“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.

 No one who practices deceit
   will dwell in my house;
no one who speaks falsely
   will stand in my presence.”

(Psalm 101:6-7)

This passage is next in our discussion of Psalm 101, and it illustrates the point made yesterday: Those who follow God will choose to associate themselves with people and things that are positive, wholesome and good.  They will choose to disassociate themselves from things that are untrue, negative and evil.  This is the sense in which we should not tolerate evil; associate with and be influenced by things that are good.

Of course this also means that our behavior should be positive, wholesome and blameless.  That tells us that we are not to run around screaming and yelling at those who we see as following the wrong path; we simply don’t let them influence us as we model a better way in the hope that they might be persuaded by our lifestyle. If they seek our advice we give it to them in a loving manner.  If they don’t then we look for our opportunity.

Our goal is to follow the Lord and concentrate on our relationship with Him, and that simple testimony is more powerful than any clever words we can come up with; it is faith in action and love embodied. In the final analysis, this passage is dealing with this question: Who and what will you allow to influence your life? Keep this question in mind as you go through your day, and we’ll see you tomorrow to wrap up this Psalm.