Commit Yourself to Holiness- Psalms 99-101

 Psalms 101:8 (ESV)

Morning by morning I will destroy

all the wicked in the land,

cutting off all the evildoers

from the city of the LORD.

Psalm 101 is a unique song to God, as it is not like most psalms.  Many of our psalms are praise songs to God to exalt Him and sing praises to Him.  But, this poem is about singing our commitment to God.  The main phrase in the song is, “I will ...”.    David, the writer, is making a convent with God about what he want his life to reflect toward God.   In the above passage he moves from the high and lofty commitments to how he will serve God to what he will do to those who do not serve God.   He stated something similar in verses five and seven of the psalm:

Psalms 101:5 (ESV)

Whoever slanders his neighbor secretly

I will destroy.

Whoever has a haughty look and an arrogant heart

I will not endure.

Psalms 101:7 (ESV)

No one who practices deceit

shall dwell in my house;

no one who utters lies

shall continue before my eyes.

In verse eight we read that this wanting to purge God’s house and his life from evil doers is not a one and done thing with David.  He wants to make sure each morning he has sanctified himself from those who would desire to bring him away from his walk with God.   

Our sanctification matters to God.   He is the one who is holy and we are to keep ourselves holy before Him.  To do that we will have to separate ourselves from the “wicked of the land.”   We tend to want to rub shoulders with them.  Note what Peter says about Lot as he became cozy with the wicked men of Sodom and Gomorrah:

2 Peter 2:7-8 (ESV)

... and if he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked (for as that righteous man lived among them day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard);

David did not want to be like Lot.  He wanted to separate himself from those who would pull him away from his fellowship with God.   We don’t know if this song was written before or after David sinned with Bathsheba in adultery.  But, we do know that David had this desire in his heart.  He failed with Bathsheba, yes.  But, the desire of his heart was to commitment himself to remain free from those who would not and do not worship His Lord.