Correct Thinking?

I will give heed to the blameless way.
When will You come to me?
I will walk within my house in the integrity of my heart.  Psalm 101:2  NASB

Blameless way – David’s song has a second verse.  The first verse is about hesed and mishpat.  Sing it loud and strong while you are doing what it says!  Then move on to the second verse.

“I will give heed to the blameless way.”  So what does that mean?  The verb (sakal) isn’t just about thinking.  In Hebrew thought, to ponder, consider or wisely understand means to take the action implied.  Sakal is about carefully reasoning our way through a complex arrangement in order that the correct action can be taken.  “I will carefully pay attention to the blameless way” means “I will do everything in my power to make the correct decision in light of Your standard.” 

What is the “blameless way”?  It is derek tamim – the path of the complete.  The Hebrew tamam (the root of our word tamim) is primarily about what is complete.  It is used to describe Jesse’s complete list of children, Israel’s complete sacrifices and Elihu’s complete speech.  In ethical context, it means “perfect.”  This is an important distinction from the Greek idea of blameless.  In Greek thought, blameless is often a synonym for innocent or without imperfection.  But in Hebrew thought, blameless means whole, full, nothing missing.  To be blameless is to be entire.  When David says that he will consider and implement the blameless way, he is essentially saying that he will incorporate the full and unimpeded path of the Lord.  What can that mean?  It must certainly mean that whatever God says, he will do.  To do less than what God says is to miss part of the complete way.  It is all or nothing for David.

What does this mean for us?  Three thousand years later we face the same issue.  Will we give heed to the full instructions of the Lord?  Will our ways pay attention to the complete purposes of God?  Are we doing everything He asks?  Oh, I don’t mean, “Are we doing it perfectly?”  That carries us toward a Greek idea.  What I mean is, “Are we doing everything we can?”  Or are we aware that there are just some things we have put on the shelf, ignored, pushed aside because we didn’t pay close enough attention to the path?

Notice David’s conclusion to this second verse.  “When will you come to me?”  The absence of the Lord is a direct consequence of not paying attention to the instructions.  We do all we can as best we can and God walks with us every step of the Way.  We don’t do all we can with what we know we should and God is strangely absent.  Oh, I have no doubt that He is there, but we have stepped away from His presence because we have not stepped in the way of His complete instructions.  He never left the path.  We did.

Sing the second verse and get back on track.

Topical Index:  path, blameless, tamim, pay attention, sakal, Psalm 101:2