Perfect Hatred

Perfect Hatred

by Pete Berardi

Psalm 139:22 I hate them with a perfect hatred: I count them mine enemies.

Most Psalms are hymns and prayers. Here in this verse of the book of the Psalms David is praying to God. The context is him praying to God about God’s enemies. He claims that God’s enemies are his enemies. But what are God’s enemies. God does have an enemy. And surprisingly to some, God does hate.

Proverbs 6: states These six [things] doth the LORD hate: yea, seven [are] an abomination unto him: A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, A false witness [that] speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.

Part of our battle with sin is not just to love God and to follow his laws. An important part of keeping from sin is to make God’s enemies our enemies. It is not enough sometimes to keep away from sin but we must hate it with a perfect hatred. Romans 12:9 calls us to abhor that which is evil as well as to cleave to that which is good.

Hatred may seem as if it is a bad thing, an unholy thing and an ungodly thing however nothing could be further from the truth. In fact God claims hatred as a characteristic of himself and says that the fear of the Lord is to hate evil (Proverbs 8:13).

The things of this world are diametrically opposite of the things of God. By focusing on the things of the world we are automatically taking our focus off of the things of God. By making the things of this world our enemy, we greatly increase our chances of becoming free from sin.

Make sin your enemy and hate it with a perfect hatred. If it be the sin of drugs or alcohol, hate it with all your heart. If our battle is lust after the opposite sex, learn to hate the feeling of lust. If we steal or lie or cheat, learn to hate these things. Make it your enemy.