Psalms 15:4

15:4 He despises a reprobate, ¹ 

but honors the Lord’s loyal followers. ² 

He makes firm commitments and does not renege on his promise. ³ 

Psalms 101:3-7

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 

Psalms 119:21

119:21 You reprimand arrogant people.

Those who stray from your commands are doomed. ¹⁵ 

[15:4]  ¹ tn Heb “despised in his eyes [is] a rejected [one].” The Hebrew term נִמְאָס (nim’as, “rejected [one]”) apparently refers here to one who has been rejected by God because of his godless behavior. It stands in contrast to “those who fear God” in the following line.

[15:4]  ² tn Heb “those who fear the Lord.” The one who fears the Lord respects his sovereignty and obeys his commandments. See Ps 128:1; Prov 14:2.

[15:4]  ³ tn Heb “he takes an oath to do harm and does not change.” The phrase “to do harm” cannot mean “do harm to others,” for the preceding verse clearly characterizes this individual as one who does not harm others. In this context the phrase must refer to an oath to which a self-imprecation is attached. The godly individual takes his commitments to others so seriously he is willing to “swear to his own hurt.” For an example of such an oath, see Ruth 1:16-17.

[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.”

[119:21]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “accursed.” The traditional punctuation of the Hebrew text takes “accursed” with the previous line (“arrogant, accursed ones”), but it is preferable to take it with the second line as the predicate of the statement.