I will behave wisely in a perfect way. Oh, when will You come to me? I will walk within my house with a perfect heart. (Psalm 101:2)
When the patriarch Abraham was ninety-nine years old, God appeared to him and changed his name from Abram to Abraham. It was on this occasion that the Lord said to him, “I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be perfect” (Genesis 17:1). The Hebrew word translated as “perfect” (in other translations, “blameless”) is תמים tammim. The word conveys the notion of being whole, lacking nothing, and having no blemish; it is the word used to describe the acceptable lamb offered at Passover. Essentially, the Almighty challenged Abraham, and all who followed in the footsteps of faith, to emulate the Creator’s unblemished character. In short the Lord says to His people, “You be holy, for I am holy” Leviticus 11:45).
In that spirit, David pledged to conduct himself in such a way as to walk blameless before God — to strive for the perfection that the Lord had called all of His people to attain. The way to this goal is to have a heart that loves God and yearns to please Him. When He has our whole heart, then our minds will be transformed to meditate upon matters that pertain to serving God humbly and without reservation. In turn, a renewed mind will influence our choices — i.e. what we do, where we go, what we say etc. To walk before Him in a perfect way means we are committed to subjecting our will to that of our Master and thus demonstrate a desire to “behave wisely in a perfect way.”
It is also noteworthy that David mentioned this is how he conducted himself within his own home. Contrast that with those who put on the robes of righteousness and piety when they are in public but who quickly remove those garments when they cross the threshold of their own dwelling. It should not be this way; how we present ourselves to people in public should be a faithful representation of how we behave in private. If we strive for holiness when in the presence of others, it should be that we walk uprightly before God when we are alone.
In my view, the person who walks in his house with a perfect heart is a person who has given the Lord their whole heart, not just the piece they were willing to part with. The person who strives to be tammim is one who will say to the Lord, “When will You come to me? Will you visit me with Your Presence that we may commune with one another?” This is the person who, like David, is after the heart of God. I so desperately desire to be that person — how about you?
Blessings and Shalom,
Bill
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