Psalms · Psalm 101

"I shall sing of kindness and judgment" — when You bestow kindness upon me, I will praise you [with the blessing:] “Blessed be He Who is good and does good,” and when You perform judgment upon me, I will sing, “Blessed be the true Judge.” In either case, to You, O Lord, I shall sing.

'A Psalm of David' — the meaning of 'I will sing' is that he composed a song to declare the kindness and the justice that he performs for all his people, as in 'and David executed justice' (2 Samuel 8:15). And the meaning of 'to You, Hashem, I will sing praises' is: that You made me ruler, and taught me, and helped me, so as to perform Your judgments in the land.

"A Psalm of David" — In this psalm David relates the laws of his kingship, the manner in which he conducts himself with Israel; and he also relates what he does in his free time — that litigants should not come before him, and he secludes himself from people during those hours when he is free; he occupies his heart with matters of wisdom, turns his heart away from the affairs of the world, and prepares his heart to receive the holy spirit. And he said, "Mercy and justice I will sing" — concerning the mercy and the justice that I perform toward Israel I will sing; I will sing praises to You and thank Your name, for You have made me king over them and given me a good heart to reign over them with justice and righteousness.

"Mercy and justice" — Just as I will sing to You concerning mercy, so I will sing to You concerning justice, and I will not question the attribute of justice.

'Of David, a psalm' — he relates his conduct, both in matters between himself and his God, and in matters between himself and other people. 'Mercy and justice I will sing' — Hashem's governance toward me is either mercy or justice, and no evil is found in it. For the good that He grants comes from His mercy, not from obligation, for 'who has anticipated Me, that I should repay him?' And the evil comes from justice, on account of evil deeds, in order to atone for iniquity and put an end to sin. Therefore for both of them, 'I will sing' — as our Sages said, 'whether it is mercy or whether it is justice, I will sing.' For in both, 'to You, Hashem, I will sing praises' — I will praise Hashem, whether for His mercy, or because He performed justice, which stems from His providence and His righteousness, and from the fact that He watches over me in order to put an end to my impurity.

"I shall concern myself" — I shall direct my thoughts to the way of integrity. "When will it come to me" — The straight path, to walk upon it, and I shall walk with the integrity of my heart even within my house, in private as well as in public.

'I will give heed to the way of integrity' — 'integrity' describes 'the way,' as in 'and He made my way perfect' (Psalm 18:33). 'When will You come to me?' — the meaning is: that he will always give heed, at every moment, to accustom himself to walk in it, until he no longer tires from walking, and it is as if the way comes to him by itself — like [playing] the lyre, from much practice. And Rabbi Moses said: 'when will You come to me' is like 'and God came to Balaam' (Numbers 22:20) — that the Holy Spirit would rest upon him in his house, when he secluded himself from people, from their judgments and their disputes. And whichever explanation is correct — so he explained it to me — and whichever explanation is correct, it speaks of the time of his seclusion and separation. And behold, the meaning of 'I will walk' is habitual practice, as in 'and Enoch walked [with God]' (Genesis 5:24).

"I will give heed" [askilah] — I will set my heart to give heed to the way that is the way of integrity; and I watch [in hope], "when will You come to me" — meaning, You will come to me with the holy spirit. "I will walk within my house in the integrity of my heart" — A person who gives his whole heart to reflect upon a matter walks about within his house, back and forth.

"I will give heed" — I will set my heart on the way of integrity, and I long for it, saying: When will it come to me, that I may fulfill it? For my whole desire is that a commandment come my way. "Within my house" — that is, in private just as in public.

'I will give heed to the way of integrity' (tamim) — the definition of integrity is that one performs an act of righteousness not for the sake of any external interest, such as hope of reward or fear of punishment, or for the sake of some other interest such as to boast or to glorify oneself and the like, but rather does it out of love of the good, because it is good, and because Hashem commanded it. And in a broader sense, one is called 'whole' (tamim) who appears outwardly to persist steadily in righteousness and never deviates from it; yet even so, it is possible that he is not whole in his heart, for his heart is full of other interests and extraneous purposes for whose sake he performs righteousness. To distinguish between them, the one who is truly whole is called by the name 'whole of heart' (tam levav), for his wholeness is rooted in his heart, not merely in his outward behavior. And since a person can easily deceive himself and think that he performs his deeds with wholeness, when in truth, upon searching his heart, one finds within it a hidden interest of honor or pride or the like — he therefore says: 'I will give heed to the way of integrity; when will it come to me' — this way — meaning that he will be truly whole to the point that he does not go to the way, but rather the way comes to him. That is, it will not be through habituation, but rather it will be ingrained in his soul, in such a way that the way is found in his very nature. And the test for this will be: 'when I walk in the integrity of my heart,' even 'within my house,' where there is no interest of being praised by people or of self-glorification — this is a sign that his heart is truly whole, not merely outwardly whole. (Now, one who is not truly whole and performs his deeds for the sake of external interests looks to the benefits he will gain by doing good, and fears the punishment he will incur by transgressing Hashem's commandments; and to him, mercy and justice are not equal, and he does not regard them equally. Not so the one who is truly whole — to him justice and punishment are equal in his eyes to the good and the mercy he receives from Hashem. And this is why he prefaced it with 'mercy and justice I will sing,' for this too pertains to the matter of integrity.)

"wayward" — Heb. סטים, an expression of (Num. 5:12): “whose wife strays (תשטה) from the right path,” to turn away from the road, destolemant in Old French, to swerve.

'I will not' — this speaks of the thought that is in the forehead [i.e., before one's eyes/mind]. 'The doing' — like 'the making of books' (Ecclesiastes 12:12). 'Crooked things' [סטים] — of the pattern of 'vessels' [כלים], from the same root as 'if his wife go astray' (Numbers 5:12): 'no crookedness shall cling to me.'

"No [base thing before my eyes]" — meaning, my thought is pure, through wisdom and the holy spirit. And it says, "before my eyes" — for the faculty of imagination is located in the two forward chambers of the brain, which are opposite the eyes. "The doing of crooked things I hate" — The deeds of foolish men I hate; therefore let no worthless thing or deed of fools cling to me, even in thought. "And setim" [crooked things] — from the same root as "if his wife goes astray [tisteh]." And the word "asei" ["the doing of"] is an infinitive used in place of a noun, like "ma'aseh" [deed].

"I will set no" — I will not gaze upon the words of a wicked person. "The doing" — I hate the deed of those who turn aside, and none of it shall cling to me.

"Base thing" — the deed of a worthless person. "Crooked" — its meaning is things that turn aside from the straight path, as in 'let your heart not turn aside to her ways' (Proverbs 7:25).

"I will not" — he explains that wholehearted integrity (temimut) must be present even in doing good: one should not act toward some ulterior purpose in view, on which he fixes his eyes and his intention while doing the good, to the point that "I set before my eyes" (that is, as the goal of my deeds) "a base thing," for whose sake I do the good — like one who fasts and prays for the sake of honor and the like. So too, in turning away from evil, it should not be out of fear of punishment, to the point that the evil itself is not hated for its own sake, but he turns away from it only out of fear of punishment. Rather, "I hate the doing of things crooked" — hated for its own sake, on my own account, so that "it shall not cleave to me" in my thought at all.

"I know no evil" — I love no [evil] (Another explanation: [Shem Ephraim]) I recognize no evil thing.

'A heart' [that is perverse] — a man whose heart is crooked is also evil, an evil man. For how could it say 'I will know no evil'? This refers to the fool, of whom it is written that they do not know how to do evil — for it [the evil inclination] is inherent in man's nature from his youth.

"A perverse heart" — Whoever has a crooked heart shall depart from me, for he shall never be in my company. "Evil I will not know" — An evil man I will not know, meaning he shall not be among my acquaintances or those close to me.

"A perverse heart" — Whoever has a perverse heart shall depart from me, and I will not associate with him. "Evil" — A wicked man shall not be among my acquaintances and friends. (And for this reason a loved one is called an "acquaintance," because he knows him and is familiar with him.)

“Perverse” — crooked, bent.

"Heart" — besides actually hating the doing of evil in practice, he has no inclination toward it even in thought, in his heart. And the definition of "a perverse heart" is one whose heart's nature — that is, the arousing faculty and the spirit that governs him — inclines toward the opposite of the laws of wisdom and its ways. There is such a person who has a perverse heart, meaning he desires evil to the point that he must wage an inner war with the heart's inclination (yetzer) to bring it back to uprightness and good. But "a perverse heart shall depart from me," for no inclination toward evil is found in my heart at all. And he adds, saying, "I will know no evil thing" — my heart is so naturally disposed toward doing good that I do not know at all what evil is, like man before the sin, who knew nothing of evil at all, because the images of evil had no power at all over the furrows of his heart, and he neither grasped them nor knew them.

"I cannot tolerate him" — that he should be my friend, lest I learn from his deeds.

'He who slanders' [מלשני] — the yod is extra, and it is a descriptive term meaning the same as מלשין ['a slanderer']. 'I will destroy' — in accordance with the laws of kingship. Or: 'I will destroy his talebearing' — except one who is broad of heart, and the meaning [of 'broad of heart'] is 'very wise,' as in: 'and one who is broad of heart, I will not be able to destroy him,' for by his wisdom he guards his life and his words. And some say: 'him I will not be able to see,' or 'him I will not be able to bear' — and this latter is closer [to the correct meaning].

"Whoever slanders" — the yud is extra, like the yud in "Who exalts Himself to sit" (המגביהי לשבת), and the word comes from the quadriliteral pa'al pattern of "lashan" (to slander); and so too, one who slandered his fellow to me in secret, saying, "He did such and such," in order to render him liable under the judgments of the royal court. "Him will I destroy" — meaning, I would rebuke the men who slander and cut such a man off from before me, and I would hate the slanderer; but I would not punish a person without witnesses, for I regard this slanderer as a liar, since even if he speaks the truth, he sins in that he testifies against him alone [as a single witness]. "Haughty of eye and proud of heart" — one whose eyes are lofty and raised, gazing upon the desires of the world, and whose heart is broadened toward them, meaning he makes room for them in his heart and thinks about them; and since his eyes and his heart are set upon them, he runs after them. "Him will I not suffer" — that is, I cannot bear to look at him, or, I cannot bear him.

"Whoever slanders" — Whoever slanders his fellow in secret, him I will cut off. "Haughty of eyes" — He is a possessor of pride. "And proud of heart" — One who covets and desires everything. "Him I will not suffer" — I will not be able to bear him, for these deeds are hateful in my eyes.

“Slanders” — from the term malshin (informer/slanderer), the yod being extra. “Him will I destroy” — a term for cutting off, as in “and He will cut them off through their own evil” (above, Psalm 94). “Suffer” — from the term for ability (yecholet).

"Whoever slanders" — now he tells of his conduct with others: he will not behave as people do, who accept slander (lashon hara). On the contrary, whoever slanders his fellow "in secret" — I will not punish the one slandered, but rather the slanderer I will destroy. And more than that: whoever has evil traits, such as "haughty of eye" in the trait of arrogance, and "proud of heart" in the trait of covetousness, "I will not suffer" him at all.

'My eyes,' 'to dwell with me' — when I sit on the throne of judgment, even one who does not serve me and does not stand before me at the time of judgment [may be included] — only [ultimately it is] he who walks in the way of integrity [who shall serve me].

"My eyes" — the wicked I will keep far from my house and from my company; but as for the faithful of the land, my eyes are upon them, to bring them very close to me from wherever they may be. Therefore it says "the faithful of the land," that I may seat them with me. Likewise, for serving me and for my service, I take only the good.

"My eyes" — I set my eyes upon the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me.

"My eyes" — regarding the conduct of the kingdom: the rulers of the lands of the East had this practice, to choose counselors and officials who would be loyal to the ruler in amassing wealth and gathering treasures, without paying any attention at all to the welfare of the state. But as for me, whose aim is the welfare of the state, I will choose counselors who are "faithful of the land" — meaning, men who are faithful also to the land and the state — who "shall dwell with me" and will strive for the welfare of the state, to make its inhabitants prosper. "He who walks" — and also the one who serves me for the needs of my household, I will take none but "he who walks in a way of integrity," who is a good and righteous man.

'Shall not,' 'deceit' — far from deceit are those who do his will and sit at his table.

"Shall not dwell" — in my house, in any post of oversight or appointment, shall one who practices deceit. Likewise, "he who speaks falsehood shall not be established before my eyes" — meaning, I cannot bear to look at him, how much more so that he should not be among those who dwell in my house.

"Shall not dwell" — I do not allow a man who commits deceit to dwell in my house. "Shall not be established" — He shall not be fit to sit before my eyes.

"He shall not" — there is no concern that he will deceive me and pass himself off deceitfully as righteous when he is not, for "he who works deceit" himself "shall not dwell within my house," because the conduct of my house is opposed to his nature, since in my house everything is done in truth and righteousness. Nor will the servant be a speaker of lies who is not truly sincere, for "he who speaks falsehood shall not be established before my eyes." And more than that: "every morning" — each and every morning — "I will destroy all the wicked of the land," and I will execute against them a decisive judgment, which will serve "to cut off from the city of Hashem" so that no "workers of iniquity" will be found there at all.

"Betimes I cut down" — Every day, I cut down the wicked of Israel little by little, those who are condemned to death.

'Morning by morning' — every day, in accordance with his practice of reviewing judgment each morning. And some say: that '[for] My eyes are on the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me' refers to the council of the kingdom — 'he shall not sit' refers to the judges. And some say: that 'he shall not sit' means like those who sit in the first [rank], as I have explained.

"Morning by morning" — every single day, continually. "Will I destroy all the wicked of the land" — wherever they are; and all the more so will I cut them off from the city of Hashem, which is Jerusalem.

"Morning by morning" — Every morning, with great alacrity, I will cut off all the wicked of the land, [as it continues] "to cut off etc.," until not one remains.