David’s Psalm 101 is only eight verses long. It sounds very much to me like a collection of resolutions that David intends to live in the future. We might think of them as New Year Resolutions. “I will” introduces these resolutions. First of all, in verse 1, he resolves to “sing of God’s steadfast love and justice.” In verse 2, pledges to “ponder the way that is blameless.” In verse 3 he expresses his determination to “walk with integrity of heart.” In verse three, David tells us what he will not do. He says, “I will not set before my eyes anything that is worthless.” Then, in verse 4, he says, “A perverse heart shall be far from me.” Then, in verse five, he pledges to take the side of innocent victims when he says, “Whoever slanders his neighbor secretly I will destroy.” He adds, “Whoever has a haughty look and an arrogant heart I will not endure.” On the other hand, verse six contains the resolution to “Look with favor on the faithful in the land.” He promises to have only righteous advisors. He says only “he who walks in the way that is blameless shall minister to me.” He will rid his cabinet of liars in verse seven, “No one who utters lies shall continue before my eyes.” In verse eight, he makes a solemn resolution as the King of God’s people. He says, “Morning by morning, I will destroy all the wicked in the land, cutting off all the evildoers from the city of the Lord.”
David is not the only one in the Bible to make resolutions. We see that Daniel, a slave in Babylon under Nebuchadnezzar, resolved “not to defile himself with the King’s food.” Joshua had resolved that he and his whole household would serve the Lord in contrast to those who bellied up to the gods of the Canaanites. One of my favorite Old Testament resolutions is found in the words of Ezra. In Chapter Seven and verse 10, he says that he has set his heart (resolved) to study the Law of the Lord, to practice it in his own life, and to teach it to all Israel. If we look at the New Testament, we see that the writer of 13 of the books of the New Testament made a resolution to know nothing but “Christ Crucified.”
The idea of a resolution seems to be that we will focus our lives on something that matters most to us. In the culture we face, I’d argue with Brian Chapell, that Paul’s resolution should be ours. He says, “While the warring factions may not agree with each other’s values, all concur we are living through a cultural war on every front: arts, politics, law, business, medicine, education, and touching every area of our lives: family, gender, sexuality, race, ethics, personal responsibility, the sanctity of life. To guard against the temptation to pursue change through human power, we need to ask, in light of Scripture, What will really make a difference in the cause of Christ? Biblical answers become clear only as we clarify the nature of our mission, promoting the glory of God in the person of his Son, by the Spirit and Christ’s mandate – making known nothing but Christ crucified.”[1]
[1] Chapell, Bryan. “Prelude to Revival: A Christian Response to Culture Wars.” Reformation and Revival Journal 1994, Vol. 3 (3), pp: 35–59. ISSN: 1071–7277[1]