Psalms 101:1-7

Psalm 101 ¹ 

A psalm of David.

101:1 I will sing about loyalty and justice!

To you, O Lord, I will sing praises!

101:2 I will walk in ²  the way of integrity.

When will you come to me?

I will conduct my business with integrity in the midst of my palace. ³ 

101:3 I will not even consider doing what is dishonest. ⁴ 

I hate doing evil; ⁵ 

I will have no part of it. ⁶ 

101:4 I will have nothing to do with a perverse person; ⁷ 

I will not permit ⁸  evil.

101:5 I will destroy anyone who slanders his neighbor in secret.

I will not tolerate anyone who has a cocky demeanor and an arrogant attitude. ⁹ 

101:6 I will favor the honest people of the land, ¹⁰ 

and allow them to live with me. ¹¹ 

Those who walk in the way of integrity will attend me. ¹² 

101:7 Deceitful people will not live in my palace. ¹³ 

Liars will not be welcome in my presence. ¹⁴ 

[101:1]  ¹ sn 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.

[101:2]  ² tn Heb “take notice of.”

[101:2]  ³ tn Heb “I will walk about in the integrity of my heart in the midst of my house.”

[101:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “I will not set before my eyes a thing of worthlessness.”

[101:3]  ⁵ 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).

[101:3]  ⁶ tn Heb “it [i.e., the doing of evil deeds] does not cling to me.”

[101:4]  ⁷ 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).

[101:4]  ⁸ tn Heb “know.” The king will not willingly allow perverse individuals to remain in his royal court.

[101:5]  ⁹ tn Heb “[one who has] pride of eyes and wideness [i.e., arrogance] of heart, him I will not endure.”

[101:6]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “my eyes [are] on the faithful of the land.”

[101:6]  ¹¹ tn The Hebrew text simply reads, “in order to live with me.”

[101:6]  ¹² tn Heb “one who walks in the way of integrity, he will minister to me.”

[101:7]  ¹³ tn Heb “he will not live in the midst of my house, one who does deceit.”

[101:7]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “one who speaks lies will not be established before my eyes.”