WEBVTT 00:00:06.470 --> 00:00:13.589 Psalm 101. We have looked at the first two verses 00:00:13.589 --> 00:00:18.250 the last couple of weeks. And we might finish 00:00:18.250 --> 00:00:21.649 the whole thing tonight. We might just go all 00:00:21.649 --> 00:00:24.789 in. We'll see if we can make it through it. Psalm 00:00:24.789 --> 00:00:31.539 101. This is a Psalm of David. We don't really 00:00:31.539 --> 00:00:34.280 know exactly when he wrote it. It is suggested 00:00:34.280 --> 00:00:36.840 by some that it may have been toward the end 00:00:36.840 --> 00:00:39.780 of David's life. It doesn't really matter too 00:00:39.780 --> 00:00:42.859 much when he wrote it. But if you were wondering, 00:00:43.020 --> 00:00:45.759 we really, really don't know exactly when it 00:00:45.759 --> 00:00:52.679 was written. Psalm 101. We'll pray, then we'll 00:00:52.679 --> 00:00:55.820 get started. God, we come to you tonight. We 00:00:55.820 --> 00:00:58.000 thank you for the freedom we have to study your 00:00:58.000 --> 00:01:01.820 word. We thank you for being good to us. I pray 00:01:01.820 --> 00:01:03.740 that your Holy Spirit would be among us tonight, 00:01:03.880 --> 00:01:08.000 God, that you would help us to focus on you, 00:01:08.060 --> 00:01:11.099 to be free of the distractions and the worries 00:01:11.099 --> 00:01:14.400 and the aggravations and the stresses and the 00:01:14.400 --> 00:01:16.659 things that we just encounter in our life. God, 00:01:16.859 --> 00:01:18.680 maybe there are just some things in our spirit 00:01:18.680 --> 00:01:21.859 and our attitudes and our hearts that just aren't 00:01:21.859 --> 00:01:24.599 right. And I pray, dear Lord, that you would 00:01:24.599 --> 00:01:27.500 just help us to... grow in you tonight, that 00:01:27.500 --> 00:01:29.439 we would repent of those things, that you just 00:01:29.439 --> 00:01:33.200 bring healing to our hearts, to our souls, that 00:01:33.200 --> 00:01:36.379 you would just help us to rejoice in you tonight. 00:01:36.599 --> 00:01:38.920 I pray that you just bless these words as we 00:01:38.920 --> 00:01:41.359 read them, that it would be what we need to hear. 00:01:41.459 --> 00:01:44.980 And I ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen. 00:01:45.920 --> 00:01:48.700 The first couple of verses that we looked at 00:01:48.700 --> 00:01:51.920 of this psalm really... are kind of the main 00:01:51.920 --> 00:01:54.500 point of the psalm and that is it's really a 00:01:54.500 --> 00:01:57.620 psalm of integrity that david is saying that 00:01:57.620 --> 00:02:00.900 he's a man of integrity that he praises the lord 00:02:00.900 --> 00:02:03.140 that he is a man that is serving the lord and 00:02:03.140 --> 00:02:05.900 following the lord and wants to live in obedience 00:02:05.900 --> 00:02:07.939 to the lord and that's what we see in the first 00:02:07.939 --> 00:02:12.719 two verses and and as a result of being a man 00:02:12.719 --> 00:02:16.509 of integrity What we see in the last few verses 00:02:16.509 --> 00:02:22.009 is David's desire to separate himself from evil, 00:02:22.129 --> 00:02:25.509 to not associate with evil people, to not associate 00:02:25.509 --> 00:02:29.270 with those who are disobedient to God. And that's 00:02:29.270 --> 00:02:33.530 what we see starting in verse 3. He says, I will 00:02:33.530 --> 00:02:37.870 not set anything worthless before my eyes. I 00:02:37.870 --> 00:02:41.449 hate the practice of transgression. It will not 00:02:41.449 --> 00:02:45.780 cling to me. A devious heart will be far from 00:02:45.780 --> 00:02:51.259 me. I will not be involved with evil. So if we 00:02:51.259 --> 00:02:53.960 are seeking to be men and women of integrity, 00:02:54.159 --> 00:02:57.580 and if we desire to be like David, as he was 00:02:57.580 --> 00:03:00.819 in the first couple of verses, then what are 00:03:00.819 --> 00:03:03.159 some things that we need to do? How do we need 00:03:03.159 --> 00:03:06.060 to go about that? Well, David tells us here. 00:03:06.139 --> 00:03:08.740 He says at the end of that fourth verse, I will 00:03:08.740 --> 00:03:12.740 not be involved with evil. Now, if we want to 00:03:12.740 --> 00:03:15.939 be men and women who are obedient to God, then 00:03:15.939 --> 00:03:19.080 it's best for us to flee from evil and to try 00:03:19.080 --> 00:03:21.960 to avoid putting ourselves in situations where 00:03:21.960 --> 00:03:25.240 we may be around temptations and around evil 00:03:25.240 --> 00:03:29.120 that may cause us to live in a way that is disobedient 00:03:29.120 --> 00:03:32.300 to what God calls us to. Perhaps there are times 00:03:32.300 --> 00:03:36.099 that we are in conversations or disputes or having 00:03:36.099 --> 00:03:39.689 arguments with somebody else and maybe... Boy, 00:03:39.710 --> 00:03:42.750 that evil is right on our tongue, a word that 00:03:42.750 --> 00:03:45.990 we are about to say. And maybe we need to take 00:03:45.990 --> 00:03:49.169 a step back. Maybe we need to clench our lips 00:03:49.169 --> 00:03:52.169 extra tight. There are plenty of opportunities 00:03:52.169 --> 00:03:56.189 for us to do evil in our life, but we're better 00:03:56.189 --> 00:03:59.990 off if we flee from that evil and we try to get 00:03:59.990 --> 00:04:02.409 away from that temptation. And sometimes we may, 00:04:02.590 --> 00:04:07.080 but like David, sometimes we do not. Now we talked 00:04:07.080 --> 00:04:09.759 about David being a man of integrity. To be a 00:04:09.759 --> 00:04:11.879 man or a woman of integrity does not mean that 00:04:11.879 --> 00:04:15.509 we are perfect. We are not perfect. The idea 00:04:15.509 --> 00:04:18.350 that someone could be perfect and some would 00:04:18.350 --> 00:04:20.750 hold that view when it talks about perfection 00:04:20.750 --> 00:04:24.329 or men and women of integrity, Job being a good 00:04:24.329 --> 00:04:26.430 example. I don't believe for a second the scripture 00:04:26.430 --> 00:04:29.930 is implying that David thought that he was perfect 00:04:29.930 --> 00:04:33.069 or that it is implied that Job was perfect. They 00:04:33.069 --> 00:04:36.889 certainly sin. David had temptation that he gave 00:04:36.889 --> 00:04:39.790 in to. He saw Bathsheba bathing on the roof. 00:04:40.389 --> 00:04:42.209 What should he have done? He should have turned 00:04:42.209 --> 00:04:45.269 his head away and went about his business. But 00:04:45.269 --> 00:04:48.449 that temptation was there. And instead of fleeing 00:04:48.449 --> 00:04:51.029 from that evil, he gave in to that temptation. 00:04:51.350 --> 00:04:53.129 Now that doesn't mean that David wasn't a godly 00:04:53.129 --> 00:04:55.689 man. The scripture says he was a man after God's 00:04:55.689 --> 00:04:59.449 own heart. Even men and women who seek to do 00:04:59.449 --> 00:05:02.449 God's will, who may ultimately be men and women 00:05:02.449 --> 00:05:05.230 of integrity, it doesn't mean that there is not 00:05:05.230 --> 00:05:07.810 some sin in our life. But the real question is, 00:05:07.850 --> 00:05:11.339 is there a pattern of sin? Is there continual 00:05:11.339 --> 00:05:15.279 sin? Or is there a heart that we are grieved 00:05:15.279 --> 00:05:19.220 by our sin? Godly grief leads to repentance. 00:05:19.980 --> 00:05:22.800 Godly grief is good grief. There is such a thing 00:05:22.800 --> 00:05:25.180 as good grief. If you don't believe me, ask Charlie 00:05:25.180 --> 00:05:27.360 Brown. He knows it. Lucy tells him all the time, 00:05:27.420 --> 00:05:31.019 good grief, Charlie Brown. The Bible says godly 00:05:31.019 --> 00:05:34.800 grief leads to repentance. And so even when we 00:05:34.800 --> 00:05:38.779 do sin, and we will, how do we respond to that? 00:05:39.709 --> 00:05:41.970 If we respond to that with repentance and a broken 00:05:41.970 --> 00:05:45.350 heart, as David did, then it doesn't mean that 00:05:45.350 --> 00:05:47.949 we can't be men and women of integrity. It just 00:05:47.949 --> 00:05:52.170 means that we have sinned. But David also recognizes, 00:05:52.329 --> 00:05:56.449 and his goal and his desire is, God, I want to 00:05:56.449 --> 00:05:59.689 please you and live in obedience to you. And 00:05:59.689 --> 00:06:01.709 even David, if indeed this was written at the 00:06:01.709 --> 00:06:04.449 end of his life, he knew that he had fallen short, 00:06:04.629 --> 00:06:07.240 but there's still that desire. that he wants 00:06:07.240 --> 00:06:10.939 to live in obedience to God and separate himself 00:06:10.939 --> 00:06:13.839 from that evil. And that should be our desire 00:06:13.839 --> 00:06:17.480 too. Not that we seek to live a perfect life 00:06:17.480 --> 00:06:20.579 and then we just are devastated and say, woe 00:06:20.579 --> 00:06:23.120 is me, I've sinned, it's over for me. Well, no, 00:06:23.199 --> 00:06:24.939 there's grace and there's repentance, praise 00:06:24.939 --> 00:06:27.639 the Lord. But we don't want to live in our sin. 00:06:27.879 --> 00:06:30.139 And if we want to seek to be men and women of 00:06:30.139 --> 00:06:32.819 integrity, we have to flee from that. He says, 00:06:33.500 --> 00:06:36.279 In verse 3, backtracking a little bit, I will 00:06:36.279 --> 00:06:39.420 not set anything worthless before my eyes. Okay, 00:06:39.600 --> 00:06:42.240 well that's good instruction. If we want to be 00:06:42.240 --> 00:06:45.240 men and women of integrity, he says I'm not going 00:06:45.240 --> 00:06:47.600 to set anything worthless before my eyes, anything 00:06:47.600 --> 00:06:50.939 sinful before my eyes, anything that my eye will 00:06:50.939 --> 00:06:54.319 seek and look at and focus on more than it will 00:06:54.319 --> 00:06:58.399 focus on God. So what's in our vision? What's 00:06:58.399 --> 00:07:01.720 before us? What do we see? Do we see the will 00:07:01.720 --> 00:07:04.449 of God? Is that what we see clearly? Is that 00:07:04.449 --> 00:07:06.589 what we desire? Is that what we look for? Is 00:07:06.589 --> 00:07:10.050 that what we look to? Or are there worthless 00:07:10.050 --> 00:07:13.750 things in our life, worthless things before our 00:07:13.750 --> 00:07:16.689 eyes? He says, I hate the practice of transgression. 00:07:16.730 --> 00:07:20.490 Do we hate sin? Maybe we do sometimes. We hate 00:07:20.490 --> 00:07:22.689 other people's sin. It's easy for us to see other 00:07:22.689 --> 00:07:25.209 people that are living in sin, and boy, we hate 00:07:25.209 --> 00:07:27.889 that sin. That is so evil. But do we hate our 00:07:27.889 --> 00:07:32.740 sin? Well, maybe sometimes we do. And maybe we 00:07:32.740 --> 00:07:35.699 don't. If we hated it enough, we probably wouldn't 00:07:35.699 --> 00:07:38.100 keep doing it. But there's something that's tempting 00:07:38.100 --> 00:07:40.100 about saying, there's something that seems really 00:07:40.100 --> 00:07:43.079 good about that. It's just the same way when 00:07:43.079 --> 00:07:45.040 Adam and Eve were in the garden and the devil 00:07:45.040 --> 00:07:47.680 came to them. There was something tempting that 00:07:47.680 --> 00:07:50.300 tempted them, that seemed good about what he 00:07:50.300 --> 00:07:52.620 was offering. Now, God had given the command, 00:07:52.800 --> 00:07:54.879 don't eat from the tree. And the devil comes 00:07:54.879 --> 00:07:56.360 in and he says, hey, you need to eat from this 00:07:56.360 --> 00:07:58.949 tree, you know. Eat from it. You're going to 00:07:58.949 --> 00:08:01.029 be like God. There's something appealing in our 00:08:01.029 --> 00:08:04.310 sin that we think is going to satisfy us or make 00:08:04.310 --> 00:08:08.170 us feel better. And so we have to be careful. 00:08:08.629 --> 00:08:10.949 Our sin is appealing. If it wasn't appealing, 00:08:11.089 --> 00:08:12.930 we wouldn't give in to it. But sometimes we do. 00:08:13.029 --> 00:08:16.689 But David says here, I hate the practice of transgression. 00:08:16.810 --> 00:08:19.750 I hate those evil things. I hate that sin. He 00:08:19.750 --> 00:08:24.540 says, it will not cling to me. Now, one good 00:08:24.540 --> 00:08:28.259 way for us to have sin not cling to us is, as 00:08:28.259 --> 00:08:31.680 I've already said, to keep our distance. The 00:08:31.680 --> 00:08:34.740 closer we run with the wrong crowd, the closer 00:08:34.740 --> 00:08:37.559 we run with things that are a temptation, the 00:08:37.559 --> 00:08:40.000 more likely we are to give in to those things. 00:08:40.960 --> 00:08:43.220 It's easy for us to look at other people and 00:08:43.220 --> 00:08:45.639 say, I don't know how they could do that. Well, 00:08:45.700 --> 00:08:48.000 I know because they're human. And guess what? 00:08:48.120 --> 00:08:52.129 So are you. And so we never want to let our guard 00:08:52.129 --> 00:08:54.029 down and say, I would never do something like 00:08:54.029 --> 00:08:57.110 that, whatever it may be. Maybe we wouldn't. 00:08:57.110 --> 00:09:00.029 I hope we wouldn't. But they may have said the 00:09:00.029 --> 00:09:03.190 same thing in their life. And then all of a sudden 00:09:03.190 --> 00:09:04.730 they did something they said they would never 00:09:04.730 --> 00:09:07.970 do. So we have to be on guard and not get ourselves 00:09:07.970 --> 00:09:11.769 in those situations. Don't put ourselves in the 00:09:11.769 --> 00:09:13.950 midst of those temptations, whatever they may 00:09:13.950 --> 00:09:19.529 be. And he says, I hate these things. They will 00:09:19.529 --> 00:09:24.129 not cling to me. I thought about plastic wrap. 00:09:24.370 --> 00:09:26.129 Everybody's used that before to cover some food 00:09:26.129 --> 00:09:28.830 up, right? You get it off the roll, and man, 00:09:28.950 --> 00:09:30.649 you got to be real careful with that stuff, right? 00:09:30.850 --> 00:09:32.549 You got to tear it just right, because if you 00:09:32.549 --> 00:09:34.929 tear it too quick, man, it's going to suck to 00:09:34.929 --> 00:09:36.909 your arm, or it's going to suck up on itself, 00:09:36.990 --> 00:09:39.340 and then you got two foot of... plastic wrap 00:09:39.340 --> 00:09:41.500 and you got to rip it off and throw it away and 00:09:41.500 --> 00:09:43.799 if you go by too close to anything else along 00:09:43.799 --> 00:09:45.700 the way it'll suck to the refrigerator or suck 00:09:45.700 --> 00:09:47.980 to something else and it's real staticky and 00:09:47.980 --> 00:09:51.679 anything it goes by it wants to cling to and 00:09:51.679 --> 00:09:54.620 that's kind of how sin is in our life if we if 00:09:54.620 --> 00:09:57.440 we get too close to that it wants to cling to 00:09:57.440 --> 00:10:00.320 us it wants to wrap itself up all around us so 00:10:00.320 --> 00:10:03.360 david says i'm going to keep my distance so that 00:10:03.360 --> 00:10:08.029 sin does not cling to me He says in verse 5, 00:10:08.190 --> 00:10:32.129 No one who acts deceitfully will live in my palace. 00:10:32.700 --> 00:10:36.279 No one who tells lies will remain in my presence. 00:10:37.039 --> 00:10:40.659 Every morning I will destroy all the wicked of 00:10:40.659 --> 00:10:44.240 the land, eliminating all evildoers from the 00:10:44.240 --> 00:10:48.019 Lord's city. Now this is some pretty strong language 00:10:48.019 --> 00:10:51.440 to close out the verse here. Not only does he 00:10:51.440 --> 00:10:54.799 say he wants to be a man of integrity and he 00:10:54.799 --> 00:10:57.799 wants to stay away from sin and evil, but also 00:10:57.799 --> 00:11:00.620 he says, look, I'm going to destroy anybody who's 00:11:00.620 --> 00:11:03.179 living this way. Anybody in the kingdom, anybody 00:11:03.179 --> 00:11:06.320 that's in my palace, I don't want evildoers around 00:11:06.320 --> 00:11:09.799 me. Now, my translation here says destroy. Your 00:11:09.799 --> 00:11:12.860 translations may say something a little different. 00:11:12.919 --> 00:11:15.580 To silence those, maybe yours says something 00:11:15.580 --> 00:11:18.299 along those lines. The Hebrew words that are 00:11:18.299 --> 00:11:21.980 used there have different meanings. And it could 00:11:21.980 --> 00:11:24.620 literally mean that he's going to destroy them. 00:11:24.860 --> 00:11:28.059 And as the king, he has the ability and the authority 00:11:28.059 --> 00:11:30.639 to do that. If there's somebody in the kingdom 00:11:30.639 --> 00:11:33.960 that is doing something that is not right, that 00:11:33.960 --> 00:11:37.139 is breaking the law, that is sinful, David has 00:11:37.139 --> 00:11:40.000 the authority. If he desires to destroy them, 00:11:40.100 --> 00:11:43.899 he could do that as the king. And it could mean 00:11:43.899 --> 00:11:47.059 that, but it could mean something a little less 00:11:47.059 --> 00:11:50.600 drastic. It could just mean... I'm going to banish 00:11:50.600 --> 00:11:53.440 them from the kingdom. Not by death, but I'm 00:11:53.440 --> 00:11:55.740 going to get them out of here. I'm going to separate 00:11:55.740 --> 00:11:58.240 them from the rest of us. I'm going to silence 00:11:58.240 --> 00:12:02.220 them. I'm not going to allow them to speak. Ever 00:12:02.220 --> 00:12:04.919 how he is going to deal with it, the point is 00:12:04.919 --> 00:12:08.480 this. He is going to deal with those who are 00:12:08.480 --> 00:12:11.059 sinners. He says, I want to be a man of integrity. 00:12:11.220 --> 00:12:14.379 I want to stand for God. And everybody else in 00:12:14.379 --> 00:12:16.740 the kingdom should desire to stand for God too. 00:12:17.179 --> 00:12:20.019 And I'm not going to put up with any junk from 00:12:20.019 --> 00:12:22.480 anyone else. And so he says in the last verse, 00:12:22.580 --> 00:12:25.460 Every morning I will destroy all the wicked in 00:12:25.460 --> 00:12:30.799 the land, eliminating all evildoers from the 00:12:30.799 --> 00:12:35.779 Lord's city. So David is getting serious with 00:12:35.779 --> 00:12:39.279 evildoers. He's getting serious with sin. Not 00:12:39.279 --> 00:12:42.059 just his sin, but that of the whole kingdom. 00:12:42.240 --> 00:12:44.519 Because he wants to be a leader who's going to 00:12:44.519 --> 00:12:48.299 lead people. toward God and toward obedience 00:12:48.299 --> 00:12:51.500 to God. So what about us when we look at this 00:12:51.500 --> 00:12:55.559 psalm? Short psalm. What about us? Are we men 00:12:55.559 --> 00:12:58.419 and women of integrity? Do we rejoice in the 00:12:58.419 --> 00:13:00.659 Lord and His faithful love and His grace and 00:13:00.659 --> 00:13:04.679 His mercy and His justice? Are we like David 00:13:04.679 --> 00:13:08.100 and rejoice in the Lord? Or are we those maybe 00:13:08.100 --> 00:13:12.340 who have not separated ourselves from evil? But 00:13:12.340 --> 00:13:15.200 maybe our eyes are on things that are worthless. 00:13:16.039 --> 00:13:18.940 Maybe we do walk a path that's been a little 00:13:18.940 --> 00:13:21.340 too close to those temptations and those sins 00:13:21.340 --> 00:13:25.179 that are ever before us. And maybe some of those 00:13:25.179 --> 00:13:29.700 things have clinged to us. Maybe we are those 00:13:29.700 --> 00:13:33.299 that David is talking about. Maybe we are living 00:13:33.299 --> 00:13:37.120 in our evil deeds. Well, praise the Lord, God 00:13:37.120 --> 00:13:40.960 is good. Just as David had committed great sin, 00:13:41.200 --> 00:13:43.639 committed adultery, committed murder to cover 00:13:43.639 --> 00:13:46.200 it up, I mean, that's pretty bad. That's about 00:13:46.200 --> 00:13:49.340 as bad as it gets. But even still, there was 00:13:49.340 --> 00:13:52.820 grace for David. And even still, at the end of 00:13:52.820 --> 00:13:56.600 his life, he's considered a man of integrity. 00:13:57.240 --> 00:13:59.519 And that should be our desire. Maybe there's 00:13:59.519 --> 00:14:01.659 sins in our life right now. Maybe there's sins 00:14:01.659 --> 00:14:05.379 in our past. Well, David tells us what to do, 00:14:05.419 --> 00:14:08.720 and that is we humble ourselves before God, and 00:14:08.720 --> 00:14:11.220 we ask him to forgive us, and we repent. That's 00:14:11.220 --> 00:14:14.019 what David did after his sinfulness. And God 00:14:14.019 --> 00:14:16.919 hears those prayers. And God can restore us. 00:14:17.200 --> 00:14:19.779 And even though we've made bad choices and walked 00:14:19.779 --> 00:14:22.159 our own path, and even though maybe there's sin 00:14:22.159 --> 00:14:25.139 even today that clings to us, Jesus Christ can 00:14:25.139 --> 00:14:28.580 rip that off and forgive us of that sin. And 00:14:28.580 --> 00:14:30.480 the only way that we can be men and women of 00:14:30.480 --> 00:14:34.539 integrity is by walking in the ways of the Lord. 00:14:34.679 --> 00:14:38.100 Let's pray. God, we come to you. We thank you 00:14:38.100 --> 00:14:40.259 for these good and simple words. And I pray. 00:14:40.889 --> 00:14:43.889 that our desire and our heart would be that of 00:14:43.889 --> 00:14:47.990 David. That whatever sins may be in our past 00:14:47.990 --> 00:14:51.230 or may be even in our present, dear Lord, that 00:14:51.230 --> 00:14:53.070 we would turn from those things, that we would 00:14:53.070 --> 00:14:56.289 repent of those things, dear Lord. That we wouldn't 00:14:56.289 --> 00:14:58.570 desire to keep living in sin, but that we would 00:14:58.570 --> 00:15:03.830 desire to live in accordance to your will. That 00:15:03.830 --> 00:15:06.009 we would be those tonight, God, that would rejoice 00:15:06.009 --> 00:15:09.240 in you. That we would seek to be men and women 00:15:09.240 --> 00:15:12.580 of integrity. Whatever sin may be before us tonight, 00:15:12.740 --> 00:15:16.539 God, I pray that you would free us from it. I 00:15:16.539 --> 00:15:18.899 pray that if there's anything that may tempt 00:15:18.899 --> 00:15:22.200 us, anything that we know is a weakness, that 00:15:22.200 --> 00:15:26.000 we may watch ourselves. That we may watch where 00:15:26.000 --> 00:15:28.840 we go and watch what we see and watch what we 00:15:28.840 --> 00:15:31.940 say, dear Lord. To try to avoid those situations, 00:15:32.279 --> 00:15:36.090 God. we may be tempted to fall into sin. God, 00:15:36.250 --> 00:15:38.490 I pray that you free us from those things, help 00:15:38.490 --> 00:15:40.549 us to have the strength to avoid those things, 00:15:40.690 --> 00:15:44.230 and lead us not into temptation, but God, deliver 00:15:44.230 --> 00:15:47.789 us from evil. And I ask these things in Jesus' 00:15:47.929 --> 00:15:49.269 name. Amen.