Would you turn to Psalm 101? Most believe that David wrote
this particular psalm when he was anointed king. He was anointed
three different times. You'll remember in 1 Samuel 16
when he was anointed by Samuel as a 16-year-old boy, and then
when he was anointed over Judah and then over all of Israel.
And so think of that in light of reading this passage of scripture. A Psalm of David. I will sing of mercy and judgment. Unto thee, O Lord, will I sing. I will behave myself wisely in
a perfect way. Oh, when wilt thou come unto
me? I will walk within my house with a perfect heart. I will
set no wicked thing before mine eyes. I hate the work of them
that turn aside, yet you're not cleaved to me. A froward heart
shall depart from me. I will not know a wicked person. Whoso privily slandereth his
neighbor, him will I cut off. Him that hath an high look and
a proud heart will not I suffer. Mine eye shall be upon the faithful
of the land. that they may dwell with me.
He that walketh in a perfect way, he shall serve me. He that worketh deceit shall
not dwell within my house. He that telleth lies shall not
tarry in my sight. I will destroy all the wicked
of the land, that I may cut off the wicked doers from the city
of the Lord. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you for our
Lord Jesus Christ. How we thank you that he is King
of kings and Lord of lords. How we thank you for his beautiful,
perfect character. How we thank you for his righteousness
that makes us perfect in your sight. How we thank you for his
precious blood. And Lord, we ask in Christ's
name that your gospel would be preached in the power of your
spirit even this day. Speak to each heart here according
to your will. Meet with us for Christ's sake. Be with all your people wherever
they meet together. And Lord, forgive us of our sins. Deliver us from seeing ourselves
in a way that's contrary to your gospel. Bless us for Christ's
sake. In his name we pray. Amen. A Psalm of David. And like I
said, most people believe that this was David writing when he
was getting ready to become the king. He looked at Saul's corrupt
reign that lasted for 40 years and the way Israel suffered under
his reign. And he says, that's not going
to be my reign. I won't be that way at all. He
says, I will sing of mercy and judgment. Isn't that the foundation of
a good government? Think about that. Mercy and judgment. Mercy and justice. That's the
foundation of what every believer wants to practice. Mercy and
justice. And that's what David says he
wants to be his kingdom. Mercy and judgment. Unto thee, O Lord, will I sing.
Now, I think that he is comparing himself to his predecessor, Saul,
when he says, I will behave myself wisely in a perfect way. And the word perfect is in a
way of integrity. That's the way most other translations
give this word. I'm going to be a man of integrity
in my office as king. Oh, when will thou come unto
me? I need you. to enable me to do this, I'll
walk within my house with a perfect heart, a heart of integrity. He says in verse three, I'll
set no wicked thing before mine eyes, a thing of Belial. I'll
set no wicked thing before mine eyes. I hate the work of them
that turn aside. It shall not cleave to me. A
froward heart, a perverse heart, shall depart from me. I won't
have anything to do with him in my kingdom. I will not know
a wicked person. I will not esteem a wicked person. And he describes that wicked
person in verse five, who so privily slandereth his neighbor. David says, him will I cut off.
Him that hath an high look and a proud heart will not I suffer. I'm not gonna let them in my
kingdom. Mine eye shall be upon the faithful of the land. This
is who David says he will look in favor toward. Mine eye shall
be upon the faithful of the land and that they may dwell with
me. He that walketh in a perfect
way, he shall serve me. He that worketh deceit shall
not dwell in my house. He that telleth lies shall not
tarry in my sight. Isn't that powerful? And he's
talking about the government. I will destroy all the wicked
of the land that I may cut off the wicked doers from the city
of the Lord." Now, this is David's aspiration as king. I also want us to remember that
these are the words primarily of the Lord Jesus Christ, and
they can't really be understood apart from that. Now, when David
was writing these Psalms, Does he know that he's prophesying
of Christ? Yes, he does. Let me show you
that in the scripture, Acts chapter two. Matter of fact, I wouldn't doubt
it if David knew at this time he was writing concerning the
Lord Jesus Christ. Acts chapter two, verse 25. Now, Peter is quoting David in
this great a sermon on the day of Pentecost, and he says, for
David, the man that wrote this psalm we're looking at, David
speaketh concerning him, the Lord Jesus. I foresaw the Lord
always before my face, for he is on my right hand that I should
not be moved. Therefore did my heart rejoice
and my tongue was glad. Moreover, also my flesh shall
rest in hope, because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither
wilt thou suffer thine holy one to see corruption. Now, this
is from Psalm 16. David is speaking. Thou hast
made me to know the ways of life. Thou shalt make me full of joy
with thy countenance. Now, men and brethren, let me
freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he's both
dead and buried and a sepulcher is with us unto this day, therefore
being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath
to him that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh,
he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne. He, seeing this
before, spake of the resurrection of Christ." Now, do you hear
that? When he was writing this, he
knew he was not speaking of himself. He was speaking of the resurrection
of Christ. And I believe that he knew he
was speaking of Christ in this psalm we just read. Now let's
turn back to it. Verse one. I will sing of mercy
and judgment. This is the Lord speaking. And
it's only through the gospel that we have these two words
blended together. Mercy and judgment. Mercy and absolute justice. Now what mercy the Lord demonstrates
in saving somebody like me? What mercy? And yet he does so
in absolute justice where his justice demands my salvation. You can only see this in the
gospel. how God can be just and justify the ungodly, and it's
so beautiful. Mercy, mercy to the chief of
sinners, mercy to somebody who is, deserves to be in hell, and
yet absolute justice. That is the song of the gospel,
mercy and judgment. Just like that is the foundation
of a good government, more so it's the foundation of the gospel.
mercy and judgment. The only way I can be saved is
if God shows me pure, sheer, free mercy. It's not in any way
a response to any goodness or merit or anything I've done.
It's the mercy of God. And it's absolute justice. The justice of God demands the
salvation of everybody that Jesus Christ died for. Isn't that beautiful?
Mercy and judgment. And don't you want this to be
the way of your life? Mercy. A merciful person like
the Lord. He makes his son to shine on
the evil and the good. He makes his reign to fall on
the just and the unjust. Be merciful as your father which
is in heaven is merciful. Judgment, the absolute justice
of the gospel. That's so beautiful. Oh, I love
to think of our Lord singing this song. I will sing of mercy
and judgment unto thee, oh Lord, while I sing. Verse two, I will
behave myself wisely in a perfect way. Now, Who's the only one to ever do
that? I can show so many places in
David's life where he did not behave himself wisely. He did
not walk in a perfect way. He was like you and I, a sinner.
This can only be spoken of one person, the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, how he behaved himself wisely
in a perfect way. He never sinned, not in thought,
not in word, not in motive, not in deed. He's the one who behaved
himself wisely in a perfect way. And he says, and I think that
this is a reference to when he's here on earth in his incarnate
or in his carnate state as a man. Oh, when will thou come unto
me? He was, continually desiring his father. He says, I'll walk
within my house with a perfect heart, a heart of absolute perfect
integrity. And this is the word of the Lord
Jesus Christ. He says in verse three, I will set no wicked thing, worthless
thing, thing of Belial. I guess I'm pronouncing that
right. I never have really known how to pronounce that. You know,
the sons of Belial or Belial, I don't know which one it is,
but I know this, it means worthless and perverse. And he says, I
will set no wicked thing before mine eyes. Now, once again, who's
the only one this describes? Have you ever said a wicked thing
before your eyes? and esteemed it? Of course you have. Somebody
says, I've not done that. You're lying. Yeah, you have. There's only one who has not
done this. The Lord Jesus Christ. I will set no wicked thing before
mine eyes. I hate the work of them that
turn aside. It shall not cleave to me." Now
turning aside from the gospel, that's what he's talking about.
He says, I hate apostasy. Don't think the Lord treats that
with indifference when he sees someone turning aside from the
way. He says, I hate the work. I hate the work of them that
turn aside. It shall not cleave to me. It should not be close
to me. He says in verse four, a froward heart, that's a perverse,
sinful, rebellious, a froward heart shall depart from me. I
will not know, I will not esteem a wicked person. Now, here's what the Lord does. This is what we are by nature,
but there are some he saves. And you know what he gives them?
A new heart. Not the wicked heart we read
of here, a new heart, a clean heart. It's the pure heart that
the Lord spoke of in the Beatitudes. Blessed are the pure in heart. Now, if you have a pure heart,
you know it's the heart God gave you because you know your heart
is impure. And you know the only pure heart there is is the one
that he gives. It's what David cried for when
he said, creating me a clean heart, oh God. Every believer
is given this heart that it's not going to depart from him.
He said, I will not know a wicked person, but every believer is
not a wicked person. They have the very righteousness
of Jesus Christ. Perfect in Christ Jesus. And
that when the Lord looks at me that way, that's because that's
how I am in Christ. Perfect without seeing, he says,
I'm not going to know a wicked person. I'm only going to know
that person that is of a clean, pure heart, not a froward heart.
Verse five, now he describes this wicked person, and I think
this says so much. Verse five, when he describes
this froward heart and wicked person, look what he says of
him. Whoso privily slandereth his
neighbor, him will I cut off. Now when we slander someone,
When we slander someone, here's what we're doing. We're trying
to make our own light brighter at the expense of their darkness.
I'm trying to present them in a dark light in order to promote
myself, to make myself look better. Just that slanderous, critical
spirit he uses as the example of what a wicked person is. Oh
Lord, deliver me from slandering anybody. done
it, so have you. It's wicked. That's all you can
call it. Wicked. Who so privilegedly slanders
his brother, seeks his neighbor, seeks to make them look bad?
Him will I cut off. And here's the second And these
two things always go together, this privilege slandering the
neighbor, him that hath an high look and a proud heart, will
not I suffer. I'm not going to allow this person
a high look and a proud heart. Self-righteousness, the greatest
sin. Self-righteousness. Any righteousness that you think
comes from yourself. That is the greatest sin. And it's such a groundless sin.
It's such an ugly sin to be proud, to have a high look, to look
down your nose at somebody, to think you're better, to make
some kind of fleshly distinction. Christ won't suffer that. That's
what he says. He that hath a high look and
a proud heart will not I suffer, but here's who he looks to. Mine
eyes should be upon the faithful of the land, the believing, the
person who believes the gospel. You show me a man or a woman
or a boy or a girl that sees Christ as all they have. They've
got nothing else. They look to Christ only to bring
them into God's presence and make them acceptable. They look
to his righteousness as their only personal righteousness.
They look to his shed blood as the only way God could accept
them. For God to accept me, he had
to do something for himself first, then slaying his son and putting
away my sins for him to accept me. And you believe that you
rely on Jesus Christ only. That's the faithful of the land.
And what does Christ say? He says, mine eyes shall be upon
the faithful of the land that they may dwell with me. And that's talking about eternally,
here and forever. The faithful of the land, Christ
says, those are the ones that shall dwell with me. And isn't that heaven? Father, I will, that they whom
thou hast given me be with me where I am, that they may behold
my glory. That's heaven to every believer. And the faithful of the land,
those who believe the gospel, they are going to be the ones
he looks to. I love this next statement. He that walketh in a perfect
way, he shall serve me. Do you know if I, one of the
faithful of the land, if I believe the gospel before God, I'll walk
in a perfect way. Perfect. Somebody says, do you
believe in sinless perfection? Absolutely. In Christ, I'm sinlessly
perfect. And I walk in a perfect way,
the way of the cross. The Lord said in John chapter
14, verse six, listen to this verse. I am the way. Is he the perfect way? I am the
way. He's the way to the father. He's
the perfect way. I am the truth. He's the truth
is how God can accept me. I'm working in the perfect way.
I'm walking in the perfect way. He said, I am the life. His life,
his merit, his law keeping. That is my personal life before
God. That's the perfect way. That's
the only way. I am the way, the truth, the
life. No man comes to the father. but by me. Now, what is it to
walk in the perfect way? It's to trust Jesus Christ only
as all I have, all I need, and all I want. Do you walk in the
perfect way? He that walketh in a perfect
way, he shall serve me. Now in verse seven, He says,
he that worketh deceit shall not dwell within my house. He
that telleth lies shall not tarry in my sight. Now this describes
our own human religion. You know, religion is an evil
thing. I want you to hear that. Religion,
human religion, works religion is an evil thing. It's the telling of lies on God. It's the working and practicing
of deceit. Now, if you have any awareness
of your own self, you know that there's deceitfulness in you.
I mean, every time I breathe, there's some element of deceit
and lying and trying to present myself in some way that I'm really
not to impress you. We're always dealing with that
in the flesh because of our sinful natures, and we're going to have
to deal with that until we die, as far as my sinful nature. I
can't wait to get rid of it, but this is God's description. This is Christ's description
of human religion, telling lies on God, not giving the true character
of God, practicing deceit. He that worketh deceit shall
not dwell within my house. You're not going to be in his
eternal house. He that telleth lies. shall not tarry in my sight."
He says, I will destroy all the wicked of the land. That's what
he's going to do. That I may cut off all wicked
doers from the city of the Lord. Now here, once again, I think
David is is talking about his kingdom and the way he's going
to operate. But more importantly, this is
the Lord Jesus Christ speaking of what he's going to do and
who's not going to be in his city, the city of the Lord. Now, in closing, I want us to
look at some verses about this city that no wicked doer is going
to be in. Turn with me to Revelation 21. This is the city that he's speaking
of. And I saw a new heaven and a
new earth. For the first heaven and the
first earth were passed away. And there was no more sea. Everything
you and I see right now is going to be destroyed. He passed away. It's gonna be gone. And when
he speaks of the sea, John was writing from the Isle of Patmos,
and all he could see on this isle was sea around him, separation. Separation. But do you know in
heaven, there will be no sea. Somebody says, is there not gonna
be an ocean on the new earth? I don't know that that's what that's
talking about. It's talking about there's no separation. No separation
from God. Perfect, complete acceptance. Verse 2, And I, John, saw the
holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven Prepared
as a bride adorned for her husband. Now this city of God is the church. It's every believer. And I love
the way the image as it comes down from heaven. That's my origin. In Christ. Eternally in Christ. I'm coming down from heaven.
I don't trace my origin here. I'm coming down from heaven.
This is every believer. Remember the way the Lord said, they are
not of the world, even as I am not of the world. And I, John,
saw the holy city, holy city, new Jerusalem coming down from
God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out
of heaven saying, behold, the tabernacle of God is with men
and he will dwell with them and they shall be his people and
God himself shall be with them and be their God and God shall
wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there shall be no more
death, neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be any more
pain, for the former things are passed away." The dead, gone,
no more. And he that sat upon the throne
said, Behold, I make all things new. There's so much that can be said
about that, but what I like to think about most is that I have
a new history. And if you look at every page
of my life, if you look within the deep recesses of my heart,
you'll see nothing but that which is pleasing to God. A new history. I remember hearing
somebody say once, you can't change history. Well, we can't,
but God can. God can. He can do this. And he did this. And Christ says,
I make all things new. And he said unto me, write. I love it when God says that. Write this down. This is a part
of the eternal word of God that everybody needs to hear. Write
it down. Oh, I'm so thankful for the written
word of God, aren't you? Right, for these words are true
and faithful. And he said unto me, it's done. That's what Christ said when
he said it's finished. All this is done. It's accomplished. It's
done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning
and the end. I will give unto him that's a
thirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. What a city. Look in verse 22
of the same chapter. And I saw no temple therein.
You know, I think it is amazing the way people talk about the
temple being rebuilt in the end days. No, it's not. Christ is
the temple. Why would you want a physical
temple in the first place with Christ as the temple? And I saw no temple therein,
for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. And the city had no need of the
sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it. For the glory of
God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. And the
nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it,
and the kings of the earth to bring their glory and honor into
it. And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day, for
there shall be no night there. and they shall bring the glory
and honor of the nations into it, and there shall in no wise
enter into it anything that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh an
abomination or maketh a lie, but they which are written in
the Lamb's book of life. Now let me tell you who's gonna
be in that city, the elect. Those whose names are written
in the Lamb's Book of Life. And what a beautiful king we
have over this city in his reign of mercy and judgment.