“A Psalm of David.

Of mercy and justice I will sing;

To you, Yahweh, 

I will continually sing praises.”

(Psalm 101:1)

While singing is not the only way we praise our God, it is an essential aspect of our praise. God not only provides us resources for our singing in the psalms, but he commands that we use them for His glory and honor. In fact, Hebrew contains a wide variety of words that reflect different aspects of our sung praises, two of which are contained in this verse. 

In the first phrase, we have the Hebrew word שׁיר (syr), which simply refers to singing a song — or a spiritual song (see Colossians 3:16). This is one of the major divisions of psalmody, with thirty-two psalms being classified as שׁיר (syr) within their superscriptions. In the latter clause, the word זמר (zamar) is used, which typically means to sing music that is accompanied by an instrument, for God has done gloriously (Isaiah 12:5). We should also note that זמר (zamar) is found here in the “Piel” stem, which indicates that this is to be a repeated and continual action. Just as we are to pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17) and the Apostle Paul sets before us a model of praying for the church without ceasing (Romans 1:9-10), the psalmist is instructing us that he sings praises without ceasing. 

Of what does the psalmist sing? He tells us that he sings about the mercy and the justice of God. The word we translate here as mercy is the Hebrew term חסד (chesed), which refers to the covenant faithfulness of God despite our covenant unfaithfulness in return. The term we translate as justice is the Hebrew term מִשְׁפָּת (mishpat), which is a legal term that refers to the commandments, judgments, rules, or laws of God. In Hebrew, מִשְׁפָּת (mishpat) provides the essential standards by which the life of the faithful was to be measured (in light of this, even what we would call the blueprints for a building in Hebrew were called mishpat). 

So, why has the psalmist joined these two ideas in psalm? The most natural reading of this text is that when we spend time reflecting on the judgments and commands of God, our natural response should be to think about how merciful God has been to us. Indeed, we deserve to be struck down immediately for the wide range of sins we pursue in life, yet God does not do so. We deserve to be condemned to Hell for our actions and for the wicked nature of our heart; but God redeems us from the pit. And thus, these two ideas, mercy and justice, go hand in hand. One will never understand how deep the mercy of God is until they come face to face with the condemnable nature of their own sin. 

In the verses that follow, the psalmist holds out the contrast between mercy and justice while also setting before us a model for how we are to think about the unjust things that take place all around us. Indeed, we commonly dismiss certain sins. Sometimes it is because these are pet sins that we hold to; sometimes it is because these sins have not affected us or our families directly. Regardless of the reason, the David reminds us that we are to look upon sin as God looks upon sin while also singing praise for the mercies and the laws of God.