The King's Personal Purity Text: Psalm 101:3-5
Introduction: The Politics of Holiness
We live in an age that has completely divorced the personal from the public. A man can be a scoundrel in his private life, a cheat in his business, a tyrant in his home, but as long as he toes the correct political line in public, he is lauded as a hero. Conversely, a man can be upright, faithful, and honest, but if he holds to biblical convictions, he is dismissed as a bigot. Our culture has inverted the moral order. It polishes the outside of the cup while leaving the inside filthy with every kind of corruption.
Psalm 101 is a direct assault on this kind of thinking. It is a king's resolution, a ruler's manifesto. David, a man after God's own heart, understands that true justice in the public square begins with radical holiness in the private chamber. He knows that you cannot govern a nation righteously if you do not first govern your own heart, your own eyes, and your own house. This psalm is intensely personal, but it is also profoundly political. It lays out the qualifications for godly leadership, and those qualifications begin not with policy papers, but with personal purity.
David is establishing his administration. He is declaring what kind of man he will be and what kind of men he will surround himself with. And the standard is nothing less than the holiness of God. This is not a psalm for the faint of heart. It is a declaration of war against wickedness, not just "out there," but first and foremost "in here." It is a commitment to cultivate a life, a home, and a kingdom that reflects the character of the God he serves. In our democratic age, we like to think this only applies to kings of old. But in Christ, we are a royal priesthood, a holy nation. Every Christian man is a king in his own home. Every believer is called to govern their own heart. These principles, therefore, are not relics; they are marching orders.
The Text
I will set no vile thing before my eyes;
I hate the work of those who fall away;
It shall not cling to me.
A crooked heart shall depart from me;
I will know no evil.
Whoever secretly slanders his neighbor, him I will destroy;
Whoever has a haughty look and an arrogant heart, I will not endure.
(Psalm 101:3-5)
Guarding the Eye Gate (v. 3)
David begins his personal resolutions with the gateway to the soul: the eyes.
"I will set no vile thing before my eyes; I hate the work of those who fall away; It shall not cling to me." (Psalm 101:3)
The Hebrew for "vile thing" is literally a "thing of Belial," a thing of worthlessness or wickedness. David makes a conscious, deliberate choice. "I will set..." This is not a passive drift; it is an active, covenantal resolution. He is taking responsibility for what he consumes visually. In our media-saturated age, this is a word of thunder. We are drowning in things of Belial. The television, the internet, the smartphone in your pocket, they are all firehoses of filth, ready to blast away at your holiness if you let them. David understood that what you look at, you eventually become. You cannot gaze on wickedness for entertainment and expect to remain righteous. You cannot fill your mind with the world's garbage and then wonder why your heart is a landfill.
This is a direct application of the Creator/creature distinction. God defines what is vile, not us. Our culture celebrates vile things. It gives them awards. It calls them art. But the Christian must use God's dictionary. David's resolution means he will not sit down to be entertained by depictions of sin that God condemns. He will not make fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them (Eph. 5:11).
Then he moves from the "what" to the "who." "I hate the work of those who fall away." This is not a hatred of the person, but a righteous hatred of their apostate work. To "fall away" is to turn aside from the straight path of God's law. David hates compromise. He detests the work of those who know the truth and then twist it, who start well and then swerve into rebellion. He recognizes that such work is sticky. "It shall not cling to me." Sin is like spiritual tar. If you handle it, play with it, or get too close to it, it will get on you. David is determined to maintain his separation. He will not allow the leprous contamination of apostasy to attach itself to his life or his administration. This is a crucial lesson for the church today, which is so often tempted to flirt with the world, to adopt its methods, and to tolerate its sins in the name of a false, sentimental love.
Maintaining a Pure Heart (v. 4)
From the external gate of the eyes, David moves to the internal citadel of the heart.
"A crooked heart shall depart from me; I will know no evil." (Psalm 101:4)
A "crooked heart" is a perverse, twisted heart. It is a heart that is not straight with God. David is saying that he will not tolerate such a disposition in his inner circle or in himself. If he finds a man in his court with a bent character, that man is out. "Shall depart from me." There is no room for moral duplicity in the house of a godly king. This is about integrity, about being the same man in private as you are in public. The crooked heart is always calculating, always maneuvering, always serving itself under the guise of serving others. David will have none of it.
This is a standard for all Christian fellowship. We are to be a people of integrity. This doesn't mean we are sinless, but it means we are honest about our sin. The crooked heart hides sin, rebrands it, and justifies it. The straight heart confesses sin, hates it, and forsakes it.
The second phrase is even more stark: "I will know no evil." This does not mean David will be naive or ignorant. He is a king; he must know about evil in order to judge it. Rather, this is the biblical language of intimate, experiential knowledge. He will not have fellowship with evil. He will not entertain it, cultivate it, or make friends with it. He will know evil as a judge knows a criminal in the dock, but not as a friend knows a companion at his table. This is a radical commitment to holiness. It is a refusal to be contaminated. In a world that tells us to "try everything once," David's resolution is a fortress. He knows that to "know" evil in this intimate way is to be defiled by it.
Purging the Kingdom of Slander and Pride (v. 5)
Finally, David turns his attention to two sins that are particularly corrosive to any community, whether a nation or a church: slander and pride.
"Whoever secretly slanders his neighbor, him I will destroy; Whoever has a haughty look and an arrogant heart, I will not endure." (Psalm 101:5)
Slander is murder by tongue. Secret slander is the worst kind, because the victim has no opportunity to defend himself. It is the work of a coward and a destroyer. Notice David's zero-tolerance policy. He doesn't say he will counsel the slanderer or rebuke him. He says, "him I will destroy." In the context of his kingdom, this means he will cut them off from his presence and his court. He will remove them from any position of influence. Why such a severe reaction? Because slander destroys trust, which is the very fabric of society. A kingdom, a church, or a family cannot stand where tongues are used as weapons.
Gossip and slander are the respectable sins of the evangelical world. We tolerate them, we participate in them, and we disguise them as "sharing a concern." David shows us the righteous response. It is to be destroyed, cut off. When you hear slander, you must not be a passive receptacle. You must either shut it down or, if you are in a position of authority, remove the one who traffics in it.
And alongside the slanderer, David targets the proud. "Whoever has a haughty look and an arrogant heart, I will not endure." The "haughty look" is the external manifestation of the "arrogant heart." Pride is the root sin. It is the belief that we are the center of the universe, that our opinions are ultimate, and that we are owed. It is the original sin of Satan, who was not content to be a creature. God resists the proud, and so must a godly king. David says he will not "endure" them. He will not suffer them, he will not put up with them. An arrogant man cannot be trusted with power, because he will inevitably use it for his own glory, not for the good of the people or the glory of God.
The haughty man is fundamentally at odds with the gospel. The gospel requires us to humble ourselves, to confess our need for a savior, and to bow the knee to King Jesus. The arrogant heart cannot do this. It is self-sufficient, self-righteous, and self-absorbed. David's court will be a place of grace, and therefore it must be a place of humility. He will surround himself with men who know they are creatures, who fear God, and who do not trust in themselves. This is the foundation of a stable and just government, and it is the foundation of a healthy church.
Conclusion: Your Personal Manifesto
This psalm is David's personal manifesto for godly rule, beginning with the government of his own soul. But it is not just for kings. It is for every one of us who names the name of Christ. You are the ruler of your own heart and home. What is your policy on what you set before your eyes? What is your policy on the kind of company you keep? What is your policy on slander and pride in your midst?
We cannot bring about a public reformation in our land until we have first experienced a private reformation in our own lives and homes. It begins when we make the same resolutions as David. I will guard my eyes. I will hate what God hates. I will cultivate a heart of integrity. I will have no fellowship with evil. I will not tolerate slander. And I will not endure pride, beginning with my own.
This is a high calling, and it is impossible in our own strength. But we serve a greater King than David. We serve King Jesus, who perfectly fulfilled this psalm. He set no vile thing before His eyes. He had a heart of perfect integrity. He destroyed the work of the great Slanderer on the cross. And though He was the highest, He humbled Himself for our sake. It is only by His grace, through faith in His finished work, that we can even begin to desire this kind of holiness. But desire it we must. Let us therefore come to Him for grace, and resolve, in His strength, to make our lives, our homes, and our churches places where our King is honored.