“Whose fault is it?” Whenever something goes wrong, we often look for someone or something to blame. Whose fault is the car accident or marriage breakdown? Why is unemployment so high? One of the most important terms the Bible uses to describe the Christian is “blameless”. Of course, this doesn’t mean that he or she never does anything wrong. It’s a way of describing a person of integrity. It means that no-one can point the finger at them and say, “They don’t deserve to be called a Christian.”

Our third volume on the psalms begins with a wonderful psalm describing a blameless life. Like many of the psalms, we can read Psalm 101 on three levels. First, it’s a psalm about its writer, in this case King David. Second, the psalm points us to the perfectly blameless King, Jesus. Finally, it’s a call to you and me—in this case, to be blameless.

The psalm has two parts. In the first, King David promises to “conduct the affairs of [his] house with a blameless heart” (Psalm 101:2). David’s house may mean his home and family or his royal court. David has just praised God for His love and justice (v. 1), but also knows that God also expects His people to be loving and just, which demonstrates their blamelessness.

Jesus says that “the eye is the lamp of the body” (Matthew 6:22). What your eye focuses on eventually enters your heart. Similarly, David is careful not to focus on the vile (Psalm 101:3). He’d agree with the apostle Paul: “Whatever is right . . . pure . . . lovely . . . excellent . . . think about such things” (Philippians 4:8). Along with that, David commits to guarding the company he keeps (Psalm 101:4). Remember how the Psalms began with the description of the righteous person as one “who does not walk in step with the wicked” (1:1).

In the second half of Psalm 101 (vv. 5–8), David promises to surround himself only with “the one whose way of life is blameless” (v. 6). This would ensure the justice and integrity of his royal court.

As we know, David couldn’t live up to his own high ideals (see 2 Samuel 11). Only David’s greater Son, the Lord Jesus, was perfectly “careful to lead a blameless life” (Psalm 101:2). Nevertheless, God wants us to be the sort of people that others can’t accuse of being deceitful, false, or wicked. When John sees the 144,000 around God’s throne on the heavenly Mount Zion he says about them: “No lie was found in their mouths; they are blameless” (Revelation 14:5). God is looking for people of truth and integrity. As we restart our journey through the book of Psalms, let’s praise God for His love and justice and commit to being one of “the faithful in the land” (Psalm 101:6).