Most of us are quite aware that God calls us to love what He loves, but I don’t think I had given much thought to hating the things He hates. Not until recently.
Every year, Kasie and I do a Marriage Getaway where we seek extended time with God considering where we should focus our attention in the next year. We spend individual time with God, and time as a couple. I began my alone time with God making a list of things that I love, things like:
- Sitting with my wife, her head on my shoulder
- The unique identities of each of my kids
- Twilight in the high country
- Watching the lights come on in people’s eyes as we discuss His truth
In all of this, I sensed the Father’s pleasure in my enjoyment of these gifts.
Next, I went to Psalm 139. Moving through David’s words, the old familiar truths were there, but God did not seem to be emphasizing them. There were the lines detailing His comprehensive knowledge of us, His inescapable presence, His personal crafting of each of us, and our persistent presence in His thoughts.
But what came next startled me, even though I knew it was there:
“O that You would slay the wicked, O God; . . . Do I not hate those who hate You, O LORD? And do I not loathe those who rise up against You? I hate them with the utmost hatred; They have become my enemies.” (Psalms 139:19–22 NAS95)
These words seemed abrupt; out of place. One moment David is wrapped in the security of God’s knowledge of him, and in the very next breath, proclaiming his violent hatred of God’s enemies. I was not sure how this fit, but it seemed clear that this is where God was directing me.
As I have pondered this, both then, and in the days since, several things have come to mind:
- There is a category of psalms called imprecatory psalms. They are characterized by an earnest request that God curse His enemies (e.g., Psalm 35, 69, 109). They are in line with this, but I have generally believed they were written with an incomplete understanding of God’s plan, and are overridden by Christ’s command to love our enemies.
- Paul’s words in 2 Timothy – “Alexander the coppersmith did me much harm…” – occurred to me. Here was someone who was acting as an enemy of God in the New Testament. Paul continues, “…the Lord will repay him according to his deeds.” While Paul does not pronounce curses on this coppersmith, neither does he pray that God will open Alexander’s eyes and save him. He seems assured by the knowledge that God will judge Alexander according to His deeds. He reflects a similar attitude toward false teachers in 2 Corinthians 11:13-15. The fact that these are New Testament passages seems significant.
- By contrast, Paul began as an enemy himself. Yet God saw fit to chose him as The Apostle to the Gentiles.
- In Romans 9:13, defending the reliability of God’s promises, Paul quotes Malachi in saying that God loved Jacob, but hated Esau. Here, “love” and “hate” reflect the notion of “choosing / not choosing”, and appear to lack the visceral element we normally associate with these ideas. Still, we must not ignore the fact that God hated Esau.
I don’t yet know all that God wants to teach me in this area, but it is clear to me that, if I am to be restored in my ability to represent Him, my heart must be fully aligned with His, both positively and negatively. This means not only loving what He loves, but also hating anything He might hate.
Click to see the next article in this discussion.
What issues, positively or negatively, does the idea of God “hating”, especially as it relates to people, raise for you?
I enjoyed reading this garth.
Thanks, Giavonna.
Quite thought provoking. As Frank Burns on M.A.S.H. used to say, “It’s nice to be nice to the nice.” It is easy to think of the butterflies and the flowers of our Christian walk and avoid the sharp stones and deep crags of truth that tend to haunt us. So, thanks ole buddy…now i have guilt. I too need to reflect on what you wrote and ask the Lord to speak to my heart about the these matters. For certain, I do not in any way, form, or fashion what to find myself opposing Him. I think this is one of those areas of “soul care” that truly defines who we are in Christ.
Ed
Ed,
Regarding the guilt, I find it helpful to remember that my life is a journey, and the point of the journey is for God to transform me – restoring my capacity to represent Him – as I cooperate with Him in this process. So, while I do sense a certain firmness in His tone with me, it’s not so much that I feel like I am “blowing it”, as it is Him saying, “This is what we need to deal with right now, for you to look more like Me.”
Toward the beginning of the film “The Kingdom of God” village priests are mustering support for the crusades with the propaganda of: “to kill an infidel is not murder, it is the path to heaven.” Toward the middle of the film there is dialogue between two of the film’s protagonists:
– “These men are Templar’s, they have killed Arab’s.”
– “So, they are dying for what the Pope has commanded them to do.”
– “Yes, but not Christ.”
At the front of my mind is 2 Timothy 2:24-26. So, what does it look like to “hate what God hates”, and how do we to validate this hatred?
Dan, certainly, ideas like “hating enemies of God” have been used to justify things that, in truth, God hates. (Lots of irony in that.) I suspect that this is at least part of what makes us so averse to the idea of hate, in any form, being Godly. And, it is one reason that it is so important to me to explore this carefully.
As for what it looks like to “hate what God hates”, that is the objective of this little expedition.
I think “validation” may be a little more ambiguous, partially because of ambiguity in what we mean by “validation”. Ultimately, I think that I mean that I want to know that I am right. But what does that entail? Arriving at a position that everyone agrees with? All Christians agree with? All my friends agree with? Of course, the problem with this is that being right does not guarantee that everyone will agree. I mean, we know that God must always be right, but not everyone agrees with Him. In fact, none of us agrees with Him all the time.
Another standard of validation might be that I can articulately defend my position. But, I have seen people give very articulate and persuasive arguments based on subtle, but significant error, and thus, be wrong, even though they were right in their own eyes.
For me, validation will come when I stand before Him, and hopefully, hear “Well done, good and faithful servant.” In the meantime, I walk in faith and rest in His grace.
Amen brother. This has been on my heart for a few months now. “Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.” R 12:9
For me, at least, it’s easier to grasp loving what God loves, but it’s sobering to realize I really don’t HATE what He hates like I should.
This is quite thought provoking. However i think that the only thing that God hates is sin. God does not hate sinners – John 3:16. This is why he gave us His only son to die for the remission of our sins. God does not want anyone to die in their sins. Rather He gives us opportunities daily to reconcile ourselves back to Himself. He is ever willing to forgive and take us back. We as humans will be making a big mistake by hating fellow humans in the guise that God hates them. He does not hate no one.
David,
Thanks for visiting the site, and for participating in the discussion.
The depth of God’s love toward sinners, as demonstrated in the death of Jesus on our behalf is astounding, and I am not taking anything away from that. John 3:16, and similar passages are absolutley true, and I want to handle them accurately, giving them the full weight due them.
But passages like Romans 9:10-13 are just as true. This passage explicitly states that God hated Esau and loved Jacob, and He made that choice even before they were born and had done anything good or bad. So, His hatred of Esau is not simply a hatred of Esau’s sin. I believe that this passage is just as true as John 3:16, and I want to handle it just as accurately, giving it the full weight due it.
This is the tension that I have set out to explore in this series of articles. We were created to represent God, and that requires that we align ourselves with Him. I hope you’ll will continue to follow along as I explore this issues in the articles that follow.