Title: Served by the Perfected (Psalm 101:6)
Contents
“My eyes will look upon the faithful of the earth, and they will dwell with me; and he who walks in the path of perfection will minister to me” (Psalm 101:6).
1. Text commentary
Psalm 101 is a psalm of David. The psalm is filled with supplications longing for the presence of the Lord in order to draw closer to God more fully. In the psalms, the words of God are often inserted in the middle of the confessions of the poet. This is partly what he realized while praying, and partly because God heard his voice to him in prayer. In Psalm 101, God's voice is inserted in one or two verses after verse 6, and the text is the same. From this text, we realize that there is a close relationship between being perfect before God and serving God.
2. Perfection and Loyalty
① Loyal life
To serve as a servant means to live by serving God, and this is condensed into the virtue of loyalty. The Bible requires that the life of the saints be revealed as a life of faithfulness before God. Not only through Moses, Paul, and Jesus, but also through the example of the servant in charge of the talent, we can see that loyalty is the virtue required of those who serve the Lord and do the Lord's work (Numbers 12:7; 1 Corinthians 4:2; Revelation 3:14, Matthew 25:21,23).
Loyalty is an outward life. Loyalty never simply means staying in your thoughts, but it means that serving God is the most important thing and reshaping your life because of it.
② A life that is not separated from personality
Since the life of loyalty coexists with the inner personality, it cannot be divided with the good person who loves the Lord. Therefore, all those who want to live a faithful life should strive to become a perfect person before the Lord. It is because you can live a faithful life only when you have the desire to live according to God's will without loving your own lust or the world.
To live consistently and faithfully for the mission the Lord has given him is possible only when his heart is prepared and pure toward God, his thoughts are upright, and his soul is enlightened by the light of the Word. Therefore, loyalty is never a life that can be lived impulsively for a moment. In this way, being perfect with God and living faithfully for the Lord are in no way divided.
3. Podium and Complete
① Seeking tests and training
David confesses in another psalm, “Examine me, O LORD, and test me; try my mind and my heart” (Psalm 26:2). Those who have experienced what trials and refinements are, cannot dare to pray like this. It is because the pain when one's hypocrisy and lies are peeled off through fiery trials is indescribable. However, David, who had experienced the pain of such trials and trials since childhood, asked for a test before God.
② Use the podium as a tool to become whole
The reason he sought such tests and disciplines was because he knew that he would become a perfect man before God. He knew that the trials and trials he was going through were not God's retaliation for his sins, and he realized the heart of God who wants to make him perfect through the trials. So he could ask God for fiery trials and refinements. In this way, the purpose of God putting the person He loves in the midst of intense trials is to make him perfect.
4. Application and Conclusion: Being Close to the Perfect and Being Served
God refines the person he loves because he wants to be served through him. Those who are tempted but do not seek God may simply suffer, but do not receive the refinement of God. However, a person of God, a person who has the heart of God, realizes what it is to be weak in the sight of God as it is formed through God's refinement.
We are not clean enough to be perfect without refinement. Corruption still lingers within us, and our hearts are often defiled with so many lusts and love of the world. So, through refinement, God cleanses us from filth, makes us good, makes us good, makes us lazy, and makes us wise, so that our goals in life are focused on God alone.
The podium prevents us from pouring out all of our hearts into the world and washes our dirty minds so that we can deeply realize how insignificant we are. That is why God wants to refine us every day. Because of your love for us... … .