Commentaries and Other Bible Study Helps - Prayer Tents - Prayer Tents

Psalm 101. This is a royal psalm, a song about the place that the Davidic monarchy has in God's plan for his people. This psalm sets out, for David and his heirs, the ideal kind of ruler that they should aim to be. The people who sing this will find their desires for their king shaped by it, and will receive guidance for their prayers for the ruling king. The psalm's "I" is the Davidic king, in whom the people are included (cf. 2 Sam. 20:1; 1 Kings 12:16), and therefore along with whom they sing. The king's task is his devotion to achieving covenant faithfulness, both in his personal life and in the social life of Israel. As God's people, Israel is called to display the true humanness which is godliness in active operation. The Davidic king should set the pattern for covenant faithfulness, and each Israelite should have the same aims in his own daily life. In the context of Book 4 (Psalms 90-106), this psalm is already understood to be looking forward to a new David (cf. Psalm 72). So even before Jesus, the psalm must have been understood to describe the Messiah's reign and his requirements. Christians sing this, rejoicing that they have in Jesus the perfect embodiment of the Davidic ideal; this can lead them to reflect on what kind of people they should aim to be, with such a king. They further can embrace its ideal of leadership in church and state, and seek to honor such leaders when they appear. This is the first psalm attributed to David since Psalm 86; the only other Davidic psalm in Book 4 is Psalm 103.

101:1-4 The King Will Aim to Be Blameless. The song opens by declaring the king's firm commitment to live out covenant faithfulness: he will ponder the way that is blameless (cf. 18:32; 119:1; Prov. 11:20; 13:6) in order to walk in that way (cf. Ps. 101:6, which echoes v. 2 here); he wants to display integrity of heart within his own house (i.e., in his private life); when it comes to whose advice and help he will seek in ruling, he will also reject those who fall away and those who have a perverse heart (i.e., those who are openly unfaithful). The policies and plans of a Davidic king should be focused on serving the people, especially in promoting the conditions in which piety can flourish; unfaithful advisers do not share these goals.