This is the second half of the book. Our lesson today is Lesson 6, A King's Determination to Rule Righteously. Text taken from Psalms 101, 106, and then our focus on Psalm 101. Key verse. This hide not thy face from me in the day when I am in trouble. Incline thine ear to me in the day when I call. Answer me speedily. The application for our lesson is that we will seek righteousness and shun rebellion. Just a few words in introduction to this whole section of Psalms. The Psalms in this section deal or dealt with people who were in rebellion against God. But there were people that recognized their failure and turned to God for his help. Two of these Psalms were written by David, Psalm 101 that we're going to study, and then one of the others. The others were anonymous, the prior unknown. These Psalms were offered as prayers to the Almighty Christ for help in times of trouble, but we need to remember it's for our also. We need to remember our source of help in times of trouble. We know that God hears each one of our prayers, each one of our requests to him. And these prayers can help us understand So next, seeking our context of our lesson today, Psalm 101 could be called Leadership 101. Written by King David, as we said, lays out the appropriate behavior of a king. I've got this book by D.L. Moody called Notes from my Bible and Thoughts from my Library. And in it, for Psalm 101, he says, years ago, Prince of Saxgotha, and that was a place in England. It sounds like a German name because it came from a place in Germany, Saxony. place in England, even though it sounds German, and later it was renamed Windsor. You've probably heard of Windsor Castle, where the 40 or so monarchs have lived, and where the President of the Royal Family lives. But, It says, the name originally belonged to Edward VII's father, the German Prince Albert. During World War I, public feeling against Germany caused King George V to change it to Windsor in 1917. So a little bit about that name and who this prince would have been. He said, years ago, a prince of Saxo-Gotha, whenever he thought that one of his ministers or judges was not what he ought to be, used to always send him Psalm 101 to read. So we have a king, King David here, who's writing this about what he wants to be like and what he wants to be in relationship to his people, the people of his country. And also it's for future kings, he's writing this. And even up to our day, we see from D.L. Moody's comment, So, as I said, it begins with his own relationship with God and his commitment to follow the Lord and to do it with a perfect heart of righteousness, and then doing God's will. We know he was called a man after God's own heart, and this psalm describes the thoughts that were in his heart. We don't know for sure when David wrote this psalm, Seemingly, from the things he's discussing, it must have been at the beginning of his reign and prior to some of his sins and failures. At that time, when this was written early in King David's reign, Israel was divided David reigned in Hebron over the tribe of Judah, only while Eshposheth, who was the only living son of King Saul, was made king over the rest of Israel. David served in Hebron as king of Judah for seven and a half years, patiently waiting for God to fix this problem of the division of the nation Israel. And because of the situation he found him in, we see David's patience that he exhibited during these years. And it was really, really, it was patience because he could have defeated Ishvosheth very easily and brought all of Israel under his rule, but he didn't. He waited patiently for the Lord to solve the problem, to fix the situation. And in doing so, he, it resulted in a minimal loss of life than if he had went to battle against the rest of the tribes. In Psalm 37, Dave shows how waiting on the Lord instead of taking vengeance on equal doers will result in blessings from God. Psalm 34 says, wait on the Lord and keep his way, and he shall exalt thee to inherit the land. When the wicked are cut off, thou shalt see it. So David's patience in this situation resulted in blessings. Had he went on and started a battle against Ish-kosheth and these other tribes, When he was to ascend to the throne, these other tribes probably would have blamed him for this and not really accepted him as their ruler. But David showed kindness to his enemies and overcame evil with good. And as a result of that, Israel was more than willing to submit to his rule. So, what are some important qualities of leadership? If you were choosing a leader for an organization you might be a member of, whether it be church or something else, what qualities would you look for in a leader? Sacrificial. Okay, sacrificial, thinking of others, before himself, willing to go the extra mile? What are some other things that make a good leader? Open-minded. Open-minded? Okay. Willing to consider ideas or solutions that are not his own, maybe. Child of God. People want a child of God. Child of God, okay. All right, well, we'll look at Psalm 101 as we go through it. Think about qualities of leadership that we might find as we're studying. So our outline, only two points. Usually we have three. Three's a sign of completeness, but this is going to be completeness today. Personal commitments, verses one through four, and then public control, or we might call public commitments. Commitments he makes in his life, and how he's going to live his life, and then what he expects from his people, as far as commitment. All right, just a few more words by way of introduction, and then we'll get to the first verse. As we said, this was the song of David. Probably came early in his time as king of Israel. His family was growing, and these statements could be some rules he laid down for having a life pleasing to the Lord. It begins with thoughts of personal commitment to God. We know no one can decide for other people. Suggest things to other people, but you can't make them do something. They have to decide that for themselves. Kind of goes along with the old adage, you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink. You can lead a person to the Lord, to know the Lord, lead them to it, but they still have to accept Christ. And then David continues on in the second half of the lesson with how to deal with others. Some matters were not right, and he would not approve of them. So let's look first at personal commitments. Because the king's leadership was so important in Israel, King David described the ideals of a godly king, using himself as an example. You notice, just scanning the screen, or your Bible, these first four verses, you see I will, and that includes the last four verses, nine times in this whole psalm, I will, a sign of commitment. Not I want to, but I will. So this expresses his personal desire. Verse 1 says, I will sing of mercy and judgment, unto thee, O Lord, will I sing. So, the first thought there that this first verse expresses is a life of praise and worship. The word sing is used twice in this verse, and it's two different Hebrew words, and there's a reason for that. The first one has to do, the first time it's used in the first three words there, or two words, it says, I will sing. This word has the idea, or speaks of a person his thoughts about the manner of life that he wanted to live, and his thoughts on how important worship was in life. The second word where he says, will I sing, at the end of the verse, is speaking of a musical instrument. We all know David's love for music, and he loved to play the harp, He did for King Saul whenever King Saul got in a bad mood. And he was quite good at playing instruments. But it also emphasizes the value of music in the worship of the Lord. In this verse, he speaks of his commitment And these two principles would govern the way he would live. The king was not only the king in Israel, and the leader, but he was also the judge. And David is saying in this verse that he wants to, or his intentions are to seek God's wisdom in judgment. Whenever he's having to judge a matter between two people or two different things, he always wants to lead with mercy and justice, so that he might not be too harsh on someone, and in the end, so justice would prevail, that he would be fair with people. Verse 2 says, 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. So David speaks here of conducting himself in a perfect way and with a perfect heart. Perfect meaning to be complete or lacking nothing or in other words, single word is just mature, spiritually mature. David wanted his life to have real purpose and meaning. It says here he wanted to behave wisely and I think that means making good choices. And to do that required that he look at things the way God looked at things. And then, step right in the middle of this verse, seems like a change of subject, but there's a reason for it. He says, speaking to God, he says, Oh, when wilt thou come unto me? So David's recognizing and expressing his need for God's involvement in his earthly role as a king. And then secondly, at the end of this verse, he says again, I will walk with a perfect heart. I will walk with a perfect heart within my house. So, he's first going to start in his own house, in his own personal life, and then later in the last half of this psalm, he'll look at his kingdom. One thing which was required for his life to have real purpose and meaning was to make sure that his eyes didn't lead him astray and off the path of following God. Look at verse 3, the first part. It says, I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes. So David knew that the way that taking his eyes off God and on to the world, or on to something that someone else may tell him a way that he needs to go, that that could lead him into sinning himself. Job had the same desire. In Job 31.1, Job says, I have made a covenant with mine eyes. Why then should I think upon a maid? or why should I get my eyes off to where I would sin with my eyes by my look or by what that might lead to. In this first part of this verse 3, David is committing to protecting his eyes and not looking at sinful things that might lead him into sin. Also, David meant that he was setting a goal to do God's will. One important part of leadership, for any leader of any organization, whether it be David leading Israel, a pastor leading a church, or someone leading a secular organization, is to set goals and to set a vision for all the people that you're leading to achieve that goal. or to work toward it. David, in this instance, David's intent was to set the people, to cast a vision of doing what was right in God's eyes. And then verse three, the remainder of verse three and verse four says this, I hate the work of them, turn aside, it shall not cleave to me or cling to me. A froward heart shall depart from me. I will not know a wicked person. So kings in that day had advisors who helped them to make governmental decisions. He says, first, I hate the work of them that turn aside those that fall away from following God. It just goes on, it shall not plead to me, it shall not cling to me, or they shall not drag me off in the wrong direction, lead him astray. So he was determined not to listen to people like that, that tried to lead him astray. A forward heart is a perverse heart, or an evil heart. One that, one definition is, one that is turned away from what is right and what is good. So David determined not to listen to people, his advisors, who tried to lead him into evil things. So just looking at, you know, we've completed four verses. in Psalm 101, basically these first four verses. He's relying on God to lead him. The writings, when David became king, he had to write down on the wall and he had to study it every day. And by doing that, if he followed those teachings, he would be going in the right direction. Okay, good. I'll put these four verses back up so you can see them all at once. Any other leadership qualities you see in these first four verses? How do you want to behave? All right. He says, I will behave wisely. So wise wisdom, wise behavior. It's important how the leader behaves. He says, I will walk within my house with a perfect heart. So it needs to be walking right in front of his family members. If he doesn't do that, he probably will not make a good leader in the government. He says, I'll make a covenant with my eyes. He wants to make sure that he doesn't sin with his eyes. And then he talks about the people he's going to cast some people aside. He's not going to listen to some advisors. So having good companions. So it's important who we associate with, your retired kids, your grandkids. That person's not a good person for you to be hanging around with. David had the same thought. So what David, what David wanted for himself, he would require of others. So we're getting into the second half of our lesson. And again, you can't make other people do what you want them to do. They have choices that they make, and they are responsible for their choices. But you can set an example. David wouldn't put his approval on wrong behavior. So let's look at verse 5. It says, Who so frivolously slanders his neighbor, or gossip about them, him will I cut off. Secondly, him that hath a high look and a proud heart will not I suffer or will not I allow to be one of my advisors. So David wouldn't tolerate gossipers or prideful people. Look at verse seven. He that worketh deceit, shall not dwell within my house, a person that lied. He that telleth lies shall not tarry in my sight. So, deception is just a form of lying. So, he wouldn't employ a liar, nor would he tolerate a liar in his presence. So, if we read the scriptures, About these three things, about gossip and pride and lying, we find a lot of undesirable consequences. A gossip stirs up strife, Proverbs 26, 20 tells us. Secondly, pride goes before a fall or goes before destruction, Proverbs 16, 18. And thirdly, liars shall have their part in the lake of fire, Revelation 21, 6. And verse 8 says, I will early destroy all the wicked of the land, that I may cut off all wicked doers from the city of the Lord. David set his intent on ridding the nation of Israel of wickedness. As the king of Israel, it was David's responsibility to carry that out, and to carry out God's judgment on the wicked according to God's law. which included what's up to and including capital punishment. So that's all that I will not, that's all the negative side of what, of the qualities of the people David, qualities David would look for, David would look for in his advisors or the people of the kingdom. Now let's look at verse six, which is positive. Who would he look for? He says, mine eyes shall be upon the faithful land, that they may dwell with me. He that walketh in a perfect way, he shall serve me. So, There were people he didn't want in his court, or the court of his advisors. There were people that he did want in there. And verse six talks about those he did want in his service, in his set of advisors who would advise him and serve him. He wanted people, number one, who trusted God, and by the same token, they could be trusted. He wanted companions who had the same private commitments that he did. And he wanted a team who was most interested in pleasing God. We see that same idea. If we had to sum it all up, his personal commitments were really all about pleasing God. And that's the type of people he would seek in the kingdom to advise him. So, we're not a king like David was. The king had complete control of the nation. We don't have that, but we can influence people in other ways and influence them to please God. Again, we have no ability to make people do what we say or what we want them to do. But we can set forth the example by how we live, by living in a way that pleases God. And if we don't set a good example by the way we live, they're probably not going to listen to our words. So, as the saying goes, we have to walk, walk to talk, or talk won't, it'll fall on deaf ears. So the king needed to exemplify godly behavior before the people and then carry it out in his public control or commitment, public commitment. And we need to do that also. We need to set a godly example for people within our circle of friends or people we influence and pray that God will work on their hearts through our witness. So how can you use your influence to encourage people to do what pleases God? We've been talking generalities, but I think there's practical ways you can do that. Prayer. Pray for them. Okay. Always pray for them. Pray without ceasing. Beg. Beg God. Okay. Beg God? Yes. Okay. Alright, so how do we apply Psalm 101 to our everyday lives? David sets the bar pretty high here for the king of Israel, which was himself, but his intention was all the kings that followed him. David failed to live up to his own expectations later on. We know his marriage, his family, his government, and in his relationship with God. But to bring David's 40-year reign to the nation of Israel, the nation experienced some of its best years. He defeated Israel's enemies, Solomon, the next king enjoyed the fruit of that, the peace, the golden years, so to speak. And David did what he did only because the Lord was guiding him, the Lord was giving him power. So he defeated their enemies, he expanded the kingdom, the borders, he amassed a huge amount of wealth, most of which he dedicated to the building of the temple, because he wasn't allowed to build it. But of all the things we say about King David, a human king, all of them pale in comparison to the Messiah, Jesus Christ. If we look at some of these things in Psalm 101, Jesus is the only one who ever lived up to these high standards. for the king of Israel, even though some of the succeeding kings will be good, or some of them are mostly good. If you want to see all these kings of Judah and Israel, the divided kingdom, if you have a Bible handbook, there's a great summary of them in there. So you can see in Israel, the northern kingdom, most of them were bad. Only a couple were somewhat good. Judah was a little bit different, but still, none came to, none rivaled Jesus Christ. He's the epitome of God's mercy and judgment that David talks about in verse one. He's the only one that's perfect. David talked about a perfect heart and living in a perfect way in verse two. He's the only one that's sinless. Verses 5-7 talked about a high standard for righteous living, and He sets that standard. And one day He will come again as the King of kings and the Lord of lords. And as it says in verse 8, He will destroy all the wicked of the land. He will cut off all the wicked doers from the city of the Lord. So we've talked about this psalm and what leadership qualities we get out of it a couple of times here, but if you had to pick one lesson from Psalm 101 as what you consider the most important, what would it be? One thing? One single thing? Jump out at you and think about all that we've talked about. Verse one. Verse one. Real loud. Verse one. The first verse. Oh, okay. Praise. Where do we start? Praise and worship. Okay, any others? Think about that as you take this lesson with you and as you lead your family, your extended family, or the church, any leadership position in the church, leadership with individuals in mentoring them or encouraging them. As you're in these different positions, think about what we've talked about in Psalm 101 and how you might apply these principles that David applied. All right, let's pray. Father, thank you for this lesson. Thank you for David and the blessings all his psalms are to us and the things that he learned. He wasn't perfect, but we're not perfect. But we're thankful that we have a perfect Savior. We're thankful that you sent him to die for our sins. help us to reach others, to continue to make contacts, and help us to, as we go forward, to look to you for guidance and for wisdom. I pray you bless it after service, bless the Gospel message as it goes out. I pray that you'll use it in our lives as we're all closer to you to build us up so that we might win others and help to build up others. I pray these things in Christ's name. Amen.