Does anyone remember Ugly Kid Joe or their song, "Everything about you?" This band made it seem that it is actually "Cool to hate," which, by the way, is an actual song title composed by the band The Offspring.
David, a man after God’s own heart, confessed in prayer that he hated those that hate God. This appears to be in opposition to Jesus’ call to love your enemies. Was David’s prayer petitioning God to slay the wicked, whom he hated with a perfect hatred, sinful or was it ok?
Psalm 139:19-24
19 If only you, God, would slay the wicked!
Away from me, you who are bloodthirsty!
20 They speak of you with evil intent;
your adversaries misuse your name.
21 Do I not hate those who hate you, Lord,
and abhor those who are in rebellion against you?
22 I have nothing but hatred for them;
I count them my enemies.
23 Search me, God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
24 See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.
I believe that hate is a very strong word that should be reserved in usage in order to discuss a very strong God-given emotion that, in and of itself, is good. For it would be against the very nature of Our Almighty Loving Triune Creator to give us anything that would be either bad or evil.
Scripture says that when God finished His creation, He saw everything and declared it "very good" (Genesis 1:31). Many Scriptures affirm that God is not the author of evil: "God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone" (James 1:13). "God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all" (1John 1:5). "God is not the author of confusion" (1Corinthians 14:33)—and if that is true, He cannot in any way be the author of evil.
John Calvin wrote:
“. . . the Lord had declared that "everything that he had made . . . was exceedingly good" [Genesis 1:31]. Whence, then comes this wickedness to man, that he should fall away from his God? Lest we should think it comes from creation, God had put His stamp of approval on what had come forth from himself. By his own evil intention, then, man corrupted the pure nature he had received from the Lord; and by his fall drew all his posterity with him into destruction. Accordingly, we should
contemplate the evident cause of condemnation in the corrupt nature of humanity-which is closer to
us-rather than seek a hidden and utterly incomprehensible cause in God's predestination.” [Institutes, 3:23:8]
John MacArthur states:
“It is helpful, I think, to understand that sin is not itself a thing created. Sin is neither substance, being, spirit, nor matter. So it is technically not proper to think of sin as something that was created. Sin is simply a lack of moral perfection in a fallen creature. Fallen creatures themselves bear full responsibility for their sin. And all evil in the universe emanates from the sins of fallen creatures.”
In respect to King David, I’m not personally certain that his prayer was sinful? Therefore I can neither fault, nor judge, David for hating others with a “perfect hatred,” since they hate God. (Proverbs 10:18, 28:13, Job 31:33, Isaiah 29:15) Rather, I find myself impressed and inspired by his example of both, identifying, and honestly confessing his heart openly before the Lord, while trusting God to search and judge his motives. David could have tried to ignore, conceal, or excuse away this emotion from both himself and God, but he did not!
David was faced with the same challenges that Cain (Genesis 4:7) and every other human being is faced with - to either control and master his emotions or be enslaved by them and carried away from God to be drug off and dumped into the very pits of hell itself, one in which we would find Cain, eternally suffering, for his own failure to do so.
Hating someone else, or others, seems inconsistent with Jesus’s call and command to “love your enemies” is just that - “seems”. This is because that love is more than just an emotion. Love is a perspective, documented in 1Corinthians 13:4-8, that encompasses a series of deliberate actions that can and should be expressed and extended even to the most unlovely unlovable people of this world that we do not appreciate, particularly like, or even in certain circumstances, dare I say... hate.
As redeemed believers continue to walk with the Lord, slowly growing more Christ-like along the way in this life (2Corinthians 3:18), it should then be no surprise that we should find our desires, interests, and preferences either completely different and changed, or continually transforming into a growing love for all that God loves and a growing hatred towards all that God hates. Is this not a healthy sign and mark of a true disciple of Jesus, proving to be a redeemed child of God?
This is not being said in order to cover over or excuse any example of a hypocritical person who is using Christianity as a justification to carry out their own selfish, self-righteous, and sinful actions. This would be nothing short of blasphemy to God, because they are misrepresenting our Creator through misuse, abuse, and defilement of His Holy name and character. One future day, they will be called to give account and righteously judged aright by Our Triune Creator.
David was a man after God's own heart because he took all his thought to God in prayer. The good, the bad, and the ugly. In most instances, at the end of the prayers to smite his enemies, he came to a place of peace with God and trusted the matter to the Lord. His prayers, therefore, are not a license to hate, but rather an example to take your hates to God for healing.
Therefore, I maintain that the good God-given emotion of hate should be mastered and ruled over, just like any and every other emotion Our Loving Father saw fit with which to equip us. Let us be reserved to use hate as God expects us to use it. Our Christlikeness can be checked and measured by asking some of the following questions:
What is it exactly that God hates?
Do I currently share in the Lord’s abhorrence of and hatred for the same things He does?
Do I find myself either apathetic or sympathetic towards others or myself, in regards to these things that God hates?
Note: Please actively search His Word in order to ensure you are able to accurately answer these questions for yourself.
CORAM DEO
1Thessalonians 5:23-24
Carmine DiLello
P.S.
I hope that you don’t hate me for prompting you to do a little biblical research. ;-)
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