properly · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
destroy
אַצְמִ֥ית'atz.Mit
H6789
to extirpate (literally or figuratively) · verb, hiphil imperfect, 1st person common singular
wicked
רִשְׁעֵיrish.'ei-
H7563
morally wrong · noun, common masculine plural construct
land
אָ֑רֶץ'A.retz
H776
the earth (at large · noun, common feminine singular absolute
off
לְהַכְרִ֥יתle.hakh.Rit
H3772
to cut (off · preposition + verb, hiphil infinitive construct
wicked
אָֽוֶן'A.ven
H205
strictly nothingness · noun, common masculine singular absolute
doers
פֹּ֥עֲלֵיPo.'a.lei
H6466
to do or make (systematically and habitually) · verb, qal active participle, masculine plural construct
city
מֵֽעִירme.'ir-
H5892
a city (a place guarded by waking or a watch) in the wi… · preposition + noun, common feminine singular construct
LORD
יְ֝הוָ֗הYah.weh
H3068
Jehovah · proper noun, a title
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Psalms 75:10 All the horns of the wicked also will I cut off; but the horns of the righteous shall be exalted.
Jeremiah 21:12 O house of David, thus saith the LORD; Execute judgment in the morning, and deliver him that is spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor, le…
Proverbs 16:12 It is an abomination to kings to commit wickedness: for the throne is established by righteousness.
Psalms 48:8 As we have heard, so have we seen in the city of the LORD of hosts, in the city of our God: God will establish it for ever. Selah.
Proverbs 20:26 A wise king scattereth the wicked, and bringeth the wheel over them.
Revelation 22:14-15 Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.
Psalms 46:4 There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High.
Proverbs 20:8 A king that sitteth in the throne of judgment scattereth away all evil with his eyes.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Psalms 101:1–end
David here cuts out to himself and others a pattern both of a good magistrate and a good master of a family; and, if these were careful to discharge the duty of their place, it would contribute very much to a universal reformation. Observe,
I. The chosen subject of the psalm (Psa 101:1): I will sing of mercy and judgment, that is,
1. Of God's mercy and judgment, and then it looks back upon the dispensations of Providence concerning David since he was first anointed to be king, during which time he had met with many a rebuke and much hardship on the one hand, and yet, on the other hand, had had many wonderful deliverances wrought for him and favours bestowed upon him; of these he will sing un…
I will early destroy all the wicked of the land, Of the land of Israel, signifying that he would make a general reformation throughout the kingdom; that as soon as wicked men were discovered in any part of the land, he would cut them off, would take the first opportunity of punishing them as the law directs: or he would do it "in morning" (s), as in the Hebrew text; that is, every morning, constantly and continually;
(s) "in matutinis", Montanus, Vatablus, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Cocceius; so Ainsworth.
John Calvin on Psalms 101:6–end
Psalm 101:6-8
6. My eyes are towards the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me: he who walketh in an upright way shall minister to me. 7. He who worketh [or practiseth] deceit shall not dwell in the midst of my house: he who speaketh falsehoods shall not abide in my sight. 8. Early [132] will I destroy all the wicked of the land; that I may cut off all the workers of iniquity from the city of Jehovah.
6 My eyes are towards the faithful of the land David here lays down another virtue of a wise prince, when he affirms that it will be his care to make all the faithful of the land his intimate friends, -- that he will avail himself of their good offices, and have as domestic servan…
In the mornings I slew all the sinners of the earth. Well did he say, the sinners of the earth: for sinners are earthly. This is what he means, that the promptings of the devil, which he was suggesting to me, I cast out of my heart, and did not take up. For when evil thoughts are cast out, the demons are slain. The Jews, hearing this verse, and following the letter that kills, and desiring to shed blood, if anyone has transgressed against the law, put him to death. Since indeed they are not content with the slaying of the prophets: but they even crucified the Lord himself. That I might destroy out of the city of the Lord all who work iniquity. Would that we too may destroy out of the city of the Lord those who work iniquity. The city of the Lord is the church of the saints, the congregation of the just. That I might destroy: that is, I will reprove and rebuke him who sins, that he may do penance, and destroy iniquity out of his heart. For he did not say, that he may be cast out.
"In the morning I destroyed all the ungodly that were in the land. That I may root out all wicked doers from the city of the Lord" [Psalm 101:8]. This is obscure. There are then wicked doers in the city of the Lord, and they at present, seemingly, spared. Why so? Because it is the season of mercy: but that of judgment will come; for the Psalm thus began, "Of mercy and judgment will I sing unto Thee, O Lord." ...He at present spareth, He will then judge. But when will He judge? When night shall have passed away. For this reason He hath said: "In the morning." When the day shall at last have arrived, night having passed by. Why doth He spare them until the dawn? Because it was night. What meaneth, it was night? Because it was the season for mercy: He was merciful, while the hearts of men were hidden. Thou seest some one living ill; thou endurest him: for thou knowest not of what sort he will prove to be; since it is night; whether he who to-day liveth ill, to-morrow may live well; and whether he who to-day liveth well, to-morrow may be wicked. For it is night, and God endureth all men, since He is of long-suffering: He endureth them, that sinners may be converted unto Him. But they who shall not have reformed themselves in that season of mercy, shall be slain. And wherefore? That they may be scattered abroad from the city of the Lord, from the fellowship of Jerusalem, from the fellowship of the Saints, from the fellowship of the Church. But when shall they be slain? "At dawn." What meaneth, "at dawn"? When night shall have passed away. Wherefore now doth he spare? Because it is the season of mercy. Why doth He not always spare? Because, "Mercy and judgment will I sing unto Thee, O Lord." Brethren, let no man flatter himself: all the doers of iniquity shall be slain; Christ shall slay them at the dawn, and shall destroy them from His city. But now while it is the time of mercy, let them hear Him. Everywhere He crieth out by the Law, by the Prophets, by the Psalms, by the Epistles, by the Gospels: see that He is not silent; that He spareth; that He granteth mercy; but beware, for the judgment will come.
Dictionary and topics
Titles And Names Of The Wicked · Wicked doers — Wicked doers
Zeal, Religious · EXEMPLIFIE — EXEMPLIFIE
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
on Psalms 101:7-8
The psalmist commits himself to ridding his house and the city of the Lord—representing the entire kingdom—of all evil.
Spurgeon's Treasury of David on Psalms 101:8
I will early destroy all the wicked of the land; that I may cut off all wicked doers from the city of the Lord.
I will early destroy all the wicked of the land. At the very outset of his government he would promptly deal out justice to the worthless, he would leave them no rest, but make them leave their wickedness or feel the lash of the law. The righteous magistrate "beareth not the sword in vain." To favour sin is to discourage virtue; undue leniency to the bad is unkindness to the good. When our Lord comes in judgment, this verse will be fulfilled on a large scale; till then he sinks the judge in the Saviour, and bids men leave their sins and find pardon. Under the gospel we also are bi…
Now if these words in the law, "Thou shalt have dominion over many nations, and no one shall rule over thee," were simply a promise to them of dominion, and if they contain no deeper meaning than this, then it is certain that the people would have had still stronger grounds for despising the promises of the law. Celsus brings forward another passage, although he changes the terms of it, where it is said that the whole earth shall be filled with the Hebrew race; which indeed, according to the testimony of history, did actually happen after the coming of Christ, although rather as a result of God's anger, if I may so say, than of His blessing. As to the promise made to the Jews that they should slay their enemies, it may be answered that any one who examines carefully into the meaning of this passage will find himself unable to interpret it literally. It is sufficient at present to refer to the manner in which in the Psalms the just man is represented as saying, among other things, "Every morning will I destroy the wicked of the land; that I may cut off all workers of iniquity from the city of Jehovah." Judge, then, from the words and spirit of the speaker, whether it is conceivable that, after having in the preceding part of the Psalm, as any one may read for himself, uttered the noblest thoughts and purposes, he should in the sequel, according to the literal rendering of his words, say that in the morning, and at no other period of the day, he would destroy all sinners from the earth, and leave none of them alive, and that he would slay every one in Jerusalem who did iniquity. And there are many similar expressions to be found in the law, as this, for example: "We left not anything alive." ... If I must now explain how the just man "slays his enemies," and prevails everywhere, it is to be observed that, when he says, "Every morning will I destroy the wicked of the land, that I may cut off all workers of iniquity from the city of Jehovah," by "the land" he means the flesh whose lusts are at enmity with God; and by "the city of Jehovah" he designates his own soul, in which was the temple of God, containing the true idea and conception of God, which makes it to be admired by all who look upon it. As soon, then, as the rays of the Sun of righteousness shine into his soul, feeling strengthened and invigorated by their influence, he sets himself to destroy all…
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
