“A twisted heart will be separated from me;

Evil, I will not know.”

(Psalm 101:4)

Of what is David speaking when he speaks of a “twisted” heart? In Hebrew, the notion of עִקֵּשׁ (‘iqqesh), or twisted, is used to describe those who are corrupt (Deuteronomy 32:5), unjust (Isaiah 59:8), and devious (Proverbs 2:15). A man with a twisted heart will not discover what is good (Proverbs 17:20) and is an abomination to the Lord (Proverbs 11:20). Indeed, as Solomon would later write:

Better is a poor person who walks in his honesty

Than one who is twisted of lip [speech] and is a fool.

(Proverbs 19:1)

Never once does the Bible state anything positive about one whose life is twisted. Yet, notice what David says. He does not simply say that he will avoid those whose hearts are twisted. He states that a twisted heart will be removed from him. In other words, David recognizes the twisted nature of his own heart and that one of the benefits of meditating on the justice and mercy of God is that the twisted heart he has will be restrained and, little by little, removed from his life.

It is often easy to point to the twisted hearts of others. Yet, how often our own hearts remain twisted in ways or with respect to certain sins to which we cling. The heart is deceitful above all things, Jeremiah writes (Jeremiah 17:9) and it is incurable (at least by Human medicine). Hence, we do not allow our hearts to lead our paths. We ask that God guides our souls and instructs our minds in the things that are righteous, just, and true that we might not be an abomination to Him. Then, when the twisted heart is rejected, we will also strive also to reject the knowledge of evil.

One must confess, though, that we live in a twisted generation…and thus, in a generation that is an abomination to God. Unrighteousness is not only practiced, it is flaunted and evil is made the plaything of children and the source of entertainment. What shall a young man do to keep his way pure (see Psalm 119:9)? In this case, David says to meditate and ponder the character of God — ponder His justice that will be poured out against the wicked and ponder His mercy which has been given to you.