A Psalm of David

1. I will sing of mercy and judgment; unto Thee, O Jehovah, will I sing.
2. I will behave myself wisely in a perfect way. O when wilt Thou come unto me? I will walk within my house with a perfect heart.
3. I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes: I hate the work of them that turn aside; it shall not cleave to me.
4. A forward heart shall depart from me: I will not know a wicked person.
5. Whoso privily slandereth his neighbor, him will I cut off: him that hath a high look and a proud heart will I not suffer.
6. Mine eyes 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.
7. He that worketh deceit shall not dwell within my house: he that telleth lies shall not tarry in my sight.
8. I will early (i.e. every morning) destroy all the wicked of, the land; that I may cut off all wicked doers from the city of Jehovah.

These were David’s noble resolutions before he ascended the throne. How grievously he failed we have seen. Solomon’s sentiments may be learned from his Book of Proverbs: “A king sitting on the throne of judgment scattereth away all evil with his eyes”. (ch. 20:8). “Take away the wicked from before the king, and his throne shall be established in righteousness” (ch. 25:5). When Solomon had executed judgment upon Joab and others, the Holy Spirit says, “the Kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon” (2 Kings 2:46).
But in neither David nor his son do we see perfection. When penning Psalm Jot David was carried by the spirit of inspiration far beyond himself and he was led to describe the King who is yet to come. His first action will be to “send forth His angels, and they shall gather out of His Kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity: and shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth” (Matt. 13:41-42). “The sons of Belial shall be all of them as thorns thrust away” (2 Sam. 23:6). Throughout His administration every act of insubordination to the will of God will be dealt with in righteous judgment. “Righteousness shall go before Him, and shall set His footsteps on the way (J.N.D.). Truth shall spring out of the earth, and righteousness shall look down from heaven” (Psa. 85:11-13). Nothing will in that age be seen on earth that will offend the eye of God.
Psalm 101 is rather negative in its statements. We learn from it the sort of persons the King will not tolerate; Psalms 15 and 24. are more positive, and they describe those in whom the King will find pleasure, and with whom He will surround Himself in Zion. The Kingdom of God as we know it today “is not meat and drink, but righteousness and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost” (Rom. 14:17). May these divine excellencies characterize our lives. We stand before God in righteousness divine through the work of the Lord Jesus; let righteousness be seen in all our ways before men (1 John 3:7; Titus 3:8).
If we are not called upon in this day of grace to “cut off wicked doers from the city of the Lord,” we can at least cast off from ourselves the works of darkness, and also mortify our members which are upon the earth (Rom. 13:12; Col. 3:5). Thus, and thus only, shall we be righteous ones in the eyes of both God and men.