Today’s reading is Psalm 11.
Obviously, in an absolute sense, the Lord loves everybody. So it bothers us to hear He loves the righteous. Further, it really bothers us to hear that God hates the wicked. To us, that just doesn’t sound like God at all. However, in this psalm the use of hate is not to be take an as absolute, but as a relative. It’s like Luke 14:26, in which Luke records Jesus as saying we are supposed to hate our family. However, in Matthew 10:37, the same scenario is recorded as Jesus saying we must not love our family more than Jesus. Luke’s record of that event is not saying we are to absolutely hate our family. Rather, our love for Jesus is to be so great compared to our feelings for our family that what we feel for our parents, siblings, and even spouse looks like hate. In Psalm 11, the “hate” of God is not that He simply and absolutely hates wicked people. He actually loves them. He loves them so much He sent Jesus to die for them. He loves them so much He offered up a propitiation for them. But those who reject the sacrifice of Jesus, pursuing and persisting in guilt will be judged. That is what is meant by God’s hate in this psalm. He is righteous. He loves uprightness. That is, He blesses and rewards it. He loves the upright. That is, He blesses and rewards those who find uprightness in Him through Jesus. But He hates wickedness. That is, He judges, condemns, and punishes it. He hates the wicked. That is, He judges, condemns, and punishes the wicked. This is one of the foundations that has not been destroyed. As we learned earlier in the week, it would be silly for David, or anyone, to pursue and persist in wicked behavior because it is a foundation that God hates the wicked and loves the upright. That is, it is a foundation that God judges, condemns, and punishes the wicked and blesses and rewards the upright. Therefore, David will not abandon this foundation. We had better not either.
Next week’s reading is Psalm 12.
A Word for Our Kids
Hey kids, do you remember last week’s psalm? Do you remember how it showed the snapshot of a moment when David was confused? Do you remember how it showed a moment when David had been praying and praying, but things had just gotten worse? David wanted to know how long until God would do something about all the enemies that were harassing him. Now, consider this week’s psalm. The reality is the scenario is not all that different. Things have gotten so bad that someone is counseling him to abandon God and God’s foundations. But here is a moment in which David, despite all the negative events going on around him, is strong in his faith. There is no doubt at all. There is no questioning. Even if David is remembering his own faltering thoughts from earlier, he has ended up decidedly at a place of faith. Here is the amazing thing. The snapshot of Psalm 11 might be the day after the snapshot of Psalm 10. In fact, the snapshot of Psalm 11 might even be how David feels in the evening after he woke up feeling like Psalm 10. The psalms really present life. We have good times and bad times. We have strong times and weak times. The psalms provide snapshots from all those times. As you grow up, you will have all kinds of feelings, experiences, scenarios, situations in your relationship with God. The psalms provide you with how to act and react in all of them. Don’t be surprised that you will have some days on the mountaintops of faith and conviction, like Psalm 11. Don’t be surprised when you have days that are descending into the valleys of doubt and struggle, like Psalm 10. Don’t be surprised when Psalm 11 days turn into Psalm 10 nights. But in like manner, remember that Psalm 10 mornings can just as easily become Psalm 11 evenings. One thing in common in everyone of the psalms, no matter the experience, no matter the scenario, the psalmist always hung on to God. You can do the same no matter what.
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