Intentional Blamelessness

How serious are you about purity? Of course, being blameless before God starts with him. Through Christ’s death you are alive unto righteousness. But here’s the deal: You now have to walk in Christ’s righteousness. That’s right, YOU! You have to walk in it. Nobody can do that for you—not even God. He will help you, but you need to get intentionally blameless!

Read: Psalm 101 // Focus: Psalm 101:2

As Jack Nicholson famously said to Tom Cruise in the movie,  A Few Good Men, “You want the truth? You can’t handle the truth!”, I would said to you, you’re not ready for it either! You’re not tough enough! Sorry, but I’m just being real! My guess is, you’re just not up to it!

I hate to admit it, but, me neither. I wish that weren’t the case—I pray, literally, that this sad admission will not be the case for long. I pray that God will transform my heart, and yours, too, so you and I can truly offer a Psalm 101 declaration to the Lord: “I will live with a blameless life.”

Walking in total purity is the subject of this psalm. And my opening admission of not being ready for it is not making excuses for you and me, it is simply stating our current reality—a reality that desperately needs to change since only those with pure hearts, clean hands, honest tongues and transformed minds will experience the fullness of God. Intentional blamelessness—that’s what this psalm is describing.

The psalmist was committed to that kind of aggressively intentional blamelessness—not just in his theology (we are all committed to it in theory) but in the reality of his everyday life. Perhaps you would disagree with my assessment of your weak commitment and failure to practice that kind of aggressive blamelessness in your everyday life. Okay, then tell me how you stack up against these different arenas where the psalmist is calling for practical purity:

In your thought life: “I will not look with approval on anything that is vile.” (Psalm 101:3). Have you banned all wickedness from entering your mind through what you watch or think about?

In your relationships: “The perverse of heart shall be far from me; I will have nothing to do with what is evil.” (Psalm 101:4) Have you deliberately distanced yourself from unabashedly sinful people?

In your conversations: “Whoever slanders their neighbor in secret, I will put to silence.” (Psalm 101:5) Do you cut off dialogue with those who fudge the truth and traffic in rumors, gossip, innuendo and negativity?

In your tolerance levels: “Whoever has haughty eyes and a proud heart, I will not tolerate.” (Psalm 101:5) Do you find unacceptable and intolerable those whose attitudes that are uppity, arrogant, and prideful?

Yeah, me neither!

Here’s the deal: Let’s ask the Lord to help us to become intentionally blameless. That is always a great way to pray—and a smart thing to do since you and I can’t pull this off just with our own resources. We need God’s help. And we can put feet to our prayers in joining King David, the writer of this psalm, by committing to daily practices that are congruent with our prayer for purity: Here is what the psalm says intentional blamelessness should look like:

Surrounding ourselves with others of likeminded purity: “My eyes will be on the faithful in the land, that they may dwell with me; the one whose walk is blameless will minister to me.” (Psalm 101:6)

Distancing ourselves from the dishonest: “No one who practices deceit will dwell in my house; no one who speaks falsely will stand in my presence.” (Psalm 101:7)

Actively challenging those who live in opposition to the values of heaven: “Every morning I will put to silence all the wicked in the land; I will cut off every evildoer from the city of the Lord.” (Psalm 101:8).

You want the truth? That’s what it will take to step forward on the path of intentional blamelessness. And I think you can handle that!