A recent daily verse took me to Psalm 97. That song begins simply, “The LORD is King!” [NLT]
What follows immediately are the reactions to that declaration by the earth and the heavens, the godly and the ungodly. It concludes in verse 9 with “For you, O Lord, are supreme over all the earth; you are exalted far above all gods.” [NLT]
But this morning it was the three verses that follow that conclusion that ministered to my heart. There are four thoughts in those three verses that I want to meditate on in the next few days. Verse 10 begins with the first, “You who love the Lord, hate evil!” Proverbs 8:13 reiterates that thought, “All who fear the Lord will hate evil.”
This world is full of evil; wickedness is found everywhere. No nation, no people are immune, no matter how “civilized.” Evil is the manifestation of the devil’s hatred of God. It is the release of the wickedness of hearts living apart from God.
We are to hate it. And that hatred is more than a feeling. It means we seek to spread the goodness of the Gospel of Christ Jesus everywhere … because it is only the Good Gospel of Salvation that has the power to overcome evil.
“Do not be overcome by evil but overcome evil with good.” [Romans 12:21]