Psalm 101 – “[1]I will sing of mercy and judgment: unto thee, O LORD, 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 froward heart shall depart from me: I will not know a wicked person. [5]Whoso privily slandereth his neighbour, him will I cut off: him that hath an high look and a proud heart will not I 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 destroy all the wicked of the land; that I may cut off all wicked doers from the city of the LORD.”
A week or two ago, as I sat at the house of one of our church families, the Lord laid this thought and this text on my heart. I sat on the porch of this home, where little kids were playing and having a good time, and I was watching their fun. Some of the teens were driving them in a go-kart, the highlight of the afternoon activities. It was fun to watch kids have a great afternoon. While they were waiting in line, they kept getting more and more antsy, so when the next rider was coming back and a new rider was about to get on, they would run right out in the street without any care of what was coming…I quickly jumped up two-three times to warn the driver and the kids…be careful…watch where you are going…the little ones were not as concerned as I was.
Then, on the porch a little toddler was waddling around and there was concrete with a little ledge maybe only a foot off the ground. The toddler would be walking around and get close to the edge, and I would find myself jumping up to stop her from falling. I was accused of being grandfatherly & I was called PARANOID that day…we laughed a little about it, but the more I thought about it, the more the Lord pressed the thought on my mind. I really hate to see kids get hurt physically. I hate to see little ones fall on concrete. I have seen some nasty sports injuries, collisions, etc., and I do not like to see people get injured to the point of being gone for the whole season or for a long time – it is no different spiritually – I love when there are battles and oppositions, but I absolutely hate it when a person is critically injured for life. Some months ago I had a conversation with a dad, and he made the comment, “My daughter is messed up…” This statement has rung in my ears on several occasions.
It is time we get paranoid about the dangers of sin and this world. I call it getting PARANOID. Being paranoid about something will cause you to avoid it or stay as far away from it as possible. If we had this mindset about sin and the world, it would cause us to live much more holy and pure lives.
David considered his reign in Psalm 101. He made it very clear how he wanted his kingdom to be. With paranoia comes resolution. Let us be paranoid about this wicked world and it’s philosophies that are all around us.
Psalm 101 is a good psalm to set our resolutions for our life…he sets some things straight as far as his reign is concerned. There is a focus on “I will,” “I will not,” I shall,” and “I shall not.” With paranoia comes purpose and resolve.
Eric Ramos | Evangelist
Fairhaven Baptist Church | Chesterton, IN
https://www.fairhavenbaptist.org
