"David's Promise"

PSALMS 101 [A Psalm of David]
As we try to keep our promises, whether they be to each other or to God, there is something we should keep in mind, a promise is a promise. That might seem as though it should be simple enough to understand, but you would be surprised how easily we forget that what we said was really what we meant. Yesterday I was at a church function and ran into an old friend, and we got to talking about the Thursday night Men's Group. For the last several weeks, that particular meeting has been on my heart and I have been meaning to start attending; so I guess this meeting up with my old friend was the push that I needed to get me there. Before that, I had made little promises to myself, if you can get my meaning. I told myself that I needed to go; I even listed the reasons that it would benefit me and get me back into a small group fellowship. It's pretty easy to hide out in the back of a large church and not have to be bothered; but small group fellowships make you get involved, one way or another. If you like reading commentaries on Scripture, Matthew Henry has a pretty good one on this Psalm. He does a pretty good job of bringing out the good intentions of the heart, without getting into the bad things that had actually happened. Pastor Bryan mentioned something yesterday, as he announced that it was recently his wife and his thirty-fifth wedding anniversary; he said, Statistically, one in three of those of you here that are married will end up getting a divorce. That might even be lower than it actually is, because I have heard that the church is not far off from the rate of the world. We should be better than that, because our vows were made to God. When we said are vows, we included God into the promises; therefore, when we let go of the promises we made to our spouse, we also broke the promise that we made to God. There was no intention made to break it, not when the promise was made; when we made the promise, we meant it with all of our heart, and there was not even a hint of breaking it, ever. That is pretty much how Matthew Henry puts this into perspective, in that David was establishing his intent before God and how he promised to rule as king; not just to rule, but to be ruled by God. When we break our vows that we made in marriage, we actually quit letting our life be ruled by God; instead we let our lives be ruled by our emotions and selfishness. Those are totally the opposite things that we based our promises upon; our promises were based upon love, emotions and selfishness do not apply...
"Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children. Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God. Let there be no sexual immorality, impurity, or greed among you. Such sins have no place among God's people. Obsene stories, foolish talk, and coarse jokes -these are not for you. Instead, let there be thanksgiving to God. You can be sure that no immoral, impure, or greedy person will inherit the Kingdom of Christ and of God. For a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world." (Ephesians 5:1-5) NLT