Psalm 97:10 commands believers to hate evil because loving God requires rejecting what opposes His character. God protects those who love Him and guards them from the hand of the wicked, showing that moral clarity and divine protection are connected.
“Let those who love the Lord hate evil, for he guards the lives of his faithful ones and delivers them from the hand of the wicked.” – Psalm 97:10
This verse makes a bold statement that feels uncomfortable in our current culture. We’re told constantly to be tolerant, accepting, and non-judgmental. But here, Scripture says something different. If you love God, you must hate evil.
That word “hate” stops most people. We don’t like using it. We’ve been taught that hate is always wrong, that it’s the opposite of love, that good people don’t hate anything.
But God commands it here. Not hatred of people—hatred of evil itself. And He connects it directly to loving Him.
What Does It Mean to Hate Evil?
The Hebrew word for “hate” in this verse is sane. It means to detest, to be an enemy of, to have a deep aversion to something. This isn’t casual dislike. It’s not simply avoiding bad behavior. It’s an active, visceral rejection of anything that opposes God’s character.
Think about things you actually hate—not just dislike, but truly hate. Maybe it’s injustice. Maybe it’s watching someone hurt a child. Maybe it’s seeing a friend destroyed by addiction. That feeling, that deep opposition in your gut—that’s closer to what this verse describes.
God wants you to feel that way about evil. Not lukewarm. Not indifferent. Not tolerant.
Why Does God Command This?
The verse starts with “Let those who love the Lord.” That’s the key. Hating evil isn’t about being a moral crusader or feeling superior to others. It flows from loving God.
When you truly love someone, you naturally hate what hurts them. You hate what opposes them. You hate what destroys what they’ve built.
Evil opposes everything God is. It destroys what He creates. It corrupts what He calls good. It leads people away from Him. So if you love God, you’ll hate what works against Him.
But there’s another reason this command matters. Hating evil protects you.
The second part of the verse explains why: “for he guards the lives of his faithful ones and delivers them from the hand of the wicked.”
God protects those who love Him enough to reject evil. When you draw clear lines between good and evil, when you refuse to blur those boundaries, God guards your life. He delivers you from the hand of the wicked.
This doesn’t mean bad things never happen to believers. It means God watches over those who remain faithful to Him. He shields them spiritually. He provides a way through trials. He keeps their souls safe even when circumstances are difficult.
The Connection Between Love and Hate
Our culture tries to separate love from hate completely. But biblically, they’re connected. You cannot fully love something without hating what threatens it.
A father who loves his children will hate anything that endangers them. A doctor who loves healing will hate disease. A builder who loves creating will hate destruction.
This is how God views His relationship with you. He loves you completely. So He hates—with perfect hatred—anything that would harm you, deceive you, or lead you away from Him.
He’s asking you to share that perspective. Love what He loves. Hate what He hates.
What Is Evil?
Before you can hate evil, you need to recognize it. Scripture defines evil as anything that opposes God’s character and commands. That includes:
- Sin in all its forms – Actions, thoughts, and attitudes that violate God’s law
- Injustice – Oppression of the weak, corruption, abuse of power
- Deception – Lies, manipulation, false teaching
- Destruction – Violence, murder, harm done to God’s image-bearers
- Pride – Elevating ourselves above God, refusing His authority
- Idolatry – Worshiping anything other than God
Evil isn’t always obvious. Sometimes it disguises itself as good. It can look like tolerance when it’s really compromise. It can look like freedom when it’s really bondage. It can look like love when it’s really selfishness.
Proverbs 8:13 says, “To fear the Lord is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech.”
Fearing God—respecting His authority, revering His holiness—means hating what He hates.
How This Plays Out Practically
Hating evil doesn’t mean yelling at people on street corners. It doesn’t mean judging everyone around you. It doesn’t mean withdrawing from the world entirely.
It means something much harder. It means examining your own life first.
What are you tolerating that God calls evil? What sins have you made peace with? What compromises have you accepted?
Maybe it’s entertainment that celebrates what God calls sin. Maybe it’s business practices that cut ethical corners. Maybe it’s relationships that pull you away from God rather than toward Him. Maybe it’s attitudes of bitterness, lust, or greed that you’ve justified.
Hating evil starts with rejecting it in your own heart, not pointing it out in everyone else.
Jesus said in Matthew 7:3-5, “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”
Deal with evil in your own life before you worry about evil in others.
God Guards the Faithful
The promise in this verse is personal and specific. God guards the lives of His faithful ones. He delivers them from the hand of the wicked.
That word “guards” in Hebrew is shamar. It means to keep watch over, to protect, to preserve. It’s the same word used when God placed cherubim to guard the entrance to the Garden of Eden. It implies active protection, not passive observation.
God is watching over you. He’s standing guard. He’s keeping you safe—not necessarily from every difficulty, but from spiritual destruction.
And He delivers you. The Hebrew word natsal means to snatch away, to rescue, to save. When the wicked come against you, God pulls you out of their reach.
But notice this promise is specifically for “his faithful ones”—those who love Him, those who hate evil, those who remain loyal to Him.
Living in a Morally Confused World
We live in a time when good is called evil and evil is called good. Isaiah 5:20 warned about this: “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.”
The pressure to go along, to blur the lines, to compromise is constant. Standing firm requires courage.
But Psalm 97:10 reminds you that you’re not alone in that stand. God is with you. He guards you. He delivers you.
You don’t need to be afraid of what the world thinks when you reject evil. You don’t need to apologize for having moral clarity. You don’t need to soften God’s standards to make them more palatable.
Love God. Hate evil. Trust Him to protect you.
The Heart Behind the Command
This verse isn’t about creating lists of dos and don’ts. It’s not about legalism or self-righteousness. It’s about the heart.
God wants your heart so aligned with His that you naturally love what He loves and hate what He hates. He wants you to see evil the way He sees it—as something that destroys, corrupts, and separates people from Him.
When your heart matches His heart, obedience becomes natural. You don’t have to force yourself to avoid evil. You genuinely want to because you see how it opposes everything you love about God.
Romans 12:9 says, “Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.”
Sincere love for God produces genuine hatred of evil. And that hatred isn’t angry or bitter—it’s protective. It guards your heart. It keeps you close to God.
Conclusion
Psalm 97:10 gives you both a command and a promise. The command: hate evil if you love God. The promise: God will guard and deliver you.
This verse calls you to moral clarity in a morally confused world. It calls you to stand firm when others compromise. It calls you to love God enough that you reject everything that opposes Him.
God isn’t asking you to hate people. He’s asking you to hate what destroys people, including yourself. And when you do, He promises to protect you. He promises to guard your life. He promises to deliver you from the hand of the wicked.
That’s not oppressive. That’s not narrow-minded. That’s a loving Father protecting His children by teaching them to recognize and reject what would harm them.
Love the Lord. Hate evil. Trust Him to guard your life as you remain faithful to Him.
What Does Psalm 97:10 Mean? Let Those Who Love the Lord Hate Evil
Psalm 97:10 commands believers to hate evil because loving God requires rejecting what opposes His character. God protects those who love Him and guards them from the hand of the wicked, showing that moral clarity and divine protection are connected.
“Let those who love the Lord hate evil, for he guards the lives of his faithful ones and delivers them from the hand of the wicked.” – Psalm 97:10
This verse makes a bold statement that feels uncomfortable in our current culture. We’re told constantly to be tolerant, accepting, and non-judgmental. But here, Scripture says something different. If you love God, you must hate evil.
That word “hate” stops most people. We don’t like using it. We’ve been taught that hate is always wrong, that it’s the opposite of love, that good people don’t hate anything.
But God commands it here. Not hatred of people—hatred of evil itself. And He connects it directly to loving Him.
What Does It Mean to Hate Evil?
The Hebrew word for “hate” in this verse is sane. It means to detest, to be an enemy of, to have a deep aversion to something. This isn’t casual dislike. It’s not simply avoiding bad behavior. It’s an active, visceral rejection of anything that opposes God’s character.
Think about things you actually hate—not just dislike, but truly hate. Maybe it’s injustice. Maybe it’s watching someone hurt a child. Maybe it’s seeing a friend destroyed by addiction. That feeling, that deep opposition in your gut—that’s closer to what this verse describes.
God wants you to feel that way about evil. Not lukewarm. Not indifferent. Not tolerant.
Why Does God Command This?
The verse starts with “Let those who love the Lord.” That’s the key. Hating evil isn’t about being a moral crusader or feeling superior to others. It flows from loving God.
When you truly love someone, you naturally hate what hurts them. You hate what opposes them. You hate what destroys what they’ve built.
Evil opposes everything God is. It destroys what He creates. It corrupts what He calls good. It leads people away from Him. So if you love God, you’ll hate what works against Him.
But there’s another reason this command matters. Hating evil protects you.
The second part of the verse explains why: “for he guards the lives of his faithful ones and delivers them from the hand of the wicked.”
God protects those who love Him enough to reject evil. When you draw clear lines between good and evil, when you refuse to blur those boundaries, God guards your life. He delivers you from the hand of the wicked.
This doesn’t mean bad things never happen to believers. It means God watches over those who remain faithful to Him. He shields them spiritually. He provides a way through trials. He keeps their souls safe even when circumstances are difficult.
The Connection Between Love and Hate
Our culture tries to separate love from hate completely. But biblically, they’re connected. You cannot fully love something without hating what threatens it.
A father who loves his children will hate anything that endangers them. A doctor who loves healing will hate disease. A builder who loves creating will hate destruction.
This is how God views His relationship with you. He loves you completely. So He hates—with perfect hatred—anything that would harm you, deceive you, or lead you away from Him.
He’s asking you to share that perspective. Love what He loves. Hate what He hates.
What Is Evil?
Before you can hate evil, you need to recognize it. Scripture defines evil as anything that opposes God’s character and commands. That includes:
Evil isn’t always obvious. Sometimes it disguises itself as good. It can look like tolerance when it’s really compromise. It can look like freedom when it’s really bondage. It can look like love when it’s really selfishness.
Proverbs 8:13 says, “To fear the Lord is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech.”
Fearing God—respecting His authority, revering His holiness—means hating what He hates.
How This Plays Out Practically
Hating evil doesn’t mean yelling at people on street corners. It doesn’t mean judging everyone around you. It doesn’t mean withdrawing from the world entirely.
It means something much harder. It means examining your own life first.
What are you tolerating that God calls evil? What sins have you made peace with? What compromises have you accepted?
Maybe it’s entertainment that celebrates what God calls sin. Maybe it’s business practices that cut ethical corners. Maybe it’s relationships that pull you away from God rather than toward Him. Maybe it’s attitudes of bitterness, lust, or greed that you’ve justified.
Hating evil starts with rejecting it in your own heart, not pointing it out in everyone else.
Jesus said in Matthew 7:3-5, “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”
Deal with evil in your own life before you worry about evil in others.
God Guards the Faithful
The promise in this verse is personal and specific. God guards the lives of His faithful ones. He delivers them from the hand of the wicked.
That word “guards” in Hebrew is shamar. It means to keep watch over, to protect, to preserve. It’s the same word used when God placed cherubim to guard the entrance to the Garden of Eden. It implies active protection, not passive observation.
God is watching over you. He’s standing guard. He’s keeping you safe—not necessarily from every difficulty, but from spiritual destruction.
And He delivers you. The Hebrew word natsal means to snatch away, to rescue, to save. When the wicked come against you, God pulls you out of their reach.
But notice this promise is specifically for “his faithful ones”—those who love Him, those who hate evil, those who remain loyal to Him.
Living in a Morally Confused World
We live in a time when good is called evil and evil is called good. Isaiah 5:20 warned about this: “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.”
The pressure to go along, to blur the lines, to compromise is constant. Standing firm requires courage.
But Psalm 97:10 reminds you that you’re not alone in that stand. God is with you. He guards you. He delivers you.
You don’t need to be afraid of what the world thinks when you reject evil. You don’t need to apologize for having moral clarity. You don’t need to soften God’s standards to make them more palatable.
Love God. Hate evil. Trust Him to protect you.
The Heart Behind the Command
This verse isn’t about creating lists of dos and don’ts. It’s not about legalism or self-righteousness. It’s about the heart.
God wants your heart so aligned with His that you naturally love what He loves and hate what He hates. He wants you to see evil the way He sees it—as something that destroys, corrupts, and separates people from Him.
When your heart matches His heart, obedience becomes natural. You don’t have to force yourself to avoid evil. You genuinely want to because you see how it opposes everything you love about God.
Romans 12:9 says, “Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.”
Sincere love for God produces genuine hatred of evil. And that hatred isn’t angry or bitter—it’s protective. It guards your heart. It keeps you close to God.
Conclusion
Psalm 97:10 gives you both a command and a promise. The command: hate evil if you love God. The promise: God will guard and deliver you.
This verse calls you to moral clarity in a morally confused world. It calls you to stand firm when others compromise. It calls you to love God enough that you reject everything that opposes Him.
God isn’t asking you to hate people. He’s asking you to hate what destroys people, including yourself. And when you do, He promises to protect you. He promises to guard your life. He promises to deliver you from the hand of the wicked.
That’s not oppressive. That’s not narrow-minded. That’s a loving Father protecting His children by teaching them to recognize and reject what would harm them.
Love the Lord. Hate evil. Trust Him to guard your life as you remain faithful to Him.
Olivia Clarke
I’m Olivia Clarke, a Bible teacher and writer passionate about helping others connect deeply with God’s Word. Through each piece I write, my heart is to encourage, equip, and remind you of the hope and truth we have in Christ.
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