Psalm 101:1 NKJV
I will sing of mercy and justice;
To You, O Lord, I will sing praises.
“I will sing of mercy and judgment.” He would extol both the love and the severity, the sweets and the bitters, which the Lord had mingled in his experience; he would admire the justice and the goodness of the Lord. Such a song would fitly lead up to godly resolutions as to his own conduct, for that which we admire in our superiors we naturally endeavor to imitate. Mercy and judgment would temper the administration of David because he had adoringly perceived them in the dispensations of his God. Everything in God’s dealings with us may fittingly become the theme of song, and we have not viewed it aright until we feel we can sing about it. We ought as much to bless the Lord for the judgment with which he chastens our sin, as for the mercy with which he forgives it; there is as much love in the blows of his hand as in the kisses of his mouth. Upon a retrospect of their lives instructed saints scarcely know which to be most grateful for—the comforts which have, or the afflictions which have purged them.
“Unto thee, O LORD, will I sing.” Jehovah shall have all our praise. The secondary agents of either the mercy or the judgment must hold a very subordinate place in our memory, and the Lord alone must be hymned by our heart. Our soul’s sole worship must be the lauding of the Lord. The psalmist forsakes the minor key, which was soon to rule him in the one hundred and second psalm, and resolves that, come what may, he will sing, and sing to the Lord too, whatever others might do. (Spurgeon)
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I will sing of mercy and justice: David sang this song exalting the mercy and justice of God. The two go together; mercy can only be properly understood in light of justice. When justice pronounces its righteous penalty, mercy may grant relief.
i. As king, David was concerned with mercy and justice. He knew these principles were not rooted in man but in God. Before he could exercise mercy and justice in His kingdom, he had to understand and extol the mercy and justice of God. (Guzik)
ii. “His mercy encourageth the greatest of sinners to hope; his judgments forbid the best of men to presume.” (Horne)
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I will sing of mercy and judgment – That is, In the psalm which he was about to compose, he would make these the burden of his song; he would, in fact, by stating his views as to the regulation of his own conduct, commend these virtues – mercy and justice – to mankind, and celebrate their value. He who himself “adopts” the principles of mercy, kindness, truth, and justice, as his own guide, commends these virtues to mankind in the best way possible. No language can do it effectually unless a man practices these virtues himself.
Unto thee, O Lord, will I sing – As commending and approving these things; as having put it into my heart to practice them; as displaying them in thine own higher administration: for a father of a family, or a magistrate, is but the representative of God. (Barnes)
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I will sing of mercy and judgment,…. Either of mercy and justice, exercised by him towards his people, which he resolved to do, and did, 2 Samuel 8:15 which are two very principal points in government, are the glory of a reign, the support of the throne, and the happiness of a people, Proverbs 20:28, or rather of the mercy of God to himself, in delivering him from his enemies, and raising him to the throne; and of the judgment of God in maintaining his cause, and avenging him on those that hated him: every good man has reason to sing of the “mercy” of God; not only of his providential mercy, but of his special mercy, prepared in council and covenant for him, displayed in regeneration, in the pardon of sin, and in his everlasting salvation: or of “grace” and goodness, as the word signifies; of the grace and goodness of God laid up in Christ, shown forth through him, and to which the whole of salvation is owing; singing of this shows a sense of it, thankfulness for it, and a cheerful disposition of soul, in a view of interest in it: and he may also sing of “judgment”: of righteous punishment inflicted upon his enemies, and the enemies of God, and Christ, and true religion; not as taking delight in the misery of fellow creatures, but as rejoicing in the glory of divine justice displayed therein, and in a deliverance from them; as Israel did at the Red sea; and as the church will, when Babylon is destroyed: moreover, a good man may sing of mercy and judgment together, with respect to himself; there being, in the course of his life, a mixture of prosperity and adversity, of merciful and afflictive dispensations, which work together for his good; and he has reason to be thankful for the one as for the other, as Job was, Job 1:21, so the Targum, “if thou renderest mercy to me; if thou exercisest judgment on me; for all I will praise thee: (Gill)
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The chosen subject of the psalm (v. 1): I will sing of mercy and judgment, that is,
- 1. Of God’s mercy and judgment, and then it looks back upon the dispensations of Providence concerning David since he was first anointed to be king, during which time he had met with many a rebuke and much hardship on the one hand, and yet, on the other hand, had had many wonderful deliverances wrought for him and favors bestowed upon him; of these he will sing unto God. Note,
- (1.) God’s providences concerning his people are commonly mixed-mercy and judgment; God has set the one over-against the other, and appointed them April days, showers and sunshine. It was so with David and his family; when there was mercy in the return of the ark there was judgment in the death of Uzza.
- (2.) When God in his providence exercises us with a mixture of mercy and judgment it is our duty to sing, and sing unto him, both of the one and of the other; we must be suitably affected with both, and make suitable acknowledgments to God for both. The Chaldee-paraphrase of this is observable: If thou bestowest mercy upon me, or If thou bring any judgment upon me, before thee, O Lord! will I sing my hymns for all. Whatever our outward condition is, whether joyful or sorrowful, still we must give glory to God, and sing praises to him; neither the laughter of a prosperous condition nor the tears of an afflicted condition must put us out of tune for sacred songs. Or,
- 2. It may be understood of David’s mercy and judgment; he would, in this psalm, promise to be merciful, and just, or wise, for judgment is often put for discretion. To do justly and love mercy is the sum of our duty; these he would covenant to make conscience of in that place and relation to which God had called him and this in consideration of the various providences of God that had occurred to him. Family mercies and family afflictions are both of them calls to family religion. David put his vow into a song or psalm, that he might the better keep it in his own mind and frequently repeat it, and that it might the better be communicated to others and preserved in his family, for a pattern to his sons and successors. (Henry)
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I will sing of mercy and judgment — David might say, Adverse and prosperous providences have been of the utmost use to my soul; therefore, I will thank God for both. Or, as he was probably now called to the government of all the tribes, he might make a resolution that he would show חסד chesed, incessant benevolence, to the upright; and משפט mishpat, the execution of judgment, to the wicked; and would make the conduct of God the model of his own. (Clarke)
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Geneva Bible 1560
Psalms 101:1
1 I will (a) sing mercie and judgement: unto thee, ô Lord, wil I sing.
a David considers what manner of King he would be, when God should place him in the throne, promising openly, that he would be merciful and just.
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Grace be with you all. Amen.
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