I will know no evil

Psalm 101 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

The Psalmist’s Profession of Uprightness.

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.
³ I will set no worthless thing before my eyes;
I hate the work of those who fall away;
It shall not fasten its grip on me.
⁴ A perverse heart shall depart from me;
I will know no evil.
⁵ Whoever secretly slanders his neighbor, him I will destroy;
No one who has a haughty look and an arrogant heart will I endure.

⁶ My eyes shall be upon the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me;
He who walks in a blameless way is the one who will minister to me.
⁷ He who practices deceit shall not dwell within my house;
He who speaks falsehood shall not maintain his position before me.
⁸ Every morning I will destroy all the wicked of the land,
So as to cut off from the city of the Lord all those who do iniquity.

The psalmist begins saying:  I will sing of lovingkindness and justice. To You, O Lord, I will sing praises.  Many praise the Lord for His lovingkindness. Many are thankful for His compassion; His grace and His mercy. But how many will sing and praise Him for His justice? Lovingkindness, compassion, mercy and grace do not give what is deserved to the disobedient.  Justice, what is right and just, requires that there be consequences or punishment for disobedience and wrong doing. Justice requires that there would be judgment. Do we also sing praises to God for His judgment, or does the idea of justice, that we get what we deserve, cause fear?    1 John 4:16-19 says:  God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love. We love, because He first loved us.   God’s love is the perfect love that casts out fear. Romans 5:8 says: God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.  God’s love is demonstrated in the cross and it is also the cross which casts out fear. There is no longer a reason to fear the just judgment of God because, by His grace and mercy, Jesus was judged in our place. So like the psalmist, we too can sing of lovingkindness and justice. To You, O Lord, I will sing praises.

The psalmist says:  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. I will set no worthless thing before my eyes; I hate the work of those who fall away; It shall not fasten its grip on me. A perverse heart shall depart from me; I will know no evil.   Through the cross, Jesus was not only judged in our place, He not only died for our sins so that we would not suffer judgment; He was also raised from death, so that with Him, we too can live. We can live free from the bondage of sin. In Christ, it is not that we don’t know evil. It is that we are not known by evil.  In Matthew 7:21-23 Jesus says:  “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’”  If we are known by evil and lawlessness, we will not be known by the Lord.     I will give heed to the blameless way... I will know no evil.  

The psalmist says:  Whoever secretly slanders his neighbor, him I will destroy; No one who has a haughty look and an arrogant heart will I endure.  My eyes shall be upon the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me; He who walks in a blameless way is the one who will minister to me.  He who practices deceit shall not dwell within my house; He who speaks falsehood shall not maintain his position before me. Every morning I will destroy all the wicked of the land, So as to cut off from the city of the Lord all those who do iniquity.   The psalmist moves from how God’s righteousness will impact him and his life to how he will impact the world for the sake of God’s righteousness. First and foremost God desires that we have a relationship with Him. That is why Jesus paid the price for sin, so that we could be reconciled to God through Him. Our relationship with God changes us. We become more and more like the one we spend time with. Then when we, bearing the image and likeness of God, His light and His love, interact with the world, we bring change to those around us. In Matthew 5:14-16 Jesus says:  “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”  Unlike the psalmist who says he will cutoff and destroy the wicked of the land, for us Romans 12:17-21 says:  Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. Therefore “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; If he is thirsty, give him a drink; For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.”  Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.   We are to impact the world around us not by fighting evil with evil, but by shining the light of Christ and being examples of the love and compassion of God to the world. In Matthew 6:9-13 Jesus taught us to pray saying:  Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one.For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ and precious Holy Spirit; by Your light and Your love in me, may we overcome the evil around me. May Your kingdom come and Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Amen.