I will be careful to lead a blameless life—when will you come to me? I will conduct the affairs of my house with a blameless heart. I will not look with approval on anything that is vile. I hate what faithless people do; I will have no part in it.
Psalm 101:2-3
Blameless
Twenty years ago, when he was 23, Michael Steward killed a woman at her home in Renfrew, Ont. The victim, a 51-year-old nurse with a husband and four grown children, was no stranger to him. June Stewart was his mother. At the time, Michael was in a severe psychotic state, operating in a false world created by delusions and hallucinations that had haunted him for years. He would be found not criminally responsible for his mother’s death, a verdict that means he is legally blameless.
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You have probably noticed that temptation never has an ugly look about it. Satan knows that in order to attract us away from the things of the Lord he has to appeal to our flesh. He gives promises of glory, riches, and pleasure in order to drive us away from the things that appeal to the soul. The first chapter of James tells us that as we are enticed and desire rises, it leads to sin and then death. How do we battle against this? King David knew something about the result of allowing sin into his life. So, he writes this in Psalm 101:2-3: “I will be careful to lead a blameless life – when will you come to me? I will conduct the affairs of my house with a blameless heart. I will not look with approval on anything that is vile. I hate what faithless people do; I will have no part in it.” David had learned, in his sin with Bathsheba, that in order to live a blameless life he had to determine not to put himself in the place where he would be tempted and enticed by sin. He longed to be blameless and so must we.
These have been words from the heart.
Bob Beasley