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Psalm 101
A Psalm of David.
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.
The first stanza of this psalm is the king himself speaking, but with
verse 4 the speaker switches to God after that and remains there. You may
have noticed this pattern in previous psalms, although there is no
announcement of the change. One can imagine a duo singing this psalm in
the Temple, one voice for the king and the other for the Lord. You have be
sensitive when reading the psalms to be sure you know who is speaking.
Another interesting thought is verse 3: “ I will set no wicked thing
before mine eyes:” That’s not so easy to do with a television in the
house.
[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."
Note the contrast between two hearts, one perfect (v. 3), one froward
(v. 4). The contrast is more obvious in Hebrew than in the archaic King
James Version. The word "froward" is archaic, but was a good choice at the
time. It means, "habitually disposed to disobedience and opposition," or
habitually adverse.
On the other hand, the perfect heart in Hebrew is a "complete" heart.
I don't think this answers to our "whole hearted," but rather to the idea
of an integrated, single minded heart. |
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