At the beginning of David’s reign as king of Israel, he said, “I will behave myself wisely in a perfect way…I will walk within my house with a perfect heart…He that walketh in a perfect way, he shall serve me” (Psalm 101:2,6). David expressed what most perfectionists believe, that it is possible to live life without making any mistakes. David’s statements make sense, considering he was only 30 years old when he began his reign.

The two words translated perfect in Psalm 101:2 are both derived from the same root word, tâmam (taw – mam´) which means to complete. “The basic meaning of this word is that of being complete or finished with nothing else expected or intended” (8552). To behave in a perfect way, means that you think things through completely before making a decision or taking action. To walk with a perfect heart, means that you are completely free from offense toward those around you.

David expectations were remarkable for a 30 year old, but may have been naïve for a man that had never been in a position of power before. I’m sure it was true at the time David wrote this psalm that he a had a perfect heart and behaved in a perfect way, but like everyone else, David made mistakes.

It says about the LORD in Psalm 100:3, “It is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves.” I think every successful person tends to forget what he was like before he became successful. There is a tendency in human behavior to think that we never change, we have always acted the way we do now and always will.

The world around us does affect us, whether we realize it or not. Today we refer to this as the nature versus nurture syndrome. God created us to be a certain way and that way is perfect. Living in a fallen world means that we do not always achieve the perfection that God intended for us, but we should strive for that perfection with the knowledge that no matter how hard we try, we will always miss the mark in one way or another and that is why we need to, “Be thankful unto him, and bless his name for the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting” (Psalm 100:4-5).