Careful To Live A Blameless Life By Faith

Psalm 101 shows us how to live by faith, and as a Christian family therapist, I know why it matters so much to your whole family.

I want to know how to live by faith.

Each summer, I like to take a few weeks to dive into the Psalms.

These beautiful songs might be ancient poetry and speak of a culture that is far behind us, but they still bring wisdom and perspective to modern Christian family life.

Do you want happy family relationships? Healthy communication? A holy life? The psalms give great wisdom for all of this.

Today, we’re going to dive into Psalm 101.

This is a psalm of David, and it is a beautiful song to the Lord.

He sings of God’s love and justice. He is singing praise to the Lord. That’s how he starts this psalm, and it is this praise and worship that leads David to consider how he is living his life.

Which is exactly what we want to consider today.

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The secret to living by faith and impacting your family

In Psalm 101, we see a playbook for how a godly parent protects their home and family.

And the surprising thing is that… it’s really not about specific parenting decisions at all.

It all comes down to how we, as parents, prioritize our own righteousness.

How we prioritize our own faithfulness to God.

David writes this psalm, and shows us a picture of how he is committing to his own faithfulness. But we also see how that commitment is shaping him and those around him.

This is how we love our people well. This is how we protect our kids, strengthen our marriages, and build the home life that we want.

Let’s dive into the eight verses of Psalm 101 and look more closely at the wisdom we see her for how to raise our families in the Lord.

Living by faith starts with praise and personal commitment (Verses 1-2)

“I will sing of your love and justice; to you, Lord, I will sing praise.” (v. 1)

In verse 1, we are encouraged by the reality that happy, joyful, godly living starts with praise.

We are created for God’s pleasure and his glory, and He is worthy of all praise, honor, and glory. We sing of his love. We sing of his justice.

This joyful song of praise naturally leads to verse 2, where we see David making a personal commitment to “lead a blameless life.”

“I will be careful to lead a blameless life—when will you come to me?” (v. 2a)

David is eager to be close with God, asking “when will you come to me?” He is committing himself to following and serving this God whom he is praising.

There is a word here that I think is particularly powerful… the word “careful.”

We all want to lead a blameless life. We want to be faithful to God. But life is busy, emotions are overwhelming, parenting is exhausting… and this blameless life, this faithfulness to God, requires intentionality. We must be careful to do this. We must take it seriously.

“I will conduct the affairs of my house with a blameless heart.” (v. 2b)

Psalm 101:2 continues then to specifically apply this commitment of godly living to the household, and to David’s responsibilities as a parent. “I will conduct the affairs of my house with a blameless heart,” he says.

Do you see the path here?

We worship God, commit ourselves personally to him, and then live out that personal relationship with the Lord in how we approach our family life.

When we are asking “how do I live by faith?” we start by praising God and personally committing to follow Christ.

Everything about our life, including how we conduct the affairs of our house and engage in our relationships, will be shaped by this.

Living by faith means avoiding evil (Verses 3-5)

David continues now by specifying some ways that he will “be careful to lead a blameless life.”

“I will not look with approval on anything that is vile. I hate what faithless people do; I will have no part in it.

The perverse of heart shall be far from me; I will have nothing to do with what is evil.

Whoever slanders their neighbor in secret, I will put to silence; whoever has haughty eyes and a proud heart, I will not tolerate.” (v. 3-5)

In verses 3-5, David looks at the evil that must be avoided and rejected – if he is to live a blameless life and have a blameless heart.

He focuses on how he will reject and avoid evil: What will he look at? What will he approve of and participate in? David commits to avoiding slander, not tolerating pride, and he is realistic about the evil that is around him.

Are we similarly realistic?

I read these verses and think back to that call to “be careful,” from verse 2. We are surrounded by vile things to look at, faithless people to interact with, and perverse attitudes that might tempt us.

David, the psalmist, commits to not only rejecting these evil things, but keeping away from the people who are participating in the evil. “I will not tolerate [them],” he declares.

We are wise to declare the same… to “be careful” to avoid evil and turn away from it.

READ NEXT: Faith-Based Parenting When Life Is Overwhelming

Living by faith requires surrounding ourselves with godly people (Verse 6)

Of course, it’s not enough to simply avoid evil. We cannot lock our families inside a Christian bubble.

We live in a real world, surrounded by fallen people – and ultimately, it is our own hearts that will struggle with pride and other evils, no matter what the people around us are doing.

“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.” (v. 6)

In verse 6, we are reminded that not only must we be careful to avoid and reject evil, but we must also be careful to surround ourselves with godly, holy, faithful influences.

Instead of looking with approval on vile things (verse 3), our “eyes will be on the faithful in the land” (verse 6).

This is who we will walk with. This is who we allow to minister to us and influence us.

I often find myself thinking carefully about how to deal with evil or temptations around me. How will I use social media? What should I teach my kids about drugs and peer pressure? But David wisely puts equal emphasis on the good that we must surround ourselves with.

Living by faith is a daily commitment (Verses 7-8)

The psalm closes with a review of these personal commitments to faithfulness.

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

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.” (v. 7-8)

In verse 7, David again commits to staying away from evil people, those practicing deceit or speaking falsely. He commits to daily action in verse 8 – “Every morning I will put to silence all the wicked in the land.”

Every morning.

David is careful in how he lives, day by day. He knows that the key to happy, healthy, holy family life is actually in his own personal faithfulness to God.

How will he conduct the affairs of his home? “With a blameless heart.” (verse 2)

What is the center of his life? Singing praise to the Lord. (verse 1)

Psalm 101 helps us to be realistic about our family life.

As we naturally focus so much time, attention, and energy toward parenting decisions, household management, and all the tasks of family life, the actual centerpiece needs to be on our own personal relationship with and faithfulness to God.

5 takeaways for how to live by faith and impact your family

Reading God’s Word is always meaningful. But we must take action on it if we really want it to impact our lives.

Clearly, David shows us in Psalm 101 some of what it looks like to live by faith.

And we can see the direct impact on our families. My personal faith will impact how I conduct the affairs of my house, what I watch and listen to, how I spend my time, who I spend that time with.

I’ve been a licensed marriage and family therapist for 15+ years. I’ve been a wife and mom for 10+ years. And as I read through God’s Word here in Psalm 101, I walk away with 5 big takeaways that I hope will encourage you also.

When praise is on my mind and my tongue, it will shape how I live day by day.
Living well and loving my family well requires intentionality; I will only lead a blameless life if I am careful with how I live.
There is evil around me, and I must be careful to protect my own heart as well as my family.
It is wise to intentionally surround myself, my children, and my family with other Christians who are faithful to the Lord and who will minister to us.
Faithfulness to God happens one day at a time, just as my home life and family relationships are shaped day by day.

Do you want to grow in your personal holiness? I recommend grabbing my devotional workbook: Finding Your Identity In Christ. You will dive into Scripture, reflect, pray, and grow closer to the Lord.

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Disclaimers: I am a licensed therapist but my podcast, blog, and resources are not professional or personal advice. I am an affiliate for many of the resources that I link to, and may earn a small commission if you purchase through my links. Read my full disclaimer here.