Psalm 97:9
You who love the Lord, hate evil! He protects the lives of his godly people and rescues them from the power of the wicked.(NLT)
So what does God hate and tell us to hate? … He says if you love Him then you will hate evil. So is evil a person? … No. Evil is the outcome of disobedience. Disobedience to God is sin, which creates evil. So, we are to hate disobedience to God and its results. Can you picture an outcome of your disobedience to God?
While there most certainly is grace for our disobedience, can you attach a sense of hatred for the outcome of that disobedience you have encountered? We are not to hate ourselves for the disobedience, but the forces that oppose God inside our own hearts and in the world today. So, what good does it do to hate that evil? The answer is a response of avoidance, of abstinence … of evil.
Today, I’m going to provide some current context to hating evil by reading Ephesians 6:1…
Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm.
Who are we not fighting? Flesh and blood. Each other. We may do evil things out of disobedience, but we are not evil.
Evil exists, evil is the destruction that comes from sin. We have an enemy, God has an enemy, Satan and his spirits. A force that exists in this fallen world that leads us to disobedience which leads to our destruction. So, how do we guard ourselves from this destruction? By hating the destruction the enemy wants for us and by putting on the full armor of God. We cannot fight an unseen power with our own ‘seen’ efforts. God’s Power, His spirit enables us to resist the enemy.
Psalm 97:9-11 …
You who love the Lord, hate evil! He protects the lives of his godly people and rescues them from the power of the wicked.
Love God. Hate Evil. Really feel the hate that disobedience to God’s ways brings to your life. Claim God’s power as your own to protect again the evil our enemy has planned for us.
Let’s pray together: “Heavenly Father, forgive me when I show love for evil by cooperating with it. But help me to hate that which opposes You, even the sin in me. Teach me to love You more, and help me to show love that can conquer hate. As above, so below.”