I will sing of mercy and justice

Psalm 101 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

I will sing of mercy and justice;
To You, Lord, I will sing praises.
² I will carefully attend 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 cling to me.
⁴ A perverse heart shall leave me;
I will know no evil.
⁵ Whoever secretly slanders his neighbor, him I will destroy;
I will not endure one who has a haughty look and an arrogant heart.

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

In the world system, if a person throws themselves on the mercy of the court, it is to escape the full weight of justice. They hope to receive a lessor punishment than what they deserve. In today’s text the psalmist says: I will sing of mercy and justice; To You, Lord, I will sing praises. With God, mercy and justice are inseparable. They are both part of God’s character. His mercy and justice toward us is summed up in Romans 6:23: The wages of sin is death, but the gracious gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. We deserved death, but in God’s great mercy, Christ died for us so that we could have eternal life. Surely, we too should praise God for His mercy and justice.  

More though than just praising God for His mercy, the psalmist says: I will carefully attend 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 cling to me. A perverse heart shall leave me; I will know no evil. Our response to God’s mercy should be to turn from the way we were, to repent of our sin and walk in God’s righteousness. 2 Corinthians 5:21 says: He made Him who knew no sin to be sin in our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. Ephesians 2:8-10 says: By grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.  God’s undeserved mercy toward us is not given just so that we could have eternal life, but so that we could walk in His righteousness, doing what God has for us, in this life. In Jeremiah 1:5 God says: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, And before you were born I consecrated you.”  In Jeremiah 29:11, He says: “For I know the plans that I have for you, plans for prosperity and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” 

The psalmist says: Whoever secretly slanders his neighbor, him I will destroy; I will not endure one who has a haughty look and an arrogant heart. My eyes shall be upon the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me; One who walks in a blameless way is one who will serve me. One who practices deceit shall not dwell within my house; One who speaks lies shall not maintain his position before me. Every morning I will destroy all the wicked of the land, So as to eliminate from the city of the Lord all those who do injustice.  Here David is speaking as the king of what he will do in his kingdom. Jesus taught us to pray saying: Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.  In Luke 6:27-28;35-36 Jesus says: “I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who are abusive to you… love your enemies and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil people. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.” Romans 12:21 says: Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. We should not embrace evil, so as to be overcome by it, but we should bless and pray for even those who practice it. We should be merciful to them, so that they might come to know the mercy of God for them. In Matthew 5:14-16 Jesus says: “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”

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.