Psalms 97:10-12

Ye that love the Lord, hate evil.

The privileges and duties of the Lord’s people

I. The character of the persons addressed. “Ye that love the Lord.” This love is--

1. The consequence of God’s love to the soul (Jeremiah 31:3).

2. Genuine, or pure (Romans 12:9).

3. In its power unconquerable (Song of Solomon 8:6).

4. In its duration lasting (Philippians 1:9).

5. In its influence constraining (2 Corinthians 5:14).

6. In its nature--

(1) Working.

(2) Uniting.

(3) Confirming.

(4) Lasting to eternity.

II. Their privilege declared. “He preserveth the souls of His saints,” etc.

1. He secures them from the sinfulness of their hearts (Romans 6:14).

2. From the prevalency of ignorance (Psalms 73:24).

3. From all slavish fear (Isaiah 26:3).

4. From the curse of the broken law (Galatians 3:13).

5. He rescueth them from Satan (Romans 16:20).

6. From wicked and deceitful men (Psalms 27:2).

7. From every other kind of opponent (1 Peter 1:5).

III. The duty or practice exhorted to. “Hate evil.”

1. Personal or internal evil (Romans 7:6).

2. The sin which we see in others (Psalms 139:21).

3. The evil that is in the world (Psalms 119:104).

4. All national evils (Proverbs 14:34).

IV. The state of the soul described (Psalms 97:11).

1. Light.

(1) The knowledge of God’s purpose of grace (Ephesians 1:3).

(2) The comprehension of Scripture (Psalms 119:105).

(3) Light was sown for the righteous (Isaiah 9:2).

(4) Salvation is sown for the righteous (Psalms 27:1).

(5) The teaching of the Holy Ghost is light (2 Corinthians 4:6).

2. Gladness.

(1) Heartfelt (Psalms 4:7).

(2) The gladness of received mercy (1 Peter 4:13).

(3) Future and joyous gladness (Psalms 31:7; Psalms 31:19).

V. The evidences and experiences of the Christian (Psalms 97:12).

1. “Rejoice in the Lord.”

(1) In the death of the Lord.

(2) In the life or righteousness of the Lord.

(3) In the majesty or power of the Lord.

(4) In Christ the salvation of the righteous.

2. “Give thanks to Him.”

(1) For His essential holiness as a Divine person.

(2) The holiness of His life as God-man mediator.

(3) For our being partakers of His holiness.

(4) And for that perfect holiness which we shall have and enjoy in heaven with Christ hereafter. (T. B. Baker, M.A.)

Righteous hatred

The Spirit of Christ is love. Wherever He governs, love reigns. The Christian man is not allowed to hate any one. But we may and must hate a man’s sins. Hatred is a power of manhood, and therefore to be exercised. And we may hate and sin not. We may have hatred in our hearts, only see to it that it run only in one stream, and that against evil. And we are to hate all evil, not merely some. It was said long ago of some professors that they did--

“Compound for sins they were inclined to,

By damning those they had no mind to.”

But it is a universal duty to which we are here called.

I. Hate all evil in thyself. Thou hast good reason. Think--

1. What mischief it has already wrought thee. It kept you from Jesus, it would have lost you your soul but that grace interfered.

2. How unbecoming it is to thee. Thou art of the blood royal of the Kingdom of God. Shall such a man as thou sin? Thou art set apart for God Himself.

3. How it weakens you. Can you pray after committing sin? You know you cannot. You have lost your power. Sin will make thee leave off praying or else praying will make thee leave off sinning. And if you try to engage in work for Christ, you cannot do it. An unholy man must be a useless one.

4. Hate it, because if you indulge in it you will have to smart for it (Psalms 51:1). If thou wouldest strew thy path with thorns and put nettles in thy death-pillow, then live in sin.

5. You will do hurt to others. The Church of Christ--how you will shame that: and poor sinners, how you will cause them to stumble and encourage them in their sin. And think especially--

6. How it grieves Christ. Now, if you would be rid of sin, the terrors of the law will not help you, but communion with Christ will. And get as much light as you can upon it. The housewife when she is busy about her house, with curtains drawn, may think everything looks clean; but she opens a little corner of the window, and in streams a ray of light, in which ten thousand grains of dust are dancing up and down. “Ah,” she thinks, “my room is not so clean as I thought it was; here is dust where I thought there was none.” Now, endeavour to get not the farthing rushlight of your own judgment, but the sunlight of the Holy Spirit streaming upon your heart, and it will help you to detect your sin--and detection of sin is halfway towards its cure. And if you have fallen into sin make confession of it, and when your mind is in a holy state seek to estimate sin aright. With regard to some sins, flee them. There is no other way. And if you would keep from sin, seek always to have a fresh anointing of the Holy Spirit. Old Master Dyer says, “Lock up your hearts by prayer every morning and give God the key, so that nothing can get in.” And never palliate sin.

II. Hate sin in others. Then, if you do, never countenance it, not even by a look. Often condemn it openly. Of course prudently. And do not get into it yourself. Those who live in glass houses, etc. And encourage all who are fighting against it. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

A good man sensitive to moral evil

If we would realize the full force of the term “hatred of evil” as it ought to exist in all, as it would exist in a perfectly righteous man, we should do well to consider how sensitive we are to pain, suffering and misfortune. How delicately is the physical frame of man constructed, and how keenly is the slightest derangement in any part of it felt. A little mote in the eye hardly discernible by the eye of another, the swelling of a small gland, the deposit of a small grain of sand--what agonies may these slight causes inflict. That fine filament of nerves of feeling spread like a wonderful network over the whole surface of the body, how exquisitely susceptible it is. A trifling burn, scald, or excision, how does it cause the member affected to be drawn back suddenly and the patient to cry out. Now, there can be no question that if man were in a perfectly moral state, moral evil would affect his mind as sensibly and in as lively a manner--would, in short, be as much an affliction as pain is to his physical frame. He would shrink and snatch himself away as sin came near; the first entrance of it into his imagination would wound and arouse his moral sensibilities, and make him positively unhappy. (Dean Goulburn.)