Does God hate or love?

“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” (Ps. 139:21-22).

How do we understand this as Christians? And how might we navigate these verses and the call to love our enemies (Matt. 5:44-45)? A few considerations:

1. God is holy.

Even a quick reading of the inerrant books of the Bible tell us that the true God is a God of blazing holiness (Lev. 11:44-45). He is set apart; distinct in all his ways, not the least of which is his stance towards sin (Hab. 1:13).

To a decadent 21st century audience tainted with post-post-modern sensibilities, the concept of a holy God is like nails grinding on a chalkboard. Even more, nothing of natural man’s sensibilities are able to embrace the truth of God’s holiness. Naturally, we are unholy and flee anything that exposes our sinfulness (John 3:19-20).

But the fact remains, no one his holy like the Lord (1 Sam. 2:2). He must oppose all that is wrong and evil. God would not be good if he had a neutral stance towards any level of wrong.

Our God is an infinite God who cannot be packaged up in shallow, man-centered ideology. He has a love for sinners (Matt. 5:45), but also a hatred (Ps. 5:4-6). The notion that, “God hates the sin but loves the sinner,” is not the full story. Psalm 5 is in the Bible. “You hate all who do iniquity” (Ps. 5:5). It’s been said that God does not send sin to hell, but sinners. At the judgment, God opens the book and enacts justice upon sinners who committed sin, not sin (Rev. 20:11-15). Eric Alexander has said, “Sin is not an abstract thing. Sin becomes sin when it is performed in the life of the sinner. God’s attitude of absolute and final opposition finds its expression in his judgment of sinners.” For one sin, we deserve an eternity in hell. In view of this great, holy God, that is simply what is just and right. So, when David asks God to slay the wicked (v. 19), he is simply asking God to do what he will justly do in the judgment towards the unrepentant.

So, we must come to Psalm 139:21-22 with a view of the holiness of God.

2. The context of vv. 21-22.

Key to understanding a passage is understanding its context. David tells us that these are men of “bloodshed” (v. 19). They are individuals who are murdering others. Psalm 5:6 tells us that the Lord abhors such individuals.

Further, consider who David is. He is God’s specially anointed king of ethnic Israel under the Old Covenant (1 Sam. 16:1, 2 Sam. 5:12). As such, he received revelation from God to go to war with Israel’s enemies (2 Sam. 5:19). And God was express with David to win these wars (2 Sam. 8:6, 14). So, by divine commission, David had somewhat of a different posture towards the wicked around him. You and I are not David; we do not have his anointing or kingly commission. Nobody falls into that category today. That helps us better understand vv. 21-22.

3. Psalm 139:21-22 is not about personal vengeance.

David is not speaking out of purely self-centered revenge. This is about God. “Do I not hate those who hate You, O Lord? And do I not loathe those who rise up against You?” (v. 21). God is the center (“…who hate You…who rise up against You?”). It’s about a holy, good God being blasphemed in a depraved world. And for the godly, such a thing is grievous (Ps. 69:9). David is fired up about God’s glory being defamed, not his own. Further, David did not set out to become enemies with people. They became his enemies by being God’s enemies.

4. God’s people cannot be neutral towards evil.

“Hate evil, you who love the Lord” (Ps. 97:10).

“Abhor what is evil, cling to what is good” (Rom. 12:9).

David, who loves God, has a firm stance towards evil. He must do so, and so must we. Evil defames God’s glory. It wrecks lives. Even this past week is enough to cause us to necessarily take a stance far from neutrality towards evil as God defines.

5. Psalm 139:19-22 is not in the Bible to describe everything that God’s people are to think about evil.

This is one passage from the anointed king, David, in a unique context. We have many other passages throughout Scripture which instruct us as to our posture towards the wicked.

“But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous” (Matt. 5:44-45).

“For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself’” (Gal. 5:14).

“Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunity. Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person” (Col. 4:5-6).

We often want life to be easily laid out for us this side of heaven: “just do this and that and you’re good.” But, life in and towards a fallen world is complex. Our response to a situation can be multi-faceted. The greatness of sin messes things up and requires that we walk in all sorts of wisdom. And there are no contradictions with God, as if he was incompetent to recall what he said from one book to another. Describing this passage, Steve Lawson has said, “We have a love-hate relationship with the world.”

6. Don’t forget about vv. 23-24.

If the psalm ended in v. 22, we might risk an attitude of self-righteousness. But, just as quickly as David applies the holiness of God to the world outside of him, he applies it inside. He examines his own heart and life. The existence of much sin around him does not exempt him from dealing with his own heart. Understanding something of God’s holiness, David asks him to shine the illuminating spotlights in every corner of his heart.

It’s not hard to be upset at the evils and ungodliness around us in the culture. But, walking with this holy God is not only relevant for the world around me. It has implications upon my thoughts and attitudes inside of me. It’s easy to turn on the TV and get mad at everything going on. And, we should be sorrowed over that. But, true biblical spirituality takes time, to pray as vv. 23-24: “God, search me; expose my wrong attitudes; deal with the idols in my heart; expose and eradicate what is dishonoring to you from my life.” That’s the kind of integrity and humility with which we must walk in this world. So, it is possible to say vv. 19-22 and vv. 23-24 at the same time in the same spiritual person.

7. God is a forgiving God.

Incredibly, the true God does not abandon sinners to their depravity. Motivated by his own glory and love, he wishes to deluge an astronomical amount of sinners with his compassion. It would be perfectly fair for God to throw every human into hell. And if he only saved one, that would be amazing grace. But, he saves many, many more.

God is so holy in his love, that he punished his own impeccable Son for the sins of his people. This is not a cosmic pushover who sweeps wrong under the rug. He is just and upright in all his ways. So, for even one sinner to be acquitted, a just price must be paid. Jesus Christ—truly God and truly man—upheld that justice when he willingly substituted himself in our place to endure the righteous wrath of God. So, though we grieve evil and loathe the robbing of God’s glory, we simultaneously desperately long for the salvation of the wicked, knowing that if people like us can be saved, then surely anyone can, should God will.

More could be said about Psalm 139:19-22, but a consideration of these things might help us grasp this great passage.