Context No. 3395 of 4322 · Psalms
Context · Reflection
Psalms 101:1-8: in context
1I will sing of loving kindness and justice. To you, LORD, I will sing praises. 2I will be careful to live a blameless life. When will you come to me? I will walk within my house with a blameless heart. 3I will set no vile thing before my eyes. I hate the deeds of faithless men. They will not cling to me. 4A perverse heart will be far from me. I will have nothing to do with evil. 5I will silence whoever secretly slanders his neighbor. I won’t tolerate one who is arrogant and conceited. 6My eyes will be on the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me. He who walks in a perfect way, he will serve me. 7He who practices deceit won’t dwell within my house. He who speaks falsehood won’t be established before my eyes. 8Morning by morning, I will destroy all the wicked of the land, to cut off all the workers of iniquity from the LORD’s city.
This psalm is a series of resolutions for a life of integrity, made especially by one in a position of authority. And notice how personal and practical they are. I will walk with integrity of heart within my house, not only in public but at home, where no one is watching. I will set no worthless thing before my eyes. I will have nothing to do with slander, pride, and deceit.
It is a resolve to guard the heart, the eyes, the company one keeps, and the home. Integrity is not a single grand act but a series of daily choices about what we look at, whom we walk with, and how we behave when no one is looking. The psalmist commits to holiness in the private places where character is really formed, the unseen hours at home, the things allowed before the eyes, the friends welcomed in. His eyes will be on the faithful of the land, choosing carefully whose company he keeps. A life of integrity is built in these hidden, deliberate choices, not merely in public reputation.
Do I resolve, like the psalmist, to walk with integrity even at home and in private, guarding my eyes, my words, and the company I keep?
Sources
- Psalm 101:2: "I will walk within my house with a blameless heart."
- Psalm 101:3: "I will set no vile thing before my eyes."
- Psalm 101:6: "My eyes will be on the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me."