Psalm 139 – hate the sin AND hate the sinner?
Last Sunday I preached on Psalm 139 about God’s intimately personal knowledge of every single one of us. What struck me as I prepared and obviously struck a number of evening church people is David’s plea in verse 19-22.
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!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.
My challenge was that we ought to align ourselves with God, to long for his justice to be made known, to not dismiss those who take God’s name in vain. I asked,
Do you count them your enemies? Do you hate them? Do you loathe them?
Why not?
Is it because you’re not totally aligned with God?
Is it because you don’t think God would notice or care?
This raised a number of questions:
- Aren’t we as Christians to hate the sin but not the sinner?
- Aren’t we as Christians to love those who hate us and pray for those who persecute us?
- Aren’t we commanded not to judge others?
- Isn’t it hypocritical to hate those who hate God since it is only by grace that we have been saved?
Here are some thoughts for us to reflect further.
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Where in the Bible do we find the concept of hating the sin but loving the sinner?
Psalm 51.5 says, ‘Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.’ This suggests that our sinfulness is part of our nature since before birth. (cf Rom 5.12-21) I think it is both hard and dangerous to attempt to distinguish what we do from who we are. We aren’t to think of God’s character independently to his actions toward us or creation. So, why would it be appropriate for us? -
What are the consequences if we do separate character from actions?
There are two consequences I’m not comfortable with, if we push this idea. Firstly, it could suggest that we can be a sinner with no responsibility for our sinful actions. Secondly, if God loves the sinner and hates only their sin, what does this mean for his coming judgment (Heb 9.27)? Is it against sin only, in which case every sinner is loved and welcomed into heaven? I don’t think the Bible teaches that everyone will end up in heaven, because of passages like John 3.36: “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.” -
Is it impossible to love and hate at the same time?
One thing that seems assumed in some of these questions is that love and hate are opposites. Yet, to love someone is to care for them, to want what is best for them, to be self less. Our supreme definition of love is found in 1 John 3:16: “By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.” I’ve heard it said and agree with the idea that the opposite of love is not hate, but apathy – a total disregard and lack of care. -
So, how should we treat a non Christian now?
- This question assumes that we judge others and assess whether or not they are Christians. The Psalm describes the wicked as ‘those who hate you, O Lord’ and ‘those who rise up against you’ (Ps 139.21). It suggests those who are against God and presumably therefore it is possible to tell from their way of life.
- As many pointed out, we are to love our enemies. In the light of God’s judgment what better way to do this than to hold out the word of life (Php 2.15-16)? Jude captures the urgency of this when he writes, “to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh.” (Jude 1:23) It reflects love shown in mercy and hate.
- As Amy pointed out we must never forget that we have been saved by God’s grace. Therefore we are in no position to be judgmental of others by some internal, personal standard. Rather our goal must be to be aligned with God, to think his thoughts after him.
We are confident that God is love (1 John 4.7-8). This love isn’t just an abstract characteristic of God. Rather, as John continues, “In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.” (1 John 4:9. Cf John 3.16). God’s love is shown in action. It is shown in God’s actions to save us from judgment that we might live. It is shown in mercy to save because of a hatred of sinners.
I’m sure there is plenty more to say, but would love your comments, thoughts, further questions or feedback.
The words in Psalm 139:20 that struck me was they speak with ‘malicious intent’, that is those speaking against God do it with the intent to try and undermine or tarnish opinion of God and weaken His power. I think often society (broad generalisation I know) speaks out of ignorance and not with malicious intent. Comments such as ‘God knows’ ‘Oh God’, ‘Jesus Christ’ etc. have become so commonplace that those that use it often do so without consciously recognising the insult that they are presenting God.
As such I think it is our duty to help them see, in a loving way, that their comments are blasphemous. If after them understanding this they continue then we can presume they have malicious intent with what they say. This should lead us to ‘hating their garments stained by the flesh’ as Jude put it indicating we hate those who clothe, adorn, cover themselves in their sinful nature.
How better to infuriate an enemy than to treat them with the love and kindness they (and we all) don’t deserve? As such we heap burning coals on their heads. It is hard to continue to hate those that treat you well. This brings their motives to light and leaves them open to attack, be that from God’s judgement or the changing of their heart by the Holy Spirit.
One thing is certain, God will conquer and it is my prayer that God’s enemies remain open to that attack! Prayer is one great weapon we have against God’s enemies. Let us wield its strength!
My thoughts from those words in v20 are that they contribute to the picture of an open rebellion against God along with v19 and 20a. So the primary issue is not so much that these sinners take God’s name in vain (this is but a window into their hearts), but that their entire lives are focused toward achieving their own desires and self gain with utter disregard for God (and not the passive kind of disregard either!) I think we are to hate them for this, not simply for taking his name in vain.
It needs to be said that the source of our hate for sin and the sinner ought to come from a great understanding of God’s holiness and a deep love and longing for holiness ourselves. The numerous episodes where God obliterates people for things that we might consider menial or perhaps not even sinful(!) (Num 3:4, 2Sam 6:6-7) is a good indication that our understanding of holiness may be far from his. As our understanding of his holiness grows, we ought to respond to our holy God with ever increasing fear and trembling, ever increasing thankfulness that “while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom 5:8) and an ever increasing hatred for sin and the sinner.