Exalting Jesus in Psalms 101-150

Tony Merida, Daniel L. Akin, Johnny M. Hunt

• Publisher: Holman Bible Publishers
• Year: 2021
• Print ISBN: 9781535961103
• eBook ISBN: 9781535961110
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Biblical Commentary

Exalting Jesus in Psalms, Volume 2, Psalms 101-150 is part of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series. Edited by David Platt, Daniel L. Akin, and Tony Merida, this commentary series, to include 47 volumes when complete, takes a Christ-centered approach to expositing each book of the Bible. Rather than a verse-by-verse approach, the authors have crafted chapters that explain and apply key passages in their assigned Bible books.

Readers will learn to see Christ in all aspects of Scripture, and they will be encouraged by the devotional nature of each exposition presented as sermons and divided into chapters that conclude with a "Reflect & Discuss" section, making this series ideal for small group study, personal devotion, and even sermon preparation. It's not academic but rather presents an easy reading, practical, and friendly commentary. The authors of Exalting Jesus in Psalms, Volume 2, Psalms 101-150 are Daniel Akin, Johnny Hunt, and Tony Merida.

Psalms 101–150

Twelve Marks of a Wise and Trustworthy Leader

Psalm 101

Main Idea: A person of God will pursue the highest standards of holiness and godliness in himself and his co-laborers.

I. The Person of God Will Praise the Lord for His Goodness (101:1).

II. The Person of God Will Walk in the Way of Integrity (101:2).

III. The Person of God Will Continually Acknowledge His Utter Dependence on the Lord (101:2).

IV. The Person of God Will Guard His Heart as He Leads His Home (101:2).

V. The Person of God Will Keep His Eyes from Anything That Is Worthless (101:3).

VI. The Person of God Will Hate What Is Wrong and Will Not Let It Get Hold of Him (101:3).

VII. The Person of God Will Not Welcome Evil Persons into His Inner Circle (101:4).

VIII. The Person of God Will Give No Place to Slander and Gossip (101:5).

IX. The Person of God Will Seek Out the Humble, Not the Prideful (101:5).

X. The Person of God Will Look to Surround Himself with People Who Are Faithful and Have Integrity (101:6).

XI. The Person of God Will Have Nothing to Do with Liars and the Dishonest (101:7).

XII. The Person of God Will Not Grow Weary in the Battle of Good and Evil (101:8).

There is little question that honesty, ethics, and integrity are essential foundations for faithful, long-term leadership, regardless of the profession. Unsurprisingly, the Bible places a premium on integrity:

The one who lives with integrity lives securely, but whoever perverts his ways will be found out. (Prov 10:9)

The integrity of the upright guides them, but the perversity of the treacherous destroys them. (Prov 11:3)

Righteousness guards people of integrity, but wickedness undermines the sinner. (Prov 13:6)

Better the poor person who lives with integrity than the rich one who distorts right and wrong. (Prov 28:6)

Those of us called to the office of the pastor, the overseer and elder, will also know that 1 Timothy 3:2 reminds us that we must be men “above reproach.” Titus 1:6 adds that we “must be blameless.”

Psalm 101, which King David penned, speaks directly to the issue of leadership and integrity. Its eight verses highlight trustworthiness and wisdom. Warren Wiersbe says Psalm 101 is “Leadership 101” (Bible Exposition Commentary, 273). Willem VanGemeren says it addresses a “Commitment to Excellence” (Psalms, 743). The great reformer Martin Luther even wrote an eighty-page exposition of this psalm. It is a royal psalm of the king, and the qualities it accentuates find an echo in Isaiah 11:1-5. Both texts are a prophetic portrait of Messiah Jesus. Only our Savior could perfectly fulfill the awesome expectations of the leader described in this psalm. Allen Ross says,

What it adds up to is a description of the ideal King, for none of the Kings of Israel were able to live up to this. But as a royal psalm, the description also looks ahead to the ideal King who will reign with righteousness, the promised Messiah. (Psalms 90–150, 198)

The eight verses highlight twelve marks of a wise and trustworthy leader.

The Person of God Will Praise the Lord for His Goodness

Psalm 101:1

This psalm contains several “I will” statements. Verse 1 has two of them and begins the psalm on a note of praise and joyful gladness. Twice David says, “I will sing.” He sings of the Lord’s chesed, his “faithful love,” and he sings about the Lord’s “justice.” These two attributes of our God are twin pillars we should always keep together. They provide the foundation for our own leadership. Calvin says, “To sing therefore of mercy [faithful love] and of judgment [justice] is equivalent to declaring in solemn terms, that he would be a just and an upright king [leader]” (Psalms 93–150, 87).

“Faithful love” means we act mercifully and graciously in covenantal love. “Justice” means we act righteously and fairly. As we celebrate and sing of the perfection of these qualities we see in our God, we also pursue them as essential qualities in our own lives as faithful and fair leaders in covenant with our people. Spurgeon says, “He singeth best who worketh best for God” (Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, 229).

The Person of God Will Walk in the Way of Integrity

Psalm 101:2

Praise for our Lord’s faithful love and justice should find a companion in our commitment to live and act toward others in faithful love and justice. David says in verse 2, “I will pay attention to the way of integrity,” an idea emphasized three times in the psalm (v. 2 [twice], v. 6). The phrase “I will pay attention” could be rendered “I will be wise.” He gives his attention and his heart to “the way of integrity.”

A faithful and just leader will be a Psalm 1 person, a 1 Timothy 3:1-7 person. He is above reproach and blameless in his conduct. He does not listen to the advice of the wicked; rather, his delight is in the teachings of the Lord. He thinks and meditates on the Word of God.

This person lives life wisely by living with healthy transparency. He avoids the places of evil. He says no to the things that can enslave him or cause others to stumble. There is no dishonesty, duplicity, foolishness, or compromise in this person. His public life and his private life are the same. When only God is watching, he is the same person as if ten thousand were watching.

The Person of God Will Continually Acknowledge His Utter Dependence on the Lord

Psalm 101:2

Verse 2 contains a brief but powerful prayer: “When will you come to me?” It is a humble and sincere acknowledgment of our need for the Lord’s presence and power if we are to live a life of integrity and to lead well. There is an important implication here. To lead well, we must pray well. To lead well, we must know our strengths and our weaknesses. We must know we are utterly dependent on our Lord for any true success in ministry. Oswald Sanders says, “The spiritual leader should outpace the rest of the church, above all, in prayer. . . . Prayer is indeed the Christian’s vital breath and native air” (Spiritual Leadership, 99). Pastor Dee Duke adds,

Almost everyone believes that prayer is important. But there is a difference between believing that prayer is important and believing it is essential. “Essential” means there are some things that will not happen without prayer. (Quoted in Newell, Expect Great Things, 225)

The Person of God Will Guard His Heart as He Leads His Home

Psalm 101:2

In verse 2 David identifies the home as a specific area where integrity is essential for spiritual leadership. David says a leader must live with a heart of integrity in his home. Paul said much the same thing in 1 Timothy 3:4-5. Likewise, James Boice is right when he says, “The only way to lead a blameless life is to have a blameless heart” (Psalms 42–106, 820). The person of integrity will order well his private world. His life of integrity will be most evident to ...

Table of contents

• Acknowledgments
• Series Introduction
• Psalms 101–150
• Works Cited
• Scripture Index