Psalms 101:2

Behave myself wisely. — Literally, I will look to a guileless way. The root “to look” is that from which maskîl (Psalms 32, title) comes; hence some here see a reference to music, or song. But the Authorised Version is probably right, since the analogy of such words as “provident,” “circumspect,” shows how the idea of caution and then wisdom arises from that of looking. The English idiom, “look to your ways,” illustrates the Hebrew here.

O when wilt thou come unto me? — This clause is so awkward, however translated, that some critics go the length of pronouncing it spurious. In the Old Testament, with the exception of Exodus 20:24, the coming of God to a person is associated with the idea of punishment or inquisition (Psalms 17:3); and to see a reminiscence of 2 Samuel 6:9 (“ How shall the ark of the Lord come to me?”) seems far-fetched. It is better, therefore, to take the verb as the third person feminine instead of second masculine, with “perfect way” as its subject. The only difficulty in the way of this rendering is the interrogative; but, as in Proverbs 23:22, it becomes a simple adverb of time, we may treat it so here: “I will give heed to a guileless way when it comes to me,” i.e., whenever a course of action arises, presenting an alternative of a right and wrong, or a better and worse, I will choose the better.

I will walk within my house. — This vow of an Eastern monarch should be read with the thought of the palace of a caliph at Bagdad, or a sultan at Constantinople, before the mind. But it is a reflection of universal application, that piety should begin at home, and religion show itself in the household as much as at church.