"I will sing of mercy and judgment: unto thee, O LORD, will I sing." —Psalm 101:1
An appropriate subtitle for this Psalm might well be, "The Administrator's Psalm." It in David purposes how he will manage himself, his household and his kingdom. But all is prefaced with the objective, twice uttered in the terse text we have chosen as our "nugget" for today, "I will sing." It is a pledge made not on the basis of the emotions, but of the intellect and the will.
Certainly a thoughtful perusal of the Psalms would indicate that it is the Lord's will for His people to sing. We have noted a number of such references in our nuggets from the Psalms, and this one but reinforces the others. The knowledge of God is occasion for singing, and professed believers who have no song are somehow out of the will of God. What is of special interest here, however, is the substance of his song. "I will sing of mercy and judgment." These seem at first sight to be at opposite ends of the spiritual spectrum, but reflection suggests why the believer should have a song in all seasons.
As the beneficiaries of God's mercy, it is no wonder that we should sing. Considering that the wages of sin is death, our hearts should sing spontaneously of God's goodness and grace when we recognize that it is "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life [Titus 3:5-7]." With the Psalmist in another place we may declare, "I will sing of the mercies of the LORD for ever: with my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations [Ps. 89:1]." Were it by merit, we would have no hope; because it is by His mercy, we need have no doubt as to our eternal destiny. That's something to sing about!
However, that is not all the writer says. He affirms that he will also sing of judgment. You sing on the upbeat; will you also sing, with equal enthusiasm, on the downbeat? David declares, "I know, O LORD, that thy judgments are right, and that thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me [Psalm 119:75]." In the New Testament, we are instructed,
"My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness. Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby [Heb. 12:5-11; cf. Prov. 3:11-12]."
In God's wisdom, His "judgments" upon our lives are as much intended for our good and His glory as are the mercies we experience under His hand. When we understand this, both will inspire a song! The result will be an unbroken melody in the life of the instructed Christian, who will sing not only in the sunshine, but also in the rain.
One more note remains to be drawn from this short text, underscoring emphases we have made before. The object of the believer's song is the Lord. It is "unto Thee, O Lord," that the child of God renders his praise and sings his song. It is not singing for its own sake, or the enjoyment of a pleasant melody, singing in the abstract, but with a real consciousness of the link between the life of the believer and his Lord, Who is working "all things together for good" to those who love Him.
This is a platform of perennial praise upon which all the rest of life is to be built. We can only vow to run the ship of life aright when our hearts are right with the "captain of our salvation." And when our hearts are right, all of life will be bracketed with song!
For His glory and our good,
"Pastor" Frasier
An appropriate subtitle for this Psalm might well be, "The Administrator's Psalm." It in David purposes how he will manage himself, his household and his kingdom. But all is prefaced with the objective, twice uttered in the terse text we have chosen as our "nugget" for today, "I will sing." It is a pledge made not on the basis of the emotions, but of the intellect and the will.
Certainly a thoughtful perusal of the Psalms would indicate that it is the Lord's will for His people to sing. We have noted a number of such references in our nuggets from the Psalms, and this one but reinforces the others. The knowledge of God is occasion for singing, and professed believers who have no song are somehow out of the will of God. What is of special interest here, however, is the substance of his song. "I will sing of mercy and judgment." These seem at first sight to be at opposite ends of the spiritual spectrum, but reflection suggests why the believer should have a song in all seasons.
As the beneficiaries of God's mercy, it is no wonder that we should sing. Considering that the wages of sin is death, our hearts should sing spontaneously of God's goodness and grace when we recognize that it is "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life [Titus 3:5-7]." With the Psalmist in another place we may declare, "I will sing of the mercies of the LORD for ever: with my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations [Ps. 89:1]." Were it by merit, we would have no hope; because it is by His mercy, we need have no doubt as to our eternal destiny. That's something to sing about!
However, that is not all the writer says. He affirms that he will also sing of judgment. You sing on the upbeat; will you also sing, with equal enthusiasm, on the downbeat? David declares, "I know, O LORD, that thy judgments are right, and that thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me [Psalm 119:75]." In the New Testament, we are instructed,
"My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness. Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby [Heb. 12:5-11; cf. Prov. 3:11-12]."
In God's wisdom, His "judgments" upon our lives are as much intended for our good and His glory as are the mercies we experience under His hand. When we understand this, both will inspire a song! The result will be an unbroken melody in the life of the instructed Christian, who will sing not only in the sunshine, but also in the rain.
One more note remains to be drawn from this short text, underscoring emphases we have made before. The object of the believer's song is the Lord. It is "unto Thee, O Lord," that the child of God renders his praise and sings his song. It is not singing for its own sake, or the enjoyment of a pleasant melody, singing in the abstract, but with a real consciousness of the link between the life of the believer and his Lord, Who is working "all things together for good" to those who love Him.
This is a platform of perennial praise upon which all the rest of life is to be built. We can only vow to run the ship of life aright when our hearts are right with the "captain of our salvation." And when our hearts are right, all of life will be bracketed with song!
For His glory and our good,
"Pastor" Frasier
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