PSALM 11:4–7 God’s Soul Hates the Wicked
READ: PSALM 11:4–7 (JOHN 3:16–21) V. 5 “But his soul hates the wicked.”
Maybe you find this a difficult verse to read. It is rather startling. God’s “soul hates the wicked” is a way of saying that he despises them in his deepest being. In Psalm 5:5, the Spirit also says that God hates evildoers. But God is love, isn’t he? So how is it possible for him to hate?
But consider: God doesn’t love the devil, but hates him with perfect hatred. God also hates those who know his way and yet refuse to walk in it. He despises those who have no intention of repenting from evil, who continue to flout his good will. God even becomes their enemy. He may let them continue in their evildoing, but only to mount up their sin and so bring upon themselves the full measure of his wrath (Gen. 15:16).
So the saying, “Hate the sin but love the sinner”—found nowhere in the Bible—is certainly not true of God who sees the heart. He not only hates the sin, but also the sinner if he does not truly repent. God hates those who continue to act wickedly so much so that he will bring the most severe punishment possible against them—fire and sulfur and scorching wind (v. 6). That heat represents the intense burning of God’s anger. It pictures the punishment of hell, the place where the devil and all who follow him will end up.
God so loved the world that he sent his only begotten Son to bear his wrath for sinners so that everyone who believes in him will be saved. John 3:16 is undoubtedly the most well-known verse of the Bible. But it is followed by the warning that those who do not believe in the Son stand condemned already. God’s perfect and deep love in Jesus Christ doesn’t make him indifferent or apathetic to sin and evil. No, God’s passion to love also means that he has a passion to hate. His holy character will not allow him to ignore injustice and unrighteousness.
Let’s face reality: God hates those who hate him. But at the same time he intensely loves sinners who take refuge in him. Since Jesus Christ bore God’s wrath in their place, they shall behold his face (Ps. 11:7). As he himself said, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Matt. 5:8).
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