1 I will sing of mercy and judgment: unto thee, O LORD, will I sing.
2 I will behave myself wisely in a perfect way. O when wilt thou come unto me? I will walk within my house with a perfect heart.
3 I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes: I hate the work of them that turn aside; it shall not cleave to me.
4 A froward heart shall depart from me: I will not know a wicked person.
5 Whoso privily slandereth his neighbour, him will I cut off: him that hath an high look and a proud heart will not I suffer.
6 Mine eyes shall be upon the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me: he that walketh in a perfect way, he shall serve me.
7 He that worketh deceit shall not dwell within my house: he that telleth lies shall not tarry in my sight.
8 I will early destroy all the wicked of the land; that I may cut off all wicked doers from the city of the LORD.
1 [[A Psalm H4210 of David.]] H1732 I will sing H7891 of mercy H2617 and judgment: H4941 unto thee, O LORD, H3068 will I sing. H2167
2 I will behave myself wisely H7919 in a perfect H8549 way. H1870 O when wilt thou come H935 unto me? I will walk H1980 within H7130 my house H1004 with a perfect H8537 heart. H3824
3 I will set H7896 no wicked H1100 thing H1697 before mine eyes: H5869 I hate H8130 the work H6213 of them that turn aside; H7750 it shall not cleave H1692 to me.
4 A froward H6141 heart H3824 shall depart H5493 from me: I will not know H3045 a wicked H7451 person.
5 Whoso privily H5643 slandereth H3960 H3960 his neighbour, H7453 him will I cut off: H6789 him that hath an high H1362 look H5869 and a proud H7342 heart H3824 will not I suffer. H3201
6 Mine eyes H5869 shall be upon the faithful H539 of the land, H776 that they may dwell H3427 with me: he that walketh H1980 in a perfect H8549 way, H1870 he shall serve H8334 me.
7 He that worketh H6213 deceit H7423 shall not dwell H3427 within H7130 my house: H1004 he that telleth H1696 lies H8267 shall not tarry H3559 in my sight. H5869
8 I will early H1242 destroy H6789 all the wicked H7563 of the land; H776 that I may cut off H3772 all wicked H205 doers H6466 from the city H5892 of the LORD. H3068
1 I will sing of lovingkindness and justice: Unto thee, O Jehovah, will I sing praises.
2 I will behave myself wisely in a perfect way: Oh when wilt thou come unto me? I will walk within my house with a perfect heart.
3 I will set no base thing before mine eyes: I hate the work of them that turn aside; It shall not cleave unto me.
4 A perverse heart shall depart from me: I will know no evil thing.
5 Whoso privily slandereth his neighbor, him will I destroy: Him that hath a high look and a proud heart will I not suffer.
6 Mine eyes shall be upon the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me: He that walketh in a perfect way, he shall minister unto me.
7 He that worketh deceit shall not dwell within my house: He that speaketh falsehood shall not be established before mine eyes.
8 Morning by morning will I destroy all the wicked of the land; To cut off all the workers of iniquity from the city of Jehovah. Psalm 102 A Prayer of the afflicted, when he is overwhelmed, and poureth out his complaint before Jehovah.
1 A Psalm of David. Kindness and judgment I sing, To Thee, O Jehovah, I sing praise.
2 I act wisely in a perfect way, When dost Thou come in unto me? I walk habitually in the integrity of my heart, In the midst of my house.
3 I set not before mine eyes a worthless thing, The work of those turning aside I have hated, It adhereth not to me.
4 A perverse heart turneth aside from me, Wickedness I know not.
5 Whoso slandereth in secret his neighbour, Him I cut off, The high of eyes and proud of heart, him I endure not.
6 Mine eyes are on the faithful of the land, To dwell with me, Whoso is walking in a perfect way, he serveth me.
7 He dwelleth not in my house who is working deceit, Whoso is speaking lies Is not established before mine eyes.
8 At morning I cut off all the wicked of the land, To cut off from the city of Jehovah All the workers of iniquity!
1 {A Psalm of David.} I will sing of loving-kindness and judgment: unto thee, Jehovah, will I sing psalms.
2 I will behave myself wisely in a perfect way. When wilt thou come unto me? I will walk within my house in the integrity of my heart.
3 I will set no thing of Belial before mine eyes: I hate the work of them that turn aside; it shall not cleave to me.
4 A perverse heart shall depart from me; I will not know evil.
5 Whoso secretly slandereth his neighbour, him will I destroy; him that hath a high look and a proud heart will I not suffer.
6 Mine eyes shall be upon the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me; he that walketh in a perfect way, he shall serve me.
7 He that practiseth deceit shall not dwell within my house; he that speaketh falsehoods shall not subsist in my sight.
8 Every morning will I destroy all the wicked of the land: to cut off all workers of iniquity from the city of Jehovah.
1 > I will sing of loving kindness and justice. To you, Yahweh, I will sing praises.
2 I will be careful to live a blameless life. When will you come to me? I will walk within my house with a blameless heart.
3 I will set no vile thing before my eyes. I hate the deeds of faithless men. They will not cling to me.
4 A perverse heart will be far from me. I will have nothing to do with evil.
5 I will silence whoever secretly slanders his neighbor. I won't tolerate one who is haughty and conceited.
6 My eyes will be on the faithful of the land, That they may dwell with me. He who walks in a perfect way, He will serve me.
7 He who practices deceit won't dwell within my house. He who speaks falsehood won't be established before my eyes.
8 Morning by morning, I will destroy all the wicked of the land; To cut off all the workers of iniquity from Yahweh's city.
1 <A Psalm. Of David.> I will make a song of mercy and righteousness; to you, O Lord, will I make melody.
2 I will do wisely in the way of righteousness: O when will you come to me? I will be walking in my house with a true heart.
3 I will not put any evil thing before my eyes; I am against all turning to one side; I will not have it near me.
4 The false heart I will send away from me: I will not have an evil-doer for a friend.
5 I will put to death anyone who says evil of his neighbour secretly; the man with a high look and a heart of pride is disgusting to me.
6 My eyes will be on those of good faith in the land, so that they may be living in my house; he who is walking in the right way will be my servant.
7 The worker of deceit will not come into my house; the false man will have no place before my eyes.
8 Morning by morning will I put to death all the sinners in the land, so that all evil-doers may be cut off from Jerusalem.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on Psalms 101
Commentary on Psalms 101 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
This is the “prince's Psalm,”
(Note: Eyring, in his Vita of Ernest the Pious Duke of Saxe-Gotha, v. 1601, d. 1675, relates that he sent an unfaithful minister a copy of the 101st Psalm, and that it became a proverb in the country, when an official had done anything wrong: He will certainty soon receive the prince's Psalm to read.)
or as it is inscribed in Luther's version, “David's mirror of a monarch.” Can there be any more appropriate motto for it than what is said of Jahve's government in Psalms 99:4? In respect of this passage of Psalms 99:1-9, to which Psalms 100:1-5 is the finale, Psalms 101:1-8 seems to be appended as an echo out of the heart of David. The appropriateness of the words לדוד מזמור (the position of the words is as in Psalms 24:1-10; 40; 109:1-110:7; 139) is corroborated by the form and contents. Probably the great historical work from which the chronicler has taken excerpts furnished the post-exilic collector with a further gleaning of Davidic songs, or at least songs that were ascribed to David. The Psalm before us belongs to the time during which the Ark was in the house of Obed-Edom, where David had left it behind through terror at the misfortune of Uzzah. David said at that time: “ How shall the Ark of Jahve come to me (the unholy one)?” 2 Samuel 6:8. He did not venture to bring the Ark of the Fearful and Holy One within the range of his own house. In our Psalm, however, he gives utterance to his determination as king to give earnest heed to the sanctity of his walk, of his rule, and of his house; and this resolve he brings before Jahve as a vow, to whom, in regard to the rich blessing which the Ark of God diffuses around it (2 Samuel 6:11.), he longingly sighs: “When wilt Thou come to me?!” This contemporaneous reference has been recognised by Hammond and Venema. From the fact that Jahve comes to David, Jerusalem becomes “the city of Jahve,” Psalms 101:8; and to defend the holiness of this the city of His habitation in all faithfulness, and with all his might, is the thing to which David here pledges himself.
The contents of the first verse refer not merely to the Psalm that follows as an announcement of its theme, but to David's whole life: graciousness and right, the self-manifestations united ideally and, for the king who governs His people, typically in Jahve, shall be the subject of his song. Jahve, the primal source of graciousness and of right, it shall be, to whom he consecrates his poetic talent, as also his playing upon the harp. חסד is condescension which flows from the principle of free love, and משׁפּט legality which binds itself impartially and uncapriciously to the rule (norm) of that which is right and good. They are two modes of conduct, mutually tempering each other, which God requires of every man (Micah 6:8, cf. Matthew 23:23 : τὴν κρίσιν καὶ τὸν ἔλεον ), and more especially of a king. Further, he has resolved to give heed, thoughtfully and with an endeavour to pursue it ( השׂכּיל בּ as in Daniel 9:13), unto the way of that which is perfect, i.e., blameless. What is further said might now be rendered as a relative clause: when Thou comest to me. But not until then?! Hitzig renders it differently: I will take up the lot of the just when it comes to me, i.e., as often as it is brought to my knowledge. But if this had been the meaning, בּדבר would have been said instead of בּדרך (Exodus 18:16, Exodus 18:19; 2 Samuel 19:12 [11]); for, according to both its parts, the expression דוך תמים is an ethical notion, and is therefore not used in a different sense from that in Psalms 101:6. Moreover, the relative use of the interrogative מתי in Hebrew cannot be supported, with the exception, perhaps, of Proverbs 23:35. Athanasius correctly interprets: ποθῶ σου τὴν παρουσίαν, ὦ δέσποτα, ἱμείρομαί σου τῆς ἐπιφανείας, ἀλλὰ δὸς τὸ ποθούμενον . It is a question of strong yearning: when wilt Thou come to me? is the time near at hand when Thou wilt erect Thy throne near to me? If his longing should be fulfilled, David is resolved to, and will then, behave himself as he further sets forth in the vows he makes. He pledges himself to walk within his house, i.e., his palace, in the innocence or simplicity of his heart (Psalms 78:72; Proverbs 20:7), without allowing himself to be led away from this frame of mind which has become his through grace. He will not set before his eyes, viz., as a proposition or purpose (Deuteronomy 15:9; Exodus 10:10; 1 Samuel 29:10, lxx), any morally worthless or vile matter whatsoever (Psalms 41:8, cf. concerning בליּעל , Psalms 18:5). The commission of excesses he hates: עשׂה is infin. constr. instead of עשׂות as in Genesis 31:28; Genesis 50:20; Proverbs 21:3, cf. ראה Genesis 48:11, שׁתו Proverbs 31:4. סטים (like שׂטים in Hosea 5:2), as the object of עשׂה , has not a personal (Kimchi, Ewald) signification (cf. on the other hand Psalms 40:5), but material signification: ( facta ) declinantia (like זדים , Psalms 19:13, insolentia ; הבלים , Zechariah 11:7, vincientia ); all temptations and incitements of this sort he shakes off from himself, so that nothing of the kind cleaves to him. The confessions in Psalms 101:4 refer to his own inward nature: לב עקּשׁ (not עקּשׁ־לב , Proverbs 17:20), a false heart that is not faithful in its intentions either to God or to men, shall remain far from him; wickedness ( רע as in Psalms 36:5) he does not wish to know, i.e., does not wish to foster and nurture within him. Whoso secretly slanders his neighbour, him will he destroy; it will therefore be so little possible for any to curry favour with him by uncharitable perfidious tale-bearing, of the wiliness of which David himself had had abundant experience in his relation to Saul, that it will rather call forth his anger upon him (Proverbs 30:10). Instead of the regularly pointed מלושׁני the Kerî reads מלשׁני , melŏshnı̂ , a Poel ( לשׁן linguâ petere , like עין oculo petere , elsewhere הלשׁין , Proverbs 30:10) with ŏ instead of ō (vid., on Psalms 109:10; Psalms 62:4) and with Chirek compaginis (vid., on Psalms 113:1-9). The “lofty of eyes,” i.e., supercilious, haughty, and the “broad of heart,” i.e., boastful, puffed up, self-conceited (Proverbs 28:25, cf. Psalms 21:4), him he cannot endure ( אוּכל , properly fut. Hoph. , I am incapable of, viz., לשׂאת , which is to be supplied as in Isaiah 1:13, after Proverbs 30:21; Jeremiah 44:22).
(Note: In both instances the Masora writes אותו ( plene ), but the Talmud, B. Erachin 15 b , had אתו before it when it says: “Of the slanderer God says: I and he cannot dwell together in the world, I cannot bear it any longer with him ( אתּו ).”)
On the other hand, his eyes rest upon the faithful of the land, with the view, viz., of drawing them into his vicinity. Whoso walks in the way of uprightness, he shall serve him ( שׁרת , θεραπεύειν , akin to עבד , δουλεύειν ). He who practises deceit shall not stay within his house; he who speaks lies shall have no continuance ( יכּון is more than equivalent to נכון ) before (under) his eyes. Every morning ( לבּקרים as in Psalms 73:14; Isaiah 33:2; Lamentations 3:23, and לבקרים , Job 7:18), when Jahve shall have taken up His abode in Jerusalem, will he destroy all evil-doers ( רשׁעי as in Psalms 119:119), i.e., incorrigibly wicked ones, wherever he may meet them upon the earth, in order that all workers of evil may be rooted out of the royal city, which is now become the city of Jahve.