Psalms 101:4

4 The perverse of heart shall be far from me; I will have nothing to do with what is evil.

Psalms 101:4 in Other Translations

KJV
4 A froward heart shall depart from me: I will not know a wicked person.
ESV
4 A perverse heart shall be far from me; I will know nothing of evil.
NLT
4 I will reject perverse ideas and stay away from every evil.
MSG
4 The crooked in heart keep their distance; I refuse to shake hands with those who plan evil.
CSB
4 A devious heart will be far from me; I will not be involved with 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 be careful to lead a blameless life— when will you come to me? I will conduct the affairs of my house with a blameless heart.
3 I will not look with approval on anything that is vile. I hate what faithless people do; I will have no part in it.
4 The perverse of heart shall be far from me; I will have nothing to do with what is evil.
5 Whoever slanders their neighbor in secret, I will put to silence; whoever has haughty eyes and a proud heart, I will not tolerate.
6 My eyes will be on the faithful in the land, that they may dwell with me; the one whose walk is blameless will minister to me.

Cross References 1

  • 1. Proverbs 3:32; Proverbs 6:16-19; Proverbs 11:20
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