"Beat the Beast"

"I will early destroy all the wicked of the land; that I may cut off all wicked doers from the city of the LORD." (Psalms 101:8)
Well, to say that was interesting would be putting in mildly. If you are looking for any help from Matthew Henry on this one, you're not going to get much, because it's all about David's promise to the way he is going to be king and his administration thereof. But, the rebel that I am, I like to think it is God's way of teaching us how to get a grip. All Scripture is intended to be used for learning, even the parts that don't even seem to involve anything to do with application, they too can apply; layers upon layers of spiritual application, personal application, and even righteous application. Interesting enough, I heard a message from Pastor Jon yesterday, which was probably twenty years or more old, but it was just in time for me. In this message Jon spoke about adding onto God's commands, much as I was sharing yesterday morning. I kept waiting to hear him say that we should not take away or add to anything that God says, but he was on a totally different topic altogether; his topic was about how we seem to gravitate towards putting additional burdens on each other. Using how the Jewish leaders took the Sabbath and added tons of different rules and requirements to what was intended to be a day of rest, he mentioned how they always had a way to get around their own requirements. I thought it was interesting, because there seems to be a connection between that and what I believe God was speaking into my heart yesterday. For example: What if Adam had touched the fruit, and had given Eve that additional requirement to keep her at bay? You know, that "Do as I say, not as I do" way of keeping someone in line. Just a thought; nothing there that I want to dive into. However, there is something here that needs to be looked at, which is the word "early" that is expressed here, is a word that means either before light, or a the breaking forth of light. To put it in the simplest terms, it is speaking about destroying all the wicked right away, as soon as they are discovered or revealed. Which is exactly what we must do, as soon as God reveals something in our lives that needs to be destroyed or gotten rid of, we must cut it off. If we do not do so right away, then we will add to or take away from God's command that we received, and we will figure out a way to hold onto it...
"So get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the word God has planted in your hearts, for it has the power to save your souls. But don't just listen to God's word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. For if you listen to the word and don't obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like. But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don't forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it." (James 1:21-25) NLT