DO I REALLY HATE WHAT GOD HATES?
Through your precepts I get understanding, therefore I hate every false way. Psalm 119:104
The most stretching thing about writing devotionals every morning is being confined to look at a book just one verse at a time. I am not let off the hook if that verse doesn’t instantly speak to me. God is training my heart to read for quality, not quantity.
Today’s scripture is one I would normally pass over quickly. I would assume that I hate what God hates. I would make a sweeping pass over great sins like abusive power, anger taken out of innocent children, marriages eroded by pornography, etc. The wake up call is this ~ that even the ungodly hate these things. To hate sin that causes human suffering is not a sign that I am necessarily close to Jesus.
I’ve had to dig deeply to let today’s scripture simmer. Much of the night, I’ve been asking myself if I really hate false ways and what they might be. This is where I’ve ended up.
Satan customizes temptation to hit the areas where I’m most vulnerable. For me, I obsess over certain things instead of pray. I try to fix things instead of wait for God’s intervention. I am short and clipped with others when the pressures on me are intense. When faced with any of these choices, do I see them as false ways? Yes. Do I hate them? No where near enough because the choice is usually agonizing. I’m pulled equally in both directions.
The answer for me is to ask for greater understanding of God’s precepts and the way they work in the kingdom, according to David. “Show me what Your Word says about this – and how you feel about my choices…” is a good way to pray. This forces the Word out of my head and into my heart where it belongs.
God’s ways were written in Jesus, even under the stress of Calvary. Even while carrying His cross, no brittle words were recorded. His mercy was poured out and trust in His Father’s will was unshakeable even though He was pressed on every side with the worst agony imaginable. I have a long way to go if hatred is to mark my view of every false way, even what appears to be subtle.
Stress shows me where I go my own way. When I’m faced with a choice of how to cope, show me how you feel about the choices in front of me. Let me hate what you hate. Amen
Daughters of promise 
What’s more intriguing than getting on God’s hateful bandwagon is attempting to hate something “wicked” with all the omnipotent power of a god (or even a God, big G).
I used to contemplate that often. If I were capable of all the power of righteous hate that the Christian / Hebrew God were capable of, would I be acting Christlike were I to focus all that unbelievable abhorrence at another life, poorly lived though it may be? More importantly, even, were I able to hate with all my own capacity, would I be as Christlike as Christ, himself, when he was in the Temple overturning gambling tables?
Poisonally, I tend to think I ought to hate less and love more, but that may be because I have so much trouble controlling my disdain on a regular basis, anyhow.
Ah, there’s so much to consider in such matters!
Thank you for your thoughts. You’re a fine writer and an introspective thinker.
Cheers,
-Both