Psalms 101:4

4 A perverse heart will depart from me; I will not know evil.

Psalms 101:4 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 101:4

A froward heart shall depart from me
A man of a froward heart, that devises frowardness in his heart, and speaks it out with his mouth; that which is perverse, and contrary to the law of God and Gospel of Christ, to the light of nature and the word of God; contrary to the sentiments of all good men, and repugnant to truth and good manners: such sort of persons are disagreeable companions, and good men would not choose to have anything to do with them; they are hateful to Christ, and shall be bid to depart from him; see ( Proverbs 8:13 ) ( 6:14 ) .

I will not know a wicked person:
so as to be familiar with him, or show him any respect; have any affection for him, or take any notice of him; such Christ will not know at the great day, ( Matthew 7:23 ) , or "I will not know wickedness" F12, or any wicked work and action, approve of it, love it, delight in it, and do it: the Targum interprets it of the evil concupiscence, corruption of nature, or indwelling sin, which is hated by the believer, ( Romans 7:15 ) and is utterly unknown to Christ; he was not conscious of it; he knew no sin, ( 2 Corinthians 5:21 ) original or actual; he had no sin in him, nor was any done by him, or, it may be, mention is made of the morning, because that was the usual time of hearing and judging causes, ( Jeremiah 21:12 ) , or this may have respect to the spiritual reign of Christ, whose coming will be as the morning; when the Heathens shall perish out of his land, when sinners shall be consumed out of the earth, and the wicked shall be no more, and he will destroy them that destroy the earth, ( Psalms 10:16 ) ( 104:35 ) ( Revelation 11:18 ) . The Targum agrees with this,

``in the world to come, which is like to the light of the morning, I will destroy all the wicked of the earth:''

that I may cut off all wicked doers from the city of the Lord;
from the city of Jerusalem, as the Targum and Kimchi interpret it; and it may be understood of the church of God, in the spiritual reign of Christ, into which shall enter no more the uncircumcised and the unclean; and all that offend and do iniquity shall be gathered out of it, ( Isaiah 52:1 ) ( Matthew 13:41 ) or of the New Jerusalem church state, in the personal reign of Christ, into which no wicked doers will be admitted, but will remain for ever without, ( Revelation 21:27 ) ( 22:15 ) .


FOOTNOTES:

F12 (er) "malum hominem sive opus", Gejerus, Michaelis.

Psalms 101:4 In-Context

2 I will give attention to [the] way of integrity. When will you come to me? I will walk in the integrity of my heart in the midst of my house.
3 I will not set before my eyes any wicked thing. I hate the work of those who fall away; it will not cling to me.
4 A perverse heart will depart from me; I will not know evil.
5 One who slanders his neighbor in secret, him I will destroy. [One] haughty of eyes and {arrogant} of heart, him I will not endure.
6 My eyes [will be] on [the] faithful of [the] land, that [they may] live with me. [He who] walks in [the] way of integrity, he shall minister to me.
Scripture quotations marked (LEB) are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.