What kind of men are we?  That was the question I had to ask myself after reading a couple of things today.  The first was a quote by John Stuart Mill.  He wrote the following about war,

     "War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degrading state of moral and patriotic
     feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. A man who has nothing for which he is willing to
     fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance
     of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself."   - John Stuart Mill - 


When I read this I honestly wondered about myself.  In light of what we face as a nation, can I say that I am not guilty of a certain "moral and patriotic decay" that shies away from the war for the very soul of our nation at present?  There is a battle for the soul of the United States and it rages every day.  Some would have us move toward being a nation that is based upon a philosophy of Socialism where the state becomes the caretaker of all within it.  We are walking in that direction and fast destroying the once great nation given to us by God and our forefathers.  It is said that Socialism only works until the government runs out of other people's money to spend.  That is quickly coming upon us each day that we do not rise up to the moral, social, political, and spiritual battles that surround us.  

Let me better define the war of which I speak.  It is my hope that it will never descend into a war of weapons where the outcome is dependent upon which army destroys the other.  But at present it is a war of ideas.  A war that is fought with words and actions based upon those ideas.  There is a greatly decayed moral state in America that must be addressed if we are going to survive as a nation.  Nations fall not because of conquerors who fight from without - but because of moral decay and destruction within.  We must first stand against the moral decay that is rotting us from the inside out.  That means fighting the battles that rage in our flesh.  It means once again valuing honesty, integrity, honor, hard work, faithfulness, and a host of other character traits which are far more often mocked by our godless society than glorified.  It also means recapturing our homes as the primary place where education takes place.  It is in the home where morals and godly character must be taught.  More than this it is where moral character must be displayed by fathers.

Such an endeavor will mean that we have to fight and war against some things.  I will list several here.  Please understand that we can either realize war is what MUST take place against these things - or we will lose.  We can either fight in this war - or remain one of Mill's miserable creatures who live only for their own safety, security, and comfort.  If we do, we will have to rely on other, more godly and principled men to maintain our freedom.  My concern is that there are not many such men left in this hour - possible not enough to stem the tide of moral decay and political tyranny.

First, we must fight and war against our own pacivity men!  It is the easiest thing to start out days at the mercy of the clock.  What I mean by this is that we get up so late that we do not have time to get quiet and meet with God.  We must awaken early enough to spend time with Him - both in reading God's Word and in praying for ourselves, our family, and our nation.  This is where is HAS to start.  Men, we need to war against the moral decay in ourselves.  If we do not, we will have nothing of substance to give in the war that rages all around us. 

Second, we must war for our marriages and our homes.  I ask a simple question men.  What is the state of your relationship with your wife?  Do you cherish her?  Do you nourish her with the Word?  Are we patterning for our children and those around us a delight in God's institution of marriage?  One of the most blighting scourges that is rotting our nation from within in the state of marriage and family in our land.  We can either decry it and weep on the devastated landscape around us - or - we can begin to labor to restore the ancient foundations by loving our wives and loving our children.  And that being said, what is the state of your role as "father?"  Do YOU inspire your children with your lifestyle - and with your regular teaching.  If we do not want a "nanny-state" we must then take on the rearing of our children and not leave it to the state and to the educational system.  Do you speak to your children of the morals they should embrace?  Even more - do you yourself display them to your children?

Third, we must fight and war against the rule and reign of entertainment in our lives.  I have nothing against entertainment - unless our devotion to it outstrips our devotion to God, our family, God's church, and our country.  Too often we sit and decay simply by allowing the entertainment industry to speak to us - then for us in our homes.  Think of their values men.  Think of what you've seen and heard on television and in movies.  Then realize that they not only reflect the moral decline in our nation - the urge it to continue to new heights.  

Lastly, are you warring for godly leaders in our land.  I find it disturbing that over and over again we are told that morals in a man do not matter when it comes to electing our officials.  A man can stand and say that he wants to lead our nation - indeed take an oath to do so - when he has not even honored his oath and covenant to his wife!  Such men should be questioned much about these things.  I understand that we all need God's grace - but do we not have men among us willing to run - who have not cheated on their wives . . . while being an elected official of our land.  The Democrats defend President Clinton while he commits adultery in the White House - and the Republicans now defend Newt Gingrich while he does the same in the position of Speaker of the House.  We must fight for principled men to lead us.  If neither party is willing to put up such men should we not so war against them with our words, our financial contributions, and our direct involvement until such men are put forward?  We will not see change - godly, moral, principled change - until we demand it.

Men, I know this has been a long article - and I also know that many of us suffer from moral as well as family and patriotic failures of our past.  But there truly will not be change until we passionately seek it.  May we not be the pathetic, overindulged, and unwilling miserable creatures that John Stuart Mill described above.  May we instead be the men who are willing to war against the culture - war against our own self-indulgence - and war for the reviving our our own hearts, marriages, families, churches, and nation.  There are some things worth dying for in life.  So I ask once again, "What kind of men are we?"

For a couple of weeks now we have been looking at Psalm 101 and the godly man.  This week I want to do an overview of this Psalm and bring out a key trait of the godly man.  In Psalm 101 we see a pattern that is important for us if we desire to be godly.  Note throughout the Psalm you see David stating, “I will” over and over again.  He actually makes this statement about 7 different things in this chapter.  I call these 7 things “The Seven I wills of a Godly Man.”  Before we are done with the articles on this Psalm we will look at all 7 of them.  But for this week we need to get the idea of what David is doing here.

A godly man rejects a passive life—and chooses to actively pursue his relationship with God, as well as actively    oppose and renounce evil in his life.  This is an example that we do not need to miss because it highlights something that is not being emphasized in our day.  Men need to reject passivity and accept the role of leadership in their homes and in society. There is no place where this is needed more than in the area of spiritual leadership and development.  If you will note, the seven “I wills” of a godly man have to do with moral and spiritual choices.  Too many men grow up thinking that church, God, and spirituality are the stuff of women—and that their mothers and wives will take care of that area.  But this is wrong and diametrically opposed to what we see in Scripture.

God desires for a man to grow up, lay aside his toys.  Paul describes this in 1 Corinthians 13:11 when he writes the following words, “When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things.”  Paul wrote this in the context of defining what love really is.  When you read this chapter you realize that love is a choice, not a feeling.  Love is a choice to deny yourself, die to what you want at the time, and live for the benefit of someone else.  The “Seven I Will’s” of a Godly Man” are choices.  They are choices that require men to die to themselves—and die to their passivity about things in life.  They choose instead to pursue a path of godliness, holiness, and love of God first, in their own lives, and then in their family.  In order to do this, many men will have to put down the toys of their youth—and begin to live for God—and then live the life of a servant of God and serve their family.  You cannot do this when you are too busy playing with man-toys like video games, fantasy football teams, and other things that dominate your time.  You will have to “do away with childish things” and give yourself to choosing  to love others.  A great start is to act on every character trait mentioned in 1 Corinthians 13—and apply it in your relationship with your wife, children, co-workers, friends, fellow church-members, and neighbors.

Guys, God has a role and the purpose for us to fulfill.  We live in a time when MEN are needed desperately in our homes, in our churches, and in our society.  Too often we have made our wives and other women fill a role God meant for us to fill.  Let us rise up from in front of the television or the computer—and become the godly men we were meant to be.  Let us be like David and make some rock-hard “I wills” in life—make choices that will make an eternal difference!

     May the Lord grant you grace as you are a “man of integrity” within your own home.  We continue this week in our look at the man of integrity from Psalm 101.  This week we are going to focus on what a man of integrity “looks at” within his home.  The Psalmist states the following about his desire to be a man of integrity—one who “gives heed to the blameless way.”  He says at the beginning of verse 3, “I will set no worthless thing before my eyes.”  Let’s take a look today at what it means to have the sight of the blameless way in our eyes. 

     The word “worthless” here is from the Hebrew word “beliyyaal” which has as its most basic meaning that of utter worthlessness.  The word always has a very strong moral component to it and therefore has the idea of wickedness and something that is good for nothing at all.  In the Septuagint (the Greek version of the Old Testament) this word was used as a personal name for Satan.  Those who were of the most corrupt and godless character were called, “sons of beliyyaal,” and were seen as being in rebellion against God’s moral authority.  Therefore the blameless man who seeks to maintain integrity in his home is careful not to put anything that is morally worthless and base before his eyes.  Note also that he does this by making strong choices against it.  He has a will SET in God’s direction—a will that is SET according to God’s moral compass and the Word of God.  This will not be easy in our society.  It requires hard choices—and choices that may seem legalistic to others around you.

     How do we live this way then?  How do we live as men who do not want to set any morally worthless thing before our eyes?  First, we must set the Word of God before our eyes—for through His Word God will begin clearly defining what is and is not morally worthless.  Here are a few.  In the Old Testament we are told not to look upon the nakedness of    anyone other than our wife—and that is to be done in the marriage bed as a holy thing.  Well, that pretty much rules out R-rated movies (and for that matter a large number of PG-13 rated ones where the nakedness of others is paraded   before us on a regular basis.)  Then there is the passage in Ephesians that says, “. . . And there must be no filthiness and silly talk or coarse jesting, which are not fitting . . . “  Filthiness is defined by the Amplified Bible as obscenity or   indecency.”  So, all things which are in these categories are out as well.  I hate to say it, but this pretty much rules out probably 90-95% of what is on television and what is in the movie theaters.  Here is where we will hear the accusations of legalism come out.  But those who do this miss that Scripture tells us that it is the “grace of God that teaches to say no to ungodliness.” 

     Let me ask a question at this point about the moral sloppiness that is based on this “non-teaching” grace of today.  Where has it led us?  How is it morally in the church today?  Has the practice of being lenient with our eyes brought great blessing to our marriages?  Has it blessed us with great moral fiber and steadfastness?  The eyes are the windows into our souls.  What we allow to pass through them has the ability to bless us—or torture us with temptation and unnecessary trials.  A man who desires to be blameless and maintain integrity in his home will guard his eyes, and make sure that he places NOTHING worthless before them.  This is part and parcel of why he continues as a blameless man.

     This morning I was reading in my quiet time in the book of Psalms.  Today’s chapter was Psalm 101.  As I read this psalm of David, I was so blessed because this Psalm deals with how a father should walk within his own home.  David begins the psalm with a statement of commitment to the Lord.  He says, “I will give heed to the blameless way.”  Here he is declaring that his life is dedicated to living before God blamelessly and holy.  Then he makes his second declaration as he says, “I will walk within my house in the integrity of my heart.”  The two words “integrity” and “blameless” are interchangeable in Hebrew.  Thus, as David makes his commitment before God, it is one that states that he wants to walk blameless and in the highest integrity possible.  But how does one do this?  The rest of this Psalm explains this to us as we see the other commitments that come with a desire to walk in one’s house in integrity and blamelessness.  What I’d like to do for a few weeks is to look at the commitments that are necessary for a man of God to be what God desires for him to be within his home. 

     The first commitment is what I mentioned above.  A man of God needs to commit to a life of integrity within the home.  He needs to come to God and ask the Lord to work in his heart so that he is blameless   before the Lord and before his wife and children.  But who defines this “walk of integrity?“  That is answered by David in the statement he makes immediately after making this commitment.  After he says that he will give heed to the blameless way he makes a request.  That request is this, “When will You come to me?”  In saying this, David is saying two things.  First, he is committing to “giving heed” to the blameless way.  The word here speaks of discernment that is gained from listening to another.  Therefore what David commits to is to listen to someone.  This one he listens to will help him discern how to walk in life—blamelessly.  Who is this person?  David makes that clear to us when he says, “When will You come to me?”  The “You” in this verse is Jehovah God.

     To be a man of integrity and blamelessness is to be a man who daily listens to God.  To be the godly man of integrity in your home, you will need to meet with God regularly.  As you fellowship with God you will be taught how to discern between what is good and what is evil.  You will know the right way to walk—and be warned against paths that will hinder you.  They are the paths filled with roots and stumbling blocks that trip you up.  Men, spend time with God each day—seeking Him—reading His Word—talking with Him so that you begin to learn the way of integrity.  This will help you be the man of integrity your family needs within your home.  As you face the trials, temptations, and difficult decisions to be that man—may your request each day be this, “Lord, when will You come to me, teach me, strengthen me, guide me, and enable me to be a blameless man?”