November 13 Daily Devotional

Bible Reading

Psalm 139

Devotional

Psalm 139 speaks of hatred. There is no true conversion without this hatred, because there are three elements in conversion: recognizing sin in self, turning away from sin, and turning to God. In recognizing our sin, we become aware of our hatred against God within our own heart. We turn away from self and turn to God. Our self-love changes to self-loathing. Hatred to God is changed into love for God. This change is present even in the smallest among God’s children, for this transformation is essential.

Let us therefore fall on our knees and lay all these matters before God with the prayer: “Lord, we lack this hatred against sin in our own heart and in that of our neighbor, because we lack love towards Thee.” Let us pray as Augustine did: “Lord, grant what Thou commandest.”

If we do not know this hatred, then we do not posses this love. God demands this hatred. He is entitled to it. It must become the craving of our heart that we have this love and this hatred. And yet we lack these desires. We cannot long for these things of our own volition and yet we must do so. How will we be able to hate the sin of others if we have not been confronted with the hatred against God in our own life? If only there would be more of us who with tears of the soul hate the sins of others, because in our own lives sin has become so costly and bitter to us.

We are called to hate and to have sorrow in the midst of a world that slaps the face of the Almighty. We must practice godly hatred in the midst of a sentimental ”Christianity” that is weak and sweet, that complies and adapts to God’s enemies and consequently no longer knows what it is to hate in the scriptural sense of the word.

The word “hatred” is an ugly word if it refers to the power of the depraved heart, but it is an indispensable word when it refers to friendship with the prince of darkness and his cohorts. Without the word “hatred,” God’s honor can never be defended, and without having God’s honor in view, no one will be saved. Lovers of self and of the world will never inherit the kingdom of God.

Oh, let there be more of such haters! We do not hate with clenched fists, but with tears, as David did. People who bear the sins of themselves and of others on their shoulders exercise this hatred. This is noticed in the congregations, in the families, and in the world at large. A deficiency of this hatred brings men into darkness; it gives weariness and deterioration. It even integrates the living church with the world. A lack of this hatred leads to a low level of sanctification. Therefore, oh people of God, if we do not remain in this hatred, we cannot remain in this love. At the same time, do consider that this fruit can never be received because of us. Our flesh is still able to use the words of our text for our own selfishness and desire for revenge. Then we place ourselves in the foreground with our own hardness of heart. This is false zeal.

This fruit is only to be received of Him who hates sin more than this poet, and who has sorrow because of those who oppose God. Only by the administration of this Vine will we be able to be a branch upon which this fruit can grow. Only then will we be able to be conformed to His image in regard to hatred of sin and sorrow for it. We may then stand alone, maybe even in our own families. We will then experience that we are strangers in the earth, and mostly because of our own body of sin. But such people will dwell with God forever. There will be no sorrow for sin there, neither for their own sin nor for the sin of others.

 

From The Everlasting Word by Frans Bakker, compiled and translated by Gerald R. Procee. Reformation Heritage Books and Free Reformed Publications, 2007. Used by permission. For further information, click here.