The Word Made Fresh
(A psalm of David.)
1I will sing to you, LORD,
a psalm praising your loyalty and fairness.
2I will seek to live in wisdom.
Then will you come to me, if I walk in my house with a pure heart?
3I will not look at any base thing,
and I will shun the things that lure others away from the right path.
4I will not have a base heart,
and will hate the things done by those who fall away from you.
5I will silence anyone who slanders a neighbor,
and I will not tolerate arrogance and haughtiness.
6I will favor those in the land who are faithful.
They will be my neighbors,
and those who are blameless will be my ministers.
7I will allow no one to remain in my house who is deceitful,
and liars will not continue in my company.
8Morning by morning I will sweep away the wicked in the land
and banish evildoers from the LORD’s city.
Commentary
Superscription: this is the 57th of the Davidic psalms.
1-4: This psalm appears to be the sacred pledge of a king to rule with integrity and with justice, but also with an iron hand. The first four verses have to do with character. They reflect the aspirations of many of us who seek to live according to God’s guidance.
5-8: The last half of the psalm, however, contains the king’s promises to deal with corruption in the land, and the approach is two-fold. In the first place, unlawful behavior will not be tolerated. Secondly, faithful behavior will be rewarded. Would that all our leaders were so determined to wipe out crookedness in the halls of government!
Takeaway
This psalm speaks to the need of surrounding ourselves with friends who are good and upright and love the LORD. There is danger in keeping company with those who have no relationship with the One who made us. This is not an act of being judgmental, but rather of choosing the right path.