The Daily Psalm

The Daily Psalm: Growing in God through Praying the Psalms

The Daily Psalm: A Devotional by Mark D. Roberts, encouraging prayer based on the Psalms. Learn how to pray the Psalms.

Thursday, January 12, 2006

The LORD tests the righteous and the wicked,
and his soul hates the lover of violence.

Psalm 11:5

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Psalm 11

To the leader. Of David.
1   In the LORD I take refuge; how can you say to me,
    “Flee like a bird to the mountains;
2   for look, the wicked bend the bow,
    they have fitted their arrow to the string,
    to shoot in the dark at the upright in heart.
3   If the foundations are destroyed,
    what can the righteous do?”
4   The LORD is in his holy temple;
    the LORD’S throne is in heaven.
    His eyes behold, his gaze examines humankind.
5   The LORD tests the righteous and the wicked,
    and his soul hates the lover of violence.
6   On the wicked he will rain coals of fire and sulfur;
    a scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup.
7   For the Lord is righteous;
  he loves righteous deeds;
    the upright shall behold his face.

Daily Prayer (based on Psalm 11:5)

Righteous God, this is one of those verses that unsettle us. After all, You are the God of Love. Indeed, You are Love. So how can You hate anyone, even those who love violence? Such strong language, Lord, is meant to shake us up. It startles us and jars our consciences. It helps us to understand how much you abhor violence. You aren't some mushy sort of god who smiles down on this earth and turns away from its messiness. Rather, you love justice so much that You hate evil. And violence is high on the list of wickedness You despise.

Postscript

If God is love (1 John 4:8), then how can God hate anything or anybody, even those who do violence? This is the sort of "contradiction" that critics of the Bible highlight when trying to undermine Scriptural authority. But such a superficial understanding of the text is wrong, if not silly.

What does it mean that God "hates" the love of violence? First, we must always remember that human words can only approach divine reality. God's hatred is not like ours: selfish, mean, narrow-minded. God's "hatred" is pure, righteous, and fair. Indeed, it's holy hatred. God loves righteousness so much that He "hates" evil, and, in a sense, even those who perpetrate it. Second, God's "hatred" of violent people is a way of talking about His judgment upon them (see. v. 6). Third, God "hates" violence so much that He endured the violence of the cross so that the violent may be redeemed. From the cross Jesus prayed for those who were crucifying Him, "Father, forgive them, for they don't know what they're doing" (Luke 23:34). It was Jesus's hatred of sin that led Him to the cross to die for sinners, whom He loved.

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The Scripture text used in The Daily Psalm is from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved