Psalm 101
Of David. A Psalm.
1I will sing of loyalty and of justice; to you, O LORD, I will sing.
2I will study the way that is blameless. When shall I attain it? I will walk with integrity of heart within my house;
3I will not set before my eyes anything that is base. I hate the work of those who fall away;
it shall not cling to me.
4Perverseness of heart shall be far from me; I will know nothing of evil.
5One who secretly slanders a neighbor I will destroy. A haughty look and an arrogant heart
I will not tolerate.
6I will look with favor on the faithful in the land, so that they may live with me; whoever walks in the way that is blameless shall minister to me.
7No one who practices deceit shall remain in my house; no one who utters lies shall continue in my presence.
8Morning by morning I will destroy all the wicked in the land, cutting off all evildoers from the city of the LORD.
As modern readers we tend to read the psalms individualistically, and from that perspective this psalm can sound judgmental. “Do not judge, so that you may not be judged”[1] may resonate with many modern readers but if we read the psalm from this perspective, we fundamentally have missed the point of this psalm written for or by a ruler in a communal society. I am heavily influenced by Charles Taylor’s description of society prior to our disenchanted view of the world, and I think his description of the community or parish deploying the collective power of its prayers, worship, and faith for blessing and protection is instructive here. In Taylor’s words, “Villagers who hold out, or even denounce the common rites, put the efficacy of these rites in danger, and hence pose a menace to everyone.” (Taylor, 2007, p. 42) Especially after working through the prophet Ezekiel, it is clear that the Hebrew view of the world in relation to God expects a society of justice and a ruler who enforces the character of the world that God’s law articulates. The king in Jerusalem, and leaders throughout history have been responsible for checking the selfish impulses of those who have the power to exploit others. Allowing injustice to take root in their kingdom quickly corrupts not only the individual practicing the injustice but the entire society.
This is a psalm of loyalty (hesed)[2] and justice, two primary characteristics of God that are to be embodied in the community of the faithful. Throughout this psalm the ideas of being blameless and having integrity translate the Hebrew terms tam and tamim.[3] This psalm is a royal psalm, and so the one studying the way of blamelessness (tamim) likely points to the ideal of a king articulated in Deuteronomy 17:14-20. Yet, the king can acknowledge that their practice of these ideals of loyalty and justice and the way of blamelessness are still aspirational.
The leader aspires to walk with integrity of heart and to keep its opposite, perverseness in heart, far from them. The metaphor of walking (halak) is often used in Hebrew about the way one lives one’s life. Halakah is a term commonly used to talk about the law and one’s life is to be oriented around the practices outlined in the law of God. In addition, the heart in Hebrew thought is not the seat of emotion, but the seat of will and discernment. This leader’s life and will are set upon God’s way for the community and not on the way that will enrich themselves or allow them to accrue more power. This leader in following God is walking in God’s way, learning to set their heart on the things of integrity and justice, and their character is shaped by the God they serve.
The character of the leader shapes the character of the community. One of the critical acts of leading a community is setting boundaries that protect those under the leader’s authority. Those who slander a neighbor, who are haughty and arrogant and feel they are above the law, who practice deceit and utter lies undermine the ethos the leader is attempting to cultivate. The leader seeks the way of loyalty and justice, a blameless way that models the character of God, and the presence of those who follow the path of wickedness, deceit and injustice are a danger to the life of the community.
James Mays notes that Martin Luther called this psalm, “the mirror of a monarch” and relates the story of Ernest the Pious, Duke of Saxe-Gotha who would send an unfaithful minister a copy of the 101st Psalm when that official had done anything wrong. (Mays, 1994, pp. 321-322) A leader who models their leadership on the loyalty and justice of God, who strives to study the way that is blameless and walk in integrity of heart was unusual both in biblical times and in our own time. Yet, it is path that the way of God expects for those entrusted with power in family, land, city, congregation, or the world. The things we invest in with both our resources and our actions show where our heart is located. As Jesus would state in the Sermon on the Mount, “where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”[4] The life of faith is not merely a quest for individualistic righteousness, but to shape a community of loyalty and justice that seek the way of blamelessness and walk in integrity. Both Hebrew and Christian communities have often fallen short of the vision of this psalm, but leaders can call the community together to this of life shaped by the character of the God we attempt to follow. Communities that are in the heart shaping business of studying the way that is blameless and modeling walking with integrity.
[2] Hesed is one of those rich Hebrew concepts that loses richness in translation. It is often translated as steadfast love in English. I am partial to ‘covenantal faithfulness’ as a translation of this term but it almost always points to the connection between God and God’s people. A Christian/New Testament term that is heavily related to God’s hesed is grace.
[3] See my discussion on Perfection and Blamelessness in the Bible.
Sign of the Rose 