Psalm 101:1

Psalm 101:1

Love and justice

It’s a bit of a surprise to suddenly discover another Psalm that it is written by King David but which has been placed after a succession of songs by other writers. The last time we read the words of David was back in Psalm 86. 

In this Psalm David, as King, pledges to reign righteously and to base his reign on the pattern of God’s rule. Some believe that David wrote these words before the Tabernacle and the Ark of the Covenant were moved to Jerusalem, if so, these promises were made near the beginning of David’s reign. As the Messiah, the Son of David, much of what is written here could be attributed to Yeshua, both while He was first here on earth and when He comes to reign as King of kings and Lord of lords. Notice that the king is committed to those who are faithful and blameless but has little time for the faithless and the wicked who are in the land. The Psalm is full of strong endorsements of the righteous, but the king is absolutely adamant that he wants nothing to do with those who practice evil.

 

V1        Having majored so much, in previous psalms, on the coupling of God’s love and faithfulness, it’s a bit of a surprise to have love and justice joined together here! Perhaps the idea is to condense together the two most used of those dual descriptions of God’s character, love and faithfulness and righteousness and justice.  We have reflected often on God’s love but need to remember that true, selfless love has to be enjoined with justice. How can we say we love others and overlook the unfairness or the prejudices that affect them? This applies especially to those who rule or have authority over others. 

Justice of course, is not just about impartiality and fairness, it is much broader than that. Justice is seeing that righteousness is upheld, that honesty and integrity are essential characteristics of leaders, that all is done legitimately and truthfully. A ruler who is just will also be a ruler who keeps the law and who upholds the precepts, decrees and statutes of the Lord. Sadly, I can think of few in power in our world today who follow such principles. 

At the outset of this Psalm, we are invited to proclaim, to sing out that our God is all of the above and that this is a good reason to praise Him. Anyone embarking on a leadership role be it a teacher, foreman, hospital sister, office manager, church elder, MP, CEO (the list is a long one) should embrace love and justice. This is even more important for those who are our Kings and Queens, Prime Ministers, Presidents etc. and it can only be done with faith in and the help of the Lord God.  That is why we are asked to pray for them! 1 Timothy 2:1-2.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Psalm 4:1 Smear campaigns

Psalm 4:1    Smear campaigns   The background to this Psalm is so familiar; David is being slandered and maligned by his detractors.  It seems that some calamity has befallen the nation and the king is getting the blame! Lies are being told, a smear campaign has begun, and the reputation of the Sovereign is under threat.  As usual, if something goes wrong, culpability is laid at the feet of the one in charge.  David, quite rightly, turns to the Lord his God and prays for relief and for mercy. The Satan is a master of such campaigns and his emissaries gleefully turn on Christians in leadership positions although the whispering campaign can affect all of us. The whispering starts in our own heads, but it can also come from the lips of our detractors. It goes something like this: - You’re the reason it went wrong You messed up again You should have seen it coming Surely you know better You are not worthy You don’t know what you’re doing Someone else ought to be in c
Read more

Psalm 74:16

Psalm 74:16 God established the sun and the moon “ In  the beginning   God created   the heavens   and the earth.   2  Now the earth was formless   and empty,   darkness was over the surface of the deep,   and the Spirit of God   was hovering over the waters. 3  And God said,   “Let there be light,” and there was light.   4  God saw that the light was good,   and he separated the light from the darkness.   5  God called   the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.”   And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.” These, so familiar, words from Genesis 1 remind us of who is in charge! There would be no light without God. There would be no day or night without God. There would be no earth without God. And there would have been no living things unless God had created order out of chaos. The sun, moon and stars would not be fixed in their orbits without God and you and I would not exist unless He ordered our conception. It is because we see God as glorious, righteous
Read more
Psalm4:8        I will lie down and sleep                Th ere are times, in the life of all believers, when we no longer have control of situations. We can do nothing more. We have given our all, we have tried every possible solution and now it is out of our hands. As someone has wisely said, “It is time to let go and let God.” If we truly trust Him, if our faith will allow us, we can turn our backs on our enemies. We can block our ears to the threats. We can ignore the lies and the deceit and say,  “In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone Lord, make me dwell in safety.” I should imagine that the devil, having sent a hurricane our way is not amused, when we settle in our beds in the midst of it all and drift off into a peaceful sleep! But that is our right and privilege once we let the Lord God Almighty take control. These spiritual attacks are like whirlwinds, they blow with terrifying intensity and threaten to turn us upside down; the disciples witnessed one of thes
Read more