Psalms 18:26

You prove to be reliable ¹  to one who is blameless, but you prove to be deceptive ²  to one who is perverse. ³ 

to the pure you show yourself pure, but to the crooked you show yourself shrewd.

With the pure You show Yourself pure, And with the crooked You show Yourself astute.

To the pure you show yourself pure, but to the wicked you show yourself hostile.

The true people taste your truth, The bad ones can't figure you out.

He who is holy will see that you are holy; but to the man whose way is not straight you will be a hard judge.

with the pure you show yourself pure; and with the crooked you show yourself perverse.

With the pure You will show Yourself pure; And with the devious You will show Yourself shrewd.

You prove to be reliable ¹  to one who is blameless, but you prove to be deceptive ²  to one who is perverse. ³ 

¹ tn Or “blameless.”

² tn The Hebrew verb פָתַל (patal) is used in only three other texts. In Gen 30:8 it means literally “to wrestle,” or “to twist.” In Job 5:13 it refers to devious individuals, and in Prov 8:8 to deceptive words.

³ tn The adjective עִקֵּשׁ (’iqqesh) has the basic nuance “twisted, crooked,” and by extension refers to someone or something that is morally perverse. It appears frequently in Proverbs, where it is used of evil people (22:5), speech (8:8; 19:1), thoughts (11:20; 17:20), and life styles (2:15; 28:6). A righteous king opposes such people (Ps 101:4).

sn Verses 25-26 affirm God’s justice. He responds to people in accordance with their moral character. His response mirrors their actions. The faithful and blameless find God to be loyal and reliable in his dealings with them. But deceivers discover he is able and willing to use deceit to destroy them. For a more extensive discussion of the theme of divine deception in the OT, see R. B. Chisholm, “Does God Deceive?” BSac 155 (1998): 11-28.