Psalms 97:10

My Notes

What Does Psalms 97:10 Mean?

"Ye that love the LORD, hate evil: he preserveth the souls of his saints; he delivereth them out of the hand of the wicked." This verse links love and hate as two sides of the same coin — you can't have one without the other.

"Ye that love the LORD, hate evil" — this is a command, not a suggestion. The Hebrew for "hate" (sane) is strong and visceral. It's the same word used for personal enemies, for things that are abhorrent and repulsive. The psalmist is saying that authentic love for God necessarily produces hatred of evil. Not discomfort with evil. Not mild disapproval. Hatred. If you love what God loves, you must hate what God hates.

The second half provides the foundation for this bold stance: "he preserveth the souls of his saints; he delivereth them out of the hand of the wicked." You can afford to hate evil because God protects those who do. The fear that keeps people from opposing evil — what if it costs me? what if I'm punished for standing up? — is answered by God's preservation. He guards the lives (nephesh — souls, entire beings) of His faithful ones. He extracts them from the grip of the wicked. Hating evil isn't reckless when the God of hosts has your back.

Reflection Questions

• 1.Is there an evil in your world — in your community, your workplace, your own life — that you've been tolerating instead of hating? What made you comfortable with it?
• 2.How do you distinguish between hating evil and hating people? Where does that line get blurry for you?
• 3.The psalmist ties hating evil to loving God. Do you think it's possible to genuinely love God without opposing what He opposes?
• 4.God promises to preserve and deliver those who hate evil. How does that promise affect your willingness to take a stand?

Devotional

We live in a culture that's uncomfortable with hate. And for good reason — hate has been weaponized, distorted, aimed at people instead of evil. But this verse doesn't say hate people. It says hate evil. And it frames that hatred as the natural, necessary companion of loving God.

Think about what you love most — a child, a friend, a community. Now think about the things that threaten what you love. You don't feel neutral toward those threats. You feel opposition. Anger. A fierce, protective instinct. That's what this verse is describing. If you love God, the things that oppose Him, corrupt His creation, and destroy His people should provoke something in you that goes beyond polite disagreement.

The problem isn't that Christians hate too much. It's often that we've become so afraid of appearing judgmental that we've lost the capacity for moral outrage. We scroll past injustice. We accommodate corruption. We make peace with evil because confronting it feels uncomfortable or socially costly.

But the verse doesn't leave you exposed. God preserves and delivers. You don't have to protect yourself when you take a stand. That's His job. Your job is to love what He loves with enough conviction that you also hate what He hates. Not people. Evil. The systems, the lies, the cruelties, the exploitations that grieve the heart of God. Let yourself feel it.

Commentary

Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.

Cross References

Related passages throughout Scripture