Chapter 101 is King David's psalm on the path of wholehearted integrity: how a person - and certainly a monarch - constructs his inner world and his environment so that not only his actions are pure, but also his thoughts, as well as the people in his home and court. In this part, we examine the verses where David details the banishment of evil from the heart, his abhorrence of slander and arrogance, and his deliberate choice to surround himself only with people of truth.
לֹא אָשִׁית לְנֶגֶד עֵינַי דְּבַר בְּלִיָּעַל, עֲשֹׂה סֵטִים שָׂנֵאתִי, לֹא יִדְבַּק בִּי׃ - I will set no base thing before my eyes; I hate the deeds of those who turn astray, it shall not cling to me.
In a humorous play on words, it is sometimes remarked: "I hate making sets (setim)" - a person should not constantly chase after matching "sets" of clothing and dishware. But of course, this is not the literal meaning of the verse, and we must clarify its true sense.
The Radak explains that "I will set no base thing before my eyes" means in one's thought. The human power of imagination and visualization resides in the anterior chambers of the brain, directly opposite the eyes. Notice that when a person thinks deeply, he places his hand on the front of his head, not the back. Thought is positioned in the front, facing the eyes. Therefore, "I will set no base thing before my eyes" means: I do not place any corrupt matter before my mind; I entertain no evil thoughts at all. "I hate the deeds of those who turn astray" - I despise the actions of deviants, and therefore "it shall not cling to me", not even in thought. The word setim shares a root with "if her husband's wife goes astray (tisteh)", meaning to veer from the upright path - not merely in the narrow modern sense, but in its broader meaning: I despise the deeds of people who stray from the path of righteousness.
The Malbim explains that here David reveals the essence of true integrity (temimut). In performing good deeds, one must not do them for external gain, so that others will notice and praise him. This was David's constant contemplation, to the point that he says: I view it as a primary principle that whoever does not act for the sake of Heaven, I regard his action as a base, worthless thing (dvar beliya'al). If someone fasts merely so that others will see him and deem him righteous, or prays solely so people will admire his devotion to Hashem, I regard this as a corrupt act. We might view such behavior as merely an imperfect form of righteousness; David says: I find this so abhorrent that I consider it an outright wicked deed.
The same principle applies to turning away from evil: it must not stem merely from the fear of punishment. For if a person refrains from evil only out of fear of retribution, it follows that if he were told the punishment for a certain sin had been abolished, he would immediately exclaim: Wonderful, now I can speak lashon hara freely! What does this reveal? That he does not serve Hashem because it is the Divine will, but because a gun is being held to his head. The moment the gun is lowered, he does whatever he pleases. David says: I loathe the evil itself. Even if the threat were removed, I would not do wrong, because I feel no attraction to it whatsoever. This is the meaning of "I hate the deeds of those who turn astray" - of my own accord, I abhor deviation from the upright path, to the point that it does not cling even to my thoughts. And this is the way of pure integrity of heart.
לֵבָב עִקֵּשׁ יָסוּר מִמֶּנִּי, רָע לֹא אֵדָע׃ - A perverse heart shall depart from me; I will know no evil.
The Radak explains: Anyone whose heart is crooked and perverse, I will not admit into my company. "I will know no evil" - a wicked person will not be among my acquaintances or close associates. From here we see how crucial it is not to keep negative individuals among one's close circle. The Gemara relates concerning Reish Lakish that anyone seen speaking with him in the marketplace would be lent money without witnesses; the mere fact that Reish Lakish exchanged a word with him was sufficient proof that the man was trustworthy. To such an extent must a person take care not to keep company with negative people, for ultimately they exert an influence.
The Malbim adds: Beyond David's hatred of actual evil deeds, he felt no inner inclination toward evil even in the thoughts of his heart. The definition of a "perverse heart", says the Malbim, is one whose natural heart - the arousal of desire, the ruling spirit within him (for the heart is the seat of governance within man) - leans contrary to the laws and pathways of wisdom, with the pull of his heart drawn toward evil. Our task is to reach a level where the heart is not drawn to evil at all; not merely that the heart is tempted and one manages to overcome it. Overcoming temptation is indeed a wonderful spiritual achievement, but the ultimate aspiration is that there be no attraction to evil whatsoever.
This aligns with the teaching of Rav Dessler, who explained that the very attraction to evil is itself a profound shortcoming. Consider an extreme example: If a wife were to tell her husband that she faced a test of infidelity at work today but overcame it, would she receive a commendation for that? What does it even mean to have had such a "test" - how could such a notion even enter her mind? In the same way, in the eyes of the angels, the mere premise of sinning is appalling. "Master of the Universe, I wanted to do things that anger You, but in the end I overcame it" - can it even be conceived that a person would want to anger his Creator? It is like a child who says to his father: "When you told me that, I wanted to slap you across the face, but I held myself back." How would a parent respond to that? Truly, in absolute justice, how could one even contemplate defying his Maker, from Whom he draws nourishment and breath at every single moment?
However, this is an angelic perspective. An angel is unaware of the power of evil within us; he does not know the yetzer hara. Therefore, the angels do not understand, "What is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him?" - for even the tzaddik had an initial thought toward evil. And what did the Holy One, blessed be He, do with Uzza and Azael when they prosecuted? He cast them down here, and we immediately saw that they, too, sinned. That is to say, the angels' perspective is quite correct in its own right, but they had not experienced it in practice, so it was easy for them to speak: accept an evil inclination and face the trial, and you will see that you, too, would entertain such a thought. But at the root of the matter, the true perspective is that it should be completely inconceivable for it to even enter one's mind to do evil, for how could one ever contemplate doing something that angers Hashem, may He be blessed?
The Malbim explains: A person with a crooked heart has a personal nature that strives toward evil, requiring a constant internal war to overcome it. "Ikesh" (crooked or perverse) means bent or warped. This is comparable to a car's steering wheel that pulls to the right: if you leave the car alone, it will continuously drift to the right, and you are forced to hold the wheel at all times so that it drives in the center. So it is with a person in constant deviation - that is a crooked heart. Similarly, "crooked..." - bent, and "a crooked way" - whose path is always slanted and does not walk straight. Walking straight at all times is the path of wholeness (temimut). David says: "A crooked heart shall depart from me" - I possess no inclination toward evil whatsoever.
And more than that: "I will not know evil" - doing good is so ingrained in me that I do not know evil at all. This was the state of man before the sin, when he had no acquaintance with evil whatsoever, and his entire spiritual task was between truth and falsehood rather than between good and evil. Good and evil belong to the reality of a world of desire, whereas Adam Harishon had no concerns of physical desire at all - "And they were both naked... and were not ashamed" - and all his trials were rational and intellect-based, as we have learned in the Nefesh HaChaim and the Siftei Chaim. So David says: I am like man before the sin, who knows no evil at all, for the imaginations and depictions of evil never even entered his heart.
Therefore it was said of King David, "and my heart is slain within me," and "Adam" is an acronym for Adam, David, Mashiach. And if you ask: If his heart was slain within him, how did he come to the sin of Batsheva? We have already discussed this at length. David's sin was not one of lust as we might imagine, stemming from unrefined character traits or an incomplete heart in the service of Hashem. Rather, as Rav Yisrael Salanter taught, there are two types of yetzer hara: the yetzer hara one is born with, which is our natural disposition, and a spiritual yetzer hara of fire sent from Heaven to test a person. In David's case, it was an angel of fire dispatched to entice him, and even that came as a result of his plea, "Examine me, Hashem, and test me." We find something similar regarding Yehudah, where an angel pushed him toward Tamar in order to bring forth the Davidic dynasty.
And so it was with Rav Amram Chassida - and "Chassida" (the Pious) represents a tremendous stature. When those female captives were housed in his attic, how was he suddenly able to lift by himself a ladder that required several men just to move? Furthermore, where have you ever seen a man in the grip of lust, in the very midst of pursuing his desire, begin shouting "Help!"? Such a thing is impossible. When is it possible? When he senses that this force is being imposed upon him from without; not an inner urge of "I want this," but an external compulsion - and then a person cries for help. And when he cried out, "Fire at Amram's house!" - as we recite in the piyut on Rosh Hashanah - a pillar of fire emerged from him. Why? Does a pillar of fire emerge from everyone who overcomes his yetzer? Rather, our yetzer hara is lustful, "built-in" to us, whereas his was not that same yetzer, but an angel sent from the outside to entice him, which is an extraordinarily formidable inclination. So it was with King David as well, but in terms of his own essence - "and my heart is slain within me."
In the sefer Pri Chaim, this is explained wonderfully. The trait of stubbornness is a very contemptible trait, and it is well known that many great luminaries labored over this. The Chazon Ish made a practice of relenting if pressed, so as not to be stubborn. Naturally, this does not apply to matters contrary to Judaism. But against the yetzer hara - here of all places, stubbornness is essential. The yetzer tempts a person ceaselessly, like a fly that you swat away and it immediately returns; if you are not stubborn, you will not be able to overcome it. Regarding Yosef HaTzaddik: "And it was, as she spoke to him day after day" - who can fathom the immense stubbornness required for that?
Regarding Rav Chaim Kanievsky, his sons said that everything he achieved was through the trait of stubbornness. "Father could not be moved from his resolve": he set a goal and a purpose for himself - and he attained it. During the first two years he set a goal to complete Shas annually, he did not manage to achieve it; we would have said, "It's not working, let's spread it over two years." He did not give up, and in the third year he achieved his goal. "Father was stubborn" - stubbornness of holiness. It is also related that when he went to learn the laws of the intercalated month (ibur hachodesh), whose astronomical calculations are extremely complex, people told him it was not for him, that it was too complicated. When he heard that, he resolved to sit with it until he mastered it; he sat and learned it on his own, until he became one of the few in the generation who had complete mastery over the laws of ibur. For is there any part of the Torah that one cannot merit? Thus we find that stubbornness is a very positive trait when used against the yetzer hara and to attain spiritual heights.
According to this, we can understand David's words. Our Sages say that the evil inclination is called "evil" - the Holy One, blessed be He, called it evil, as it is stated, "for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth." And this is the meaning of "A crooked heart shall depart from me" - Master of the Universe, remove from me the trait of stubbornness, which is a negative character trait. But all this is on the condition that "I will not know evil" - that I have no acquaintance with the yetzer hara and face no struggles with it. But if "I do know evil," if I must confront the yetzer - on the contrary, instill in me the quality of stubbornness against it. Against the yetzer, one must be stubborn.
מְלׇשְׁנִי בַסֵּתֶר רֵעֵהוּ אוֹתוֹ אַצְמִית, גְּבַהּ עֵינַיִם וּרְחַב לֵבָב אֹתוֹ לֹא אוּכָל׃ - Whoever secretly slanders his neighbor, him will I destroy; one of haughty eyes and an expansive heart, him I cannot endure.
The Radak explains that the yud in "meloshni" is superfluous, like "hamagbihi lashavet" (magbiah, with an added yud), and here "meloshan" follows the grammatical pattern of "meshofat." It refers to a slanderer: one who comes and secretly slanders his fellow before me - "You know, David, so-and-so did such-and-such against you." Of him David says, "him will I destroy" - I would rebuke him and cut him off from before me so that he would never see my face again. And this is the opposite of other kings, notes the Radak, who actually draw informants close, since through them they learn everything that is taking place everywhere.
It is said that when the archives from the KGB era in Russia were opened - and even earlier from the days of the NKVD - it became clear that half the population had been informing on the other half and vice versa, giving the authorities precise information about everything that was taking place. Such a reality is very convenient for a regime: nothing is hidden; they know everything.
Incidentally, this is one of the mistakes made by teachers and educators: they establish informant systems in the classroom, which is destructive and poisons the atmosphere. An incident from yeshivah ketanah illustrates this: in a certain class, the students felt that a classmate was slipping spiritually, and they went to discuss it with the mashgiach. The mashgiach, Rav Ezra Nissan zt"l, mashgiach of Yeshivat Rinat HaTorah and an outstanding educator, met them with a stern countenance: What does this have to do with you? Why is it your concern? Are you his mashgiach? Even though their intentions were good, he wanted to make it clear that he would not tolerate mechanisms of informing. He knew every talmid inside and out, possessing a rare discernment to recognize the spiritual standing of each one. "I have no need for informers" - for such practices breed internal unrest: one runs to report on another, and each seeks to curry favor with the rebbe or mashgiach. Only a weak teacher, a weak melamed, or a weak mashgiach needs informers. One who does his work properly and knows his students well has no need for reports from others; on the contrary, it causes corruption. Seeking to gain favor by elevating oneself through the humiliation of another is profoundly destructive.
David says: I am the opposite of other kings, who draw informers close so they can penalize the accused financially - immediately fining them and expropriating their money. I did not act this way; rather, I despised the informer, and I would never punish anyone unless there were witnesses against him. In fact, I would cut down the informer from before me and treat him as a liar. And why? Could he not be speaking the truth? This is just as the Gemara states: "Tuviah sinned and Zigud was lashed." Zigud came to testify that Tuviah had sinned, and the court administered lashes to Zigud. He exclaimed, "Tuviah sinned, and I am the one being lashed?" They answered him, "You are a lone witness, and as a single witness you are forbidden to testify, for your testimony cannot be accepted in any case; it turns out that this is mere lashon hara, and you deserve to receive lashes." Likewise in Pesachim (113b), among the things the Holy One, Blessed be He, hates is one who sees a fellow commit a sin and testifies against him alone. Your testimony accomplishes nothing; why, then, defame him?
By way of an allusion (remez): the initial letters of the words geva einayim urechav levav ("one of haughty eyes and an expansive heart") spell lo'eg (one who mocks). Who is always mocking his fellow? The one who has haughty eyes and an expansive heart, looking down on everyone with arrogance: "What does he even understand about life?" And with those very same letters, they spell go'al (disgust, revulsion): it is utterly repulsive to act this way, constantly ridiculing others.
The Radak notes that Shlomo used a similar phrase: "Haughtiness of eyes and an expansive heart" (Mishlei 21:4). The meaning is: one whose eyes are raised high to gaze upon worldly desires, and his heart is expanded by them - as the Radak phrases it, making ample room for them in his heart and constantly dwelling on them. "An expansive heart" is an expression of lust: a broad, insatiable heart that constantly craves both this and that, envying whatever others possess. Regarding this person David says, "him I cannot endure" (oto lo uchal) - I cannot reform him; there is nothing to be done with him. For if you tell him to look upward in order to escape arrogance, that very instruction will lead him to envy; and if you tell him to look downward in order to escape envy, that will lead him back to arrogance.
It is told of the tzaddik Rabbi Avraham Yehoshua Heschel of Apt, author of the Ohev Yisrael, that he once traveled to spend Shabbat in a town near Iași, Romania. Two wealthy men lived there whose homes were spacious, easily capable of providing the tzaddik with a private room and attending to all his needs, and both came to invite him to stay with them. The Rebbe looked into their character, and it emerged that one was scrupulously meticulous in mitzvot but plagued by pride and arrogance, while the other took no pride in his wealth at all and was humble, though not as meticulous in mitzvot. The Rebbe chose to stay with the second man, and he continued to do so whenever he visited.
People began to whisper: Why does the Rav stay with someone who is not meticulous in mitzvot rather than with the first? He said to them: It is true, but you must know - the first man is indeed clean of every transgression, yet he is tainted by the trait of arrogance, and the Holy One, Blessed be He, says of an arrogant person, "I and he cannot dwell together in the world." If the Holy One, Blessed be He, says that He cannot dwell with him, how much more so lowly I, who cannot remain in the same quarters with him. The second wealthy man, however, is imbued with humility and modesty. And what if he occasionally stumbles into sin? Regarding the Holy One, Blessed be He, it is written, "Who dwells among them in the midst of their defilements," and Chazal teach that Hashem remains with the Jewish people even amidst their impurity. If so, Hashem is there; and although it may not be the pinnacle of sanctity, if Hashem can be with him, I can as well. I prefer to be in that place rather than in the other.
עֵינַי בְּנֶאֶמְנֵי אֶרֶץ לָשֶׁבֶת עִמָּדִי, הֹלֵךְ בְּדֶרֶךְ תָּמִים הוּא יְשָׁרְתֵנִי׃ - My eyes are upon the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me; he who walks in a blameless way, he shall serve me.
The Malbim explains: "My eyes" - this refers to my careful observation in governing the kingdom. Ancient rulers would select advisors and ministers who were loyal to them personally, whose sole objective was to increase the king's possessions, wealth, and treasuries. Such an advisor devises clever schemes to impose yet another tax, even though it suffocates the citizenry - and why should he care? His salary comes from the king, so his only concern is the king's benefit. David says: With me, it is not so. My objective is the good of the land, the good of the public and the citizens. Therefore, "my eyes are upon the faithful of the land" - I focused my gaze on choosing advisors and ministers who are loyal to the land, not merely loyal to me. These are individuals who labor for the welfare of the country so that its inhabitants will prosper; and after all, the prosperity of the country inherently brings success to the king as well. But I never sought my own advantage at the expense of the people dwelling in Zion.
"He who walks in a blameless way, he shall serve me" - even when it comes to someone who serves me for my household needs, I take only a person who walks in an upright, blameless way, a good and righteous man, and not someone flawed in character. David illustrates here the depth of his devotion to surrounding himself exclusively with upright people.
לֹא יֵשֵׁב בְּקֶרֶב בֵּיתִי עֹשֵׂה רְמִיָּה, דֹּבֵר שְׁקָרִים לֹא יִכּוֹן לְנֶגֶד עֵינָי׃ - One who practices deceit shall not dwell within my house; one who speaks falsehood shall not be established before my eyes.
The Radak explains: "He who practices deceit shall not dwell within my house" - in any appointment or official role. I will grant no position in my house to someone who practices deceit. And one who speaks falsehood - I cannot even bear to look at him, "he shall not be established before my eyes," and all the more so will I not admit him into my home.
The Malbim adds: Do not suggest there is a risk that someone might deceive me, pretending deceitfully to be righteous when he is not truly so - after all, you said, "My eyes are upon the faithful of the land" and "one who walks in the way of integrity," so perhaps this is merely an outward facade? To this, David responds: "one who practices deceit" will not dwell within my house, for the conduct in my house is entirely antithetical to the ways of the deceitful. In my home, everything is conducted in truth and righteousness; therefore, it is impossible for anyone to serve there who is not genuinely upright - for "one who speaks falsehood shall not be established before my eyes."
לַבְּקָרִים אַצְמִית כָּל רִשְׁעֵי אָרֶץ, לְהַכְרִית מֵעִיר ה' כָּל פֹּעֲלֵי אָוֶן׃ - Each morning I will destroy all the wicked of the land, to cut off all evildoers from the city of Hashem.
"Each morning" - every single morning. Rashi explains similarly: Day by day, little by little, I will eliminate the wicked of Israel who are liable to death. And why in the morning? As Scripture says, "Execute justice in the morning" (Yirmeyahu 21:12), and as in the verse, "They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness" (Eichah 3:23). Every morning I will execute strict judgment upon the wicked of the land, and this will serve to cut off all evildoers from the city of Hashem - so that there will be no wicked people even in the city, and not only in my own home.
In this psalm, King David teaches us the path of integrity in its full perfection: not merely clean actions, but a clean thought process - "I will set no base thing before my eyes"; neither doing good for the sake of reward nor abstaining from evil out of fear of punishment, but an intrinsic hatred of evil; and not merely overcoming the inclinations of the heart, but "a crooked heart shall depart from me; I will know no evil" - having no attraction to evil whatsoever. Stubbornness, which is generally a reprehensible trait, is transformed into something positive when it is turned against the yetzer hara. From this foundation, David builds his surroundings: distancing the slanderer, the arrogant, and the haughty, drawing close the faithful of the land and those who walk in the path of integrity, and refusing to allow the deceitful and liars to dwell in his house - until this pure leadership radiates outward from his home to the entire city of Hashem.