Psalm 101:3 I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes: I hate the work of them that turn aside; it shall not cleave to me.
Have you ever dashed into a convenience store to pay for gas or get a soft drink only to come out and discover that the clerk’s cigarette smoking has lingered with you? You may have even said, “I never want to go in there again because I smell like smoke when I come out.”
The Psalmist in our focus verse today is singing of his determinations in his walk with the Lord. Nine times in this song he states, “I will.” Five times more he states, “I shall.” David, having been through much in his walk with the Lord, knew the dangers of entertaining the visual images of sin. He then harmonizes the words of our focus verse today. “I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes: I hate the work of them that turn aside; it shall not cleave to me.”
I see this as a three-fold determination. It is the resolve of his hand, heart, and head. He states that his hands will not put anything of the works of evil before his eyes. Some have said this idea is not permitting one word or work of Belial to come into view of the eye gate.
The second resolve was that of his heart. He was not going to permit his heart to become infatuated with sinners and their sins. The apostle Paul expressed this virtue in his ballad of Christian charity in 1 Corinthians 13:6a. Christian charity never rejoices in iniquity. Spurgeon wrote, “Hatred of sin is a good sentinel for the door of virtue.” In the area of the ways of sinners, the resolve of the heart must be earnest.
The third resolve was that of his head. He made up his mind that the wickedness of sinner and their sins would not cleave to him.