Verse: Psalm 101:1-2
1 I will sing of your love and justice;
to you, Lord, I will sing praise.
2 I will be careful to lead a blameless life—
when will you come to me?
Thoughts
I love how this Psalm starts. I think that sometimes we, as people, tend to either resonate with one or the other aspects of God. We might more naturally sing of his love – we celebrate how he is full of grace and love and forgiveness. Or we might sing of his justice – we celebrate truth, and the fact that he will hold people accountable for their actions.
But much like Jesus, whom John said was “full of grace and truth”, we are called to embrace both God’s love and His justice. His love and his justice aren’t opposites, they actually work hand in hand. Because he is loving, he is just. If he wasn’t loving, he wouldn’t be just. A loving parent is a just parent. Anyone who saw a parent favoring another child, or letting their child run around without any boundaries, would rightly question their love.
Similarly, because he is just, he is loving. His justice, his perfection, he complete absence of all evil, selfishness, and wrongdoing necessitates the most profound, authentic, and selfless love the world has ever known. Indeed, he “is love” (1 John 4:16) and from him flows love to all people (John 3:16).
As the Psalmist contemplates God’s love and justice, it leads him (naturally) to looking introspectively. “In light of God’s perfect love and justice, how then shall I live my life?” And his answer is “I will be careful to lead a blameless life.”
He goes on to say:
I will conduct the affairs of my house
with a blameless heart.
3 I will not look with approval
on anything that is vile.
I hate what faithless people do;
I will have no part in it.
4 The perverse of heart shall be far from me;
I will have nothing to do with what is evil.
As we meditate on this Psalm today, how do God’s love for you, and his justice in your life, inspire you to live? In light of his love and justice, can we say with the Psalmist “I will walk with a blameless heart and I will steer clear of evil?” How zealously do we guard our hearts, minds, and actions?
Prayer
God I pray that you would give me eyes to see the good you are calling me toward, and the evil you are calling me to avoid.
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