume your whole
being. You would be like a bride in a
white dress trying to stay clean in a coal mine.
Yet, David’s list, despite David’s miserable failure, is
not without merit. The fact remains that
we humans need targets; we need to have something at which we can aim. The alternative is to wander through life,
just doing the next thing that comes along.
That wandering leads to little which is truly productive, and often
finds its resting place in no-good. Just
ask David!
I believe God allowed us to have Psalm 101, not as a pattern
we would follow, but as an example of just how much we need grace. It is only by the grace of God that we can
have fellowship with God at all…and that reality extends to cover all human interaction.
If we are to ever have a genuine relationship with another human being, it is
only going to happen in truth, and with complete trust. That means the entire list serves as the
warning signs of friendship and love headed for terminus. It is God’s loving call for us to live in
grace, and extend it to others…even the reproachful, deceitful, vile, perverse,
slandering, crooked liars and hypocrites who make up the human population.
For You Today
Knowing and recognizing (in yourself
and others) the signs of grace deteriorating is important…it’s what leads you
back to fellowship with God. So, don’t throw
away David’s list…it has a purpose. And,
about you, and me…we made that list…that list of all the people God loves!
Go to VIDEO
[2] 2 Samuel 11
