WHEN THE LORD COMES TO YOUR HOUSE (Psalm 101)

What if Jesus came to your house today? Can you imagine?

• He went home with Peter and healed his mother-in-law.
• He went home with a Pharisee to eat and told a story that revealed the Pharisee’s heart.
• He went home with Jairus and raised his little daughter.
• He went home with Zaccheus and changed the direction of his life forever.
• He went home with two disciples on the road to Emmaus and hosted a meal that they never forgot.

When Jesus comes to your house, He changes everything. When you receive Him as your Savior, He does come to live in your home. He makes your heart His home. That becomes His temple.

In a practical sense, He wants to enter the private places of your life every day. I wonder if Jesus would be at home in your house today. Would He be pleased with what He finds there?

No one is a greater Christian than in the privacy of his or her own home. In Psalm 101 we go home with David, and so does the Lord.

The preceding few psalms have taken us into God’s house — the temple. But now there is a shift.

Verses 1-3: “I will sing of mercy and judgment: unto thee, O Lord, will I sing.I will behave myself wisely in a perfect way. O when wilt thou come unto me? I will walk within my house with a perfect heart. I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes: I hate the work of them that turn aside; it shall not cleave to me.”

Notice how it moved from public places to secret places. Let me remind you that God is in every place. He is interested and concerned with what goes on in your heart and your home.

When Jesus pays a visit, He cleanses. He purges and reorders everything. He works in every place He is allowed access.

We believe that Psalm 101 was written just before David was made king. But it does not matter where you live, palace or otherwise if the presence of God is not there. It does not matter who you are or who people think you are. Let me show you the place He takes when He comes home with you.

He deserves the highest place.

He is the One who deserves our glory and our praise. He deserves our song. As the hymn writer put it, “King of my life, I crown Thee now; Thine shall the glory be.” He is to be worshipped.

The great struggle in every home is determining who gets to be in charge. There is no doubt as to who should be in charge, and that is the Lord. He deserves the best seat in the house. He is worthy of access to every area of your life.

He demands a holy place.

Verses 2-7 illustrate His house cleaning, if you will.

Verse 4: “A froward heart shall depart from me: I will not know a wicked person.” The Lord wants a holy heart.

Do you hate your sin as much as Jesus hates it? Do you despise the things that are ugly to God? He wants to cleanse those things from you.

Verse 3: “I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes: I hate the work of them that turn aside; it shall not cleave to me.” He not only wants a holy heart, but holy eyes. Have you made a conscious decision not to look at things you should not look at? If you don’t want it to cleave to you, you have to hate it enough not to look at it all the time.

He also wants holy relationships.

Verses 6-7: “Mine eyes shall be upon the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me: he that walketh in a perfect way, he shall serve me. He that worketh deceit shall not dwell within my house: he that telleth lies shall not tarry in my sight.”

It matters who you allow access to the private places of your life. Your closest friends are going to influence you. It has been said that you either are right now or soon will be who your friends are.

The Lord wants holy conversations.

Verse 5: “Whoso privily slandereth his neighbour, him will I cut off: him that hath an high look and a proud heart will not I suffer.” In other words, don’t talk the wrong way or listen to the wrong things. Slander is always rooted in pride.

The only way to keep your home right is to keep your heart right. The great motive for staying right is the desire to live in the near presence of God.

There were two occasions in the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ when He went into His house — the temple, which he called His Father’s house — and cleansed it. I wonder if you would let Him walk today through His house that is your heart. Let Him drive out everything that should not be there so He can put in everything that should be there. He demands a holy place.

Psalm 101 is a psalm of David and is a reference to David’s house. But one night at David’s house brought great grief and sorrow. It was the night he walked out onto the porch and saw Bathsheba. Eventually, his lust caused him to take her for himself and set in motion a series of catastrophic events. One unholy night in his house brought tremendous sorrow and destruction.

He desires a happy place.

Verses 7-8: “He that telleth lies shall not tarry in my sight. I will early destroy all the wicked of the land; that I may cut off all wicked doers from the city of the Lord.”

This is a reference to Jerusalem, which was supposed to be a happy place. Psalms 127 and 144 refer to it as such, filled with happy people. God will one day make it a place where people simply enjoy His presence.

But today He also wants you to live joyfully in His presence right where you are. He wants your heart and your home to be a happy place, and the only way that is possible is when He has His rightful place in your life.

Richard Baxter told a story of a revival breaking out in a community where he was ministering, and it did not start at the church. It started in individual homes as each family began to get thoroughly right with God and meet Him there. I wonder what would happen if, in the private places of our lives, we let the Lord cleanse what should not be there and drew closer to Him.

Let the Lord be thorough with you. Open the door wide and give Him access to every corner of your life. If you do, I promise the Lord will do something special.