Rulers Should Be Pure

Charles Heck

Jun 6

"I will not set before my eyes anything that is worthless. I hate the work of those who fall away; it shall not cling to me." (Psalm 101:3)

Psalm 101 is a psalm by a king (David) for other kings. It contains a commitment to morality and the necessary ethical administration for one's palace (or home) and his kingdom. Having a royal theme, Psalm 101 would have fit well with the theocratic psalms (Ps 93–100. It is a kingly psalm.

Martin Luther's exposition of Psalm 101 is 80 pages long. He spent much time meditating on this psalm because he was concerned with the civil government in his day and wanted this psalm to teach every ruler what they ought to be. He called this psalm a mirror for magistrates. Psalm 101 is a representation for rulers to model.

As Luther wrote, "It instructs and comforts the people who occupy these positions and must occupy them; it bids them not to run away and forsake everything. It has a particular lesson for those high ranks in which one must maintain a court and court personnel. Therefore David, who was a king and had to keep servants at his court, cites himself as an example of the way a pious king or prince should treat his personnel."[1]

You could tuck this psalm away for something to pray next time you city, state or country is voting for new governing officials.

Think about just one character quality that David says our leaders should possess: a love for purity. Like Job, he has made a covenant with his eyes (Job 31:1). He says "I will set nothing wicked" there. Note that this is exactly where David failed later in life with Bathsheba (II Sam 11:2).

So this principle is packed with hard lessons learned from David failing to be pure. The consequences of David's sin with Bathsheba were as follows:

Purposely intoxicating Uriah – Bathsheba's husband – in order to entice him to sleep with his wife to cover her pregnancy with David
Lying to Joab about the reason for sending Uriah to the front lines of battle
Murdering Bathsheba's husband to cover his own sin
Deceiving Bathsheba about his responsibility for sending Uriah to his death
The sword not departing from his family – bloodshed everywhere that even forbid him from being able to build the Temple
Sons continually trying to take the throne from him
The death of Bathsheba's son she conceived with David

And those are just the sins we know about! David knew the hard lesson of not having this commitment of setting nothing wicked before one's eyes. Rulers must be pure.

Not too long ago, the former Republican Governor of Mississippi Haley Barbour was quoted on the TV show Face the Nation as saying "At the end of the day, you have got to unite. Purity in politics is a loser; unity in politics is a winner."[2] He is wrong! Even though he was trying to encourage people to vote for anyone over President Obama, the way to go about saying it not to throw our your principles or convictions as you do so.

Purity is not something you cast away for the sake of winning an election. Pure, blameless rulers do what God says, live the way God says to live and if they win or lose elections or an office is immaterial. That is not the issue. The issue is being the man God wants you to be. That is what Psalm 101 helps us with – knowing the kind of character our rulers need to possess.

Did you notice that object of the psalmist's hatred? He hates the deeds of those who are not faithful. He hates those who don't honor their agreements, who lie, who deceive, etc. He says, "This will not get a hold of me. I will not allow that accusation to stick." He will not imitate their policies; he will wash it off like dirt.

I don't understand people who say things like, "I look beyond his affairs and his immorality because he is such a good leader." Those statements contradict each other. A man's (or woman's) character is that man (or woman).

As Luther warns in his commentary, "People like to hang such fixtures on the great leaders under the pretense that they are useful gems in the kingdom. And they succeed, to, unless God gives the leaders a spirit like David's so that they follow his example in constantly knowing how to avoid these false servants of God. Up to this point, then, he has praised God, because he kept himself pure and remained true to the right service and Word of God, and because he also kept his court and personnel that way and always hated and constantly avoided false servants."[3]

Be pure. Inspire purity. Preach purity. Encourage purity. Vote for purity.

[1] Luther, pg. 147.

[2] http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/268854/barbour-purity-politics-loser-robert-costa#.

[3] Luther, pg. 184.