In Psalms, chapter one hundred and thirty-nine, verse twenty-one, having meditated on God’s great love for Him, the psalmist reciprocates with great love and loyalty to His Lord. His anger stirred against those who oppose and blaspheme God’s name. In deep sympathy with God and His cause, he so identifies Himself with the Lord that he hates and loves what God loves. He is grieved and distressed by all the evil and immorality around Him. Believers who have seen the Lord’s salvation, love, and goodness should find no love within themselves for the world’s values, belief systems, and ungodly ways.
It is not enough for the children of God to love righteousness; they must also hate evil. The scripture is clear in Isaiah eleven, verse five, in Christ’s devotion to righteousness and His hatred of iniquity in His life, ministry, and death. Christ’s faithfulness to the Father while on earth, as demonstrated by His love of righteousness and hatred of wickedness, is the basis for God’s anointing of His Son. In the same way, our anointing will come only as we identify with our Master’s attitude toward righteousness and evil.
Our love of righteousness and hatred of evil will increase by two means: by growing in love and compassion for those whose lives are destroyed by sin and by experiencing a greater intimacy and oneness with the Lord Jesus Christ, who “loved righteousness and hated iniquity.” For all believers, “Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good,” as in Romans twelve, verse nine. The theme verse, “Do not I hate them, O LORD, that hate thee? And am I not grieved with those that rise up against thee? Believers should be on guard against evil, whether they hear it or see it.