67 The imperfect verbal forms in vv. 25–29 draw attention to God’s characteristic actions. Based on his experience, the psalmist generalizes about God’s just dealings with people (vv. 25–27) and about the way in which God typically empowers him on the battlefield (vv. 28–29). The Hitpael stem is used in vv. 26–27 in a reflexive resultative (or causative) sense. God makes himself loyal, etc. in the sense that he conducts or reveals himself as such. On this use of the Hitpael stem, see §54.e.
68 Or “to a faithful follower.” A “faithful follower” (חָסִיד, khasid) is one who does what is right in God’s eyes and remains faithful to God (see Pss 4:3; 12:1; 16:10; 31:23; 37:28; 86:2; 97:10).
69 Or “innocent.”
70 Heb “a man of innocence.”
71 Or “blameless.”
72 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.
73 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). 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?” 155 (1998): .

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

With the merciful you show yourself merciful;

with the blameless man you show yourself blameless;

with the purified you show yourself pure;

and with the crooked you make yourself seem tortuous.

NIVNew International Version (2011)

To the faithful you show yourself faithful,

to the blameless you show yourself blameless,

to the pure you show yourself pure,

but to the devious you show yourself shrewd.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

With the faithful

you prove yourself faithful,

with the blameless

you prove yourself blameless,

with the pure

you prove yourself pure,

but with the crooked

you prove yourself shrewd.

NLTNew Living Translation

To the faithful you show yourself faithful;

to those with integrity you show integrity.

To the pure you show yourself pure,

but to the crooked you show yourself shrewd.

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

To the loyal you show yourself loyal.

To the blameless you show yourself blameless.

To the pure you show yourself pure.

but to the wicked you show yourself shrewd.

KJV 1900King James Version

With the merciful thou wilt shew thyself merciful;

With an upright man thou wilt shew thyself upright;

With the pure thou wilt shew thyself pure;

And with the froward thou wilt shew thyself froward.

Public Domain