Psalm 101:3 reads, “I will not set before my eyes anything that is worthless. I hate what faithless people do; I will have no part in it.”
If some interest I have or something I pursue doesn’t in some way have a hand in making me more responsive to the voice of Jesus, what’s it ultimately worth? Zero.
Wednesday, June 15, 2022
Yesterday I quoted Psalm 101:3 — “I will not set before my eyes anything that is worthless. I hate what faithless people do; I will have no part in it.”
I’d like to follow up on that verse. What does the psalmist mean by “…anything that is worthless…” and “…what faithless people do…”?
Allow me to suggest the following:
That is, I will not set before my eyes anything that does not make me more responsive to the voice of Jesus or that does not help me work with him in extending more of his love to others.
We have to ask, to what is he referring? Godless people can do a lot of good things that benefit others. Think of scientific researchers who even though they may be atheists make great discoveries, say, in medicine that help millions of people. So I think we need to realize that the psalmist is referring to specific activities that have no lasting value for us personally. So we could paraphrase his words like this: I choose to be completely indifferent to anything faithless or godless people do that contributes nothing to my walk with Jesus. I will have no part of it.
You see, the more we value our friendship with Jesus, the more we will avoid anything that adds nothing to that friendship. We will see it for what it is, not necessarily something evil, but just a waste of our time.
