“You who love the Lord, hate evil!”
Main Point: When Jesus is your king you have welcomed His expansive kingdom into every area of your life and you have hated evil.
All the translations agree on this text. I’ve checked the English, Dutch, and French translations and they all say “hate evil” or a close equivalent. I think it means to treat it like an enemy, to remove it from your life, not to permit it to reside in your presence--and it is a command. We can see the chapter starts with the God King (who we know to be Jesus Christ) and that it is a response to His kingship. The actions that flow from the excitement and fact that the Lord God is king are what we are looking at here. Another way of looking at Psalm 97 is to say we recognise the rule of God, and the things that we see in the Psalm are the natural and right responses from a person who is happy to be ruled by God as King.
I want God to rule me. I want God to be my King. I know that Jesus is the king and to have Him rule my life is exciting. You may know that I have three nationalities. So I can travel or request a visa or visit an embassy as a citizen of three different countries. Diplomatic relationships and treaties, partnerships and cultural perceptions are quite varied throughout the world, so to have the choice which card (passport) to play in a certain circumstance could be seen as a benefit. On the other hand, if a country I visit is at war with one of the countries I have citizenship from, then I become a de facto enemy. But if the USA for instance is removing all its citizens, then I get rescued.
What benefits, responsibilities and privileges do I have when I have Jesus as my King?
Verse 1 shows us that the kingdom of God is vast. Its rule and influence stretches across the sea to the furthest shore. You can rest assured that everywhere you go, your King has clout. Think of the people today travelling all over the world to reach Europe or America. These people risk everything to make it to a safe, prosperous land. But God’s kingdom reaches out and makes their place safe and prosperous. This speaks of the incarnational, invasive King who, when He arrives to set up a kingdom, the people say, Oh yes, finally we’ll see some progress.
But then the flip side is also true. When God shows up things have to change. And that’s what brings us to verse 10. We love what is good. We desire, welcome and rejoice at all the plans to clean things up, make things fruitful and prosperous. But we will then see that we must hate everything that is dragging us down, we must hate selfishness, laziness, lustfulness, filth, the rot, the lies, and the darkness. We fear the consequences of letting old influences linger, we see how old ways, habits and patterns created death, disease, and destruction.
I’m not going back there. I hate it. HATE it. Yes it seems a strong word. But we see that not to hate it is to fail to appreciate and love the greatness of the King, to not fear the King, to not see all the good the King will do, has done, and is doing.
“You who love the Lord, hate evil!
He protects the lives of his godly people
and rescues them from the power of the wicked.”
Most Americans know that there is some level of benefit and protection in the world because there is a reputation of protecting their citizens when they are abroad. (I know this can be argued, but at least there was a widespread perception of this being a national value.) Such attitudes have been common through history, Paul obviously used the same perception to appeal to Caesar.
You and I have a much greater privilege when God is our King. But it comes with a responsibility:
Hate evil.
I have spent far too much of my life not hating evil, and not knowing what real evil was. It is so true, we must ask ourselves, "What would Jesus do?" What would the king do? What has the king done? What did David do? What do the real godly do? Do you know? It might not always be as easy as you think. The Pharisees were 100% sure they knew. But they got it wrong.
“Solid food is for those who are mature,
who through training have the skill
to recognize the difference between right and wrong.”
Hating evil is a skill. You don’t have it instinctively. Don’t assume you know what it looks like. Don’t assume you have the corner on righteous indignation. Because if you are honest, you’ll see your own heart. And you will be confronted with your treachery and disloyalty to the King. Consider the difference between Peter and Judas on the night before the crucifixion. Did Peter hate evil? Did Judas hate evil? How did things turn out? We need to hate evil. But hate is not the goal. Look how the relationship between the King and His people ends up in this Psalm.
“Light shines on the godly,
and joy on those whose hearts are right.
May all who are godly rejoice in the Lord
and praise his holy name!”
Hating evil is not the goal, it is the reaction to knowing what is good. I hate mouldy bread. But I love fresh baked lovely aristenal bread. It is such a pleasure to eat. If you have had bad bread then you will know the joy in good bread. Mouldy bread, bread with grinding stones, sand and old, hard, stale bread are not good.
When the Lord Jesus is your King then you are in light.
When the Lord Jesus is your King then you are full of joy.
When the Lord Jesus is your King then your hearts are right.
When the Lord Jesus is your King then you have reason to rejoice.
When the Lord Jesus is your King then you are full of praise.
Are you in darkness? Is your joy gone? Do you fear that your heart is not right? Do you lack a reason to rejoice? Are you full of complaints instead of praise?
Conclusion:
Then you may need to revisit two things. Where have you failed to welcome the king? Where have you failed to hate evil? As for me, I want to welcome the king in all areas of my life. Join me in having a reason to rejoice.
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| Handwritten Psalm 97 |
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