Psalm 101sn Psalm 101. The psalmist, who appears to be a king, promises to promote justice in his land and vows to rid his royal court of evildoers.
A psalm of David.
1 I will sing about loyalty and justice!
To you, O Lord, I will sing praises!
2 I will walk intn Heb “take notice of.” the way of integrity.
When will you come to me?
I will conduct my business with integrity in the midst of my palace.tn Heb “I will walk about in the integrity of my heart in the midst of my house.”
3 I will not even consider doing what is dishonest.tn Heb “I will not set before my eyes a thing of worthlessness.”
I hate doing evil;tn Heb “the doing of swerving [deeds] I hate.” The Hebrew term סֵטִים (setim) is probably an alternate spelling of שֵׂטִים (setim), which appears in many medieval Hebrew mss. The form appears to be derived from a verbal root שׂוּט (sut, “to fall away; to swerve”; see Ps 40:4).
I will have no part of it.tn Heb “it [i.e., the doing of evil deeds] does not cling to me.”
4 I will have nothing to do with a perverse person;tn Heb “a perverse heart will turn aside from me.” The adjective עִקֵּשׁ (’iqqesh) has the basic nuance “twisted; crooked” and by extension refers to someone or something that is morally perverse (see Ps 18:26). It appears frequently in the Book of Proverbs, where it is used of evil people (22:5), speech (8:8; 19:1), thoughts (11:20; 17:20), and life styles (2:15; 28:6).
I will not permittn Heb “know.” The king will not willingly allow perverse individuals to remain in his royal court. evil.
5 I will destroy anyone who slanders his neighbor in secret.
I will not tolerate anyone who has a cocky demeanor and an arrogant attitude.tn Heb “[one who has] pride of eyes and wideness [i.e., arrogance] of heart, him I will not endure.”
6 I will favor the honest people of the land,tn Heb “my eyes [are] on the faithful of the land.”
and allow them to live with me.tn The Hebrew text simply reads, “in order to live with me.”
Those who walk in the way of integrity will attend me.tn Heb “one who walks in the way of integrity, he will minister to me.”
7 Deceitful people will not live in my palace.tn Heb “he will not live in the midst of my house, one who does deceit.”
Liars will not be welcome in my presence.tn Heb “one who speaks lies will not be established before my eyes.”
8 Each morning I will destroy all the wicked people in the land,
and remove all evildoers from the city of the Lord.
1996 - 2007 by Biblical Studies Press, LLC
Used by permission, All rights reserved.
