Whoso privily slandereth his neighbour, him will I cut off: him that hath an high look and a proud heart will not I suffer.
-How the king will act in his public capacity. He will not endure slander or pride. He will take only the faithful to dwell with him as servants, and will banish the deceitful from his presence and will cut off the wicked doers. Verse 5. Whoso privily slandereth his neighbour, him will I cut off. David knew by bitter experience in Saul's days, the cruel effects of slander. In Proverbs 30:10 the same Hebrew occurs.
Him that hath an high look and a proud heart will not I suffer - (Proverbs 21:4.) Pride and slander go together; because the depreciating of others is with a view to exalt self.
Verse 6. Mine eyes shall be upon the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me - as servants and counselors.
He that walketh in a perfect way he shall serve me - even as I myself make it my aim to "walk in a perfect (upright, sincere) way" (Psalms 101:2).
Verse 7. He that worketh deceit shall not dwell within my house - even as "I walk within my house with a perfect heart." "Within the king's house," his private life, stands in contrast to "the city of the Lord" (Psalms 101:8), the public administration.
He that telleth lies shall not tarry in my sight - Hebrew, 'shall not be established,' etc.: cf. Proverbs 12:3. Should a lying servant get into my employment, he shall not be let to stay in it (1 Kings 2:5).
Verse 8. I will early destroy all the wicked of land. "Early" - literally, 'every morning' (Psalms 73:14). It refers to the never-flagged zeal of the king, renewed every morning, in extirpating the wicked (Jeremiah 21:12). The morning was the customary time of trials and judgment.
That I may cut off all wicked doers from the city of the Lord. It is because the city in which I rule is the city of the Lord, Zion (Psalms 102:13; Psalms 46:4; Psalms 48:1; Psalms 48:8; Psalms 87:3), that I am under a solemn obligation to cut off all who are unworthy of such a citizenship.