Today is a continuation in Psalm 139, reflecting on verses 19-24. While we are still basking in the glow of knowing God and being known by Him from verses 1-18, the next verses may seem a bit disturbing. Is there such a thing as Holy Hatred?
Oh what to do with verses 19-22! Some may like to cut them out of this Psalm or feel as though they don’t fit here. I love it that David, under divine inspiration, does not shy away from making us uncomfortable. I am going to rely on my new buddy Derek Kidner once again for some insights to help walk us through. Kidner says that the abrupt change from reverie to resolve is disturbing, but that evil boasting in full view of God is intolerable; furthermore, these verses are not spiteful but zeal for God and that the New Testament uses this fighting spirit to endorse its single-mindedness.1 Consider 2 Corinthians 6:14 and the verses following to learn that as light has no fellowship with darkness, neither does Christ with Belial.
When David asks God to slay the wicked, he then goes on to describe the character of those men. They are men who shed innocent blood. They speak against God with malicious intent and take God’s Name in vain. They hate the LORD and rise up against Him. God’s faithful children do not want to be identified with the wicked.Is this not then an acceptable form of hatred? This is not the first or last time the writers of Psalms speak this way.
Those who actively oppose God are His enemies and will die in eternal separation from Him in hell if they do not repent. My ESV Study Bible says that it is possible for God to judge those who oppose Him with correct judgment and consequence and yet be good to all. Consider Jonah to see how God responds when the wicked are willing to turn from evil.
Consider Jonah
Jonah is the worst evangelist in the Bible. All he said was, “Yet forty days, and Ninevah shall be overthrown!” But that was all it took for the wicked people of Ninevah to fall on their face, put on sackcloth, and begin fasting. The reason Jonah fled in the first place was because he knew if Ninevah repented of their sin, God would save them. That made him angry. Ninevah was like our modern day Isis. Jonah hated them and didn’t think they deserved saving. They had been relentless murderers in their conquests. Jonah is angry enough to die that God saved them.
The short book of Jonah ends abruptly, but not before we see the character of God. He is gracious, merciful, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love, and willing to relent from disaster when even the most wicked people repent. The people of Ninevah did not deserve to be saved. And neither do I. Like the wicked David is referring to here in Psalm 139 and like Ninevah, Romans 5 says we are all helpless, hopeless sinning enemies of God when Christ died for us. This is the compassion of an Almighty God.
My response:
Are there people so evil I do not even want God to save them? Do I hate them? Certainly, there are those I do not think deserve saving. And as soon as I think this, the Holy Spirit comes tapping on the wall of my heart. Our conversation goes something like this:
Holy Spirit: “Girl, you did not deserve saving either and I saved you.”
Me: “Yeah, but I am not as bad as those people.”
Holy Spirit: “You would be every bit as capable if you didn’t have Me living inside of you.”
Then the realization of this Truth hits me afresh. Wow! There but by the Grace of God, go I.
So when does hatred turn to love? I am okay with letting that question sit and simmer and even make me uncomfortable while the Holy Spirit continues to work through my understanding of God’s character.
Because evil is still lurking
I think David had a similar conversation with the Holy Spirit as me. He knows there is not only evil around him, but also evil that still lurks in his own heart. So in the last two verses he asks God to keep continuing His work to expose the grievous sin he still struggles with. This is why he is a man after God’s own heart. When confronted with sin, he sees it the same way God does and he wants to be rid of it. And He is not afraid of the trials that God will bring to accomplish this. Why? This is the way to the good life, the way everlasting, which shines more and more to the perfect day.11
Investigate my life, O God,
Find out everything about me;
Cross-examine and test me,
Get a clear picture of what I am about;
See for Yourself whether I’ve done anything wrong—
God’s kindness is greater than the suffering endured
As I reflect on those hard days of losses due to miscarriage, I remember my struggle with God. I was angry and hurt and at a loss. I didn’t know God or even myself like I do now. And yet He was patient with me and used those times of grieving to teach me about Himself and even prepare me for future pain. At the time, I was fearful of what I may find – that knowing God more would prove disappointing. My younger self could not have been more wrong. The more I know of God, the bigger He gets. Really He has always been big. But my ability to see Him as He is changes as I grow. And He knows me and loves me enough not to leave me in a place any less than what is perfect.
I don’t enjoy the suffering that is necessary to accomplish this, but I am learning His kindness is greater than the suffering endured, even on this side of heaven. And remembering this helps me to ask God to search me and try me and remove any grievous thing in me that would keep me from knowing Him and being known by Him on the most intimate level. Living this way now is just a taste of what is to come which guides me on the road to eternal life.
19 Oh that you would slay the wicked, O God! O men of blood, depart from me! 20 They speak against you with malicious intent; your enemies take your name in vain.[a] 21 Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord? And do I not loathe those who rise up against you? 22 I hate them with complete hatred; I count them my enemies. 23 Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts![b] 24 And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting![c] Psalm 139:19-24 ESV
Derek Kidner, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries, Volume 16, Psalm 73-150: An Introduction and Commentary. London: Intervarsity Press, 1975. ↩︎
