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This week at our midweek prayer meeting at church someone read Psalm 100 to us, which is a wonderful Psalm and an encouragement.

But when he finished, I carried on and read Psalm 101 which I didn’t know so well. It’s written by David, and talks about how he lives his life. I don’t know about you but I’m miles off from the standards he sets! Just have a read…

I will sing of your love and justice;
to you, Lord, I will sing praise.
I will be careful to lead a blameless life—
when will you come to me?
I will conduct the affairs of my house
with a blameless heart.
I will not look with approval
on anything that is vile.
I hate what faithless people do;
I will have no part in it.
The perverse of heart shall be far from me;
I will have nothing to do with what is evil.
Whoever slanders their neighbor in secret,
I will put to silence;
whoever has haughty eyes and a proud heart,
I will not tolerate.
My eyes will be on the faithful in the land,
that they may dwell with me;
the one whose walk is blameless
will minister to me.
No one who practices deceit
will dwell in my house;
no one who speaks falsely
will stand in my presence.
Every morning I will put to silence
all the wicked in the land;
I will cut off every evildoer
from the city of the Lord.

I don’t know about you, but generally, every time I read or hear a C.S. Lewis quote I think wow that’s brilliant, and generally just have no doubt in it. However, at the moment I’m reading Mere Christianity and this morning came across this quote:

If you had committed a murder, the right Christian thing to do would be to give yourself up to the police and be hanged. It is, therefore, in my opinion, perfectly right for a Christian judge to sentence a man to death or a Christian soldier to kill an enemy. I always have thought so, ever since I became a Christian, and long before the war, and I still think so now that we are at peace.

A bit different, hey? He continues:

It is no good quoting “Thou shalt not kill.” There are two Greek words: the ordinary word to kill and the word to murder. And when Christ quote that commandment He uses the murder one in all three accounts. Matthew, Mark, and Luke. And I am told there is the same distinction in Hebrew. All killing is not murder any more than all sexual intercourse is adultery.

So I’ve never read anything like this before – I’d be interested in your opinions! Any thoughts?!