This Week…Psalms 139:19-22

If only You would slay the wicked, O God!
Away from me, you bloodthirsty men!
They speak of You with evil intent;
Your adversaries misuse Your name.
Do I not hate those who hate You, O Lord,
and abhor those who rise up against You?
I have nothing but hatred for them; I count them my enemies.
Psalms 139:19-22

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This week, here on the Seeking Him devotional blog, we have continued along in our series on this wonderful chapter, Psalm 139.  The passage that our devotional writers have written on is NOT an easy one.  But each of them has reminded us of the standard that God has for us and the example that Jesus set.  Here’s a little of what they shared….

In Loving Our Enemies, Ahmee reiterated the standard we already know….

Did Jesus agree with sinning?  No.  But yet he was still able to mingle among sinners.  Jesus did not stand apart from them and shake his finger at them. Not our Jesus.  That is just not how He operated…We are so quick to point fingers at other people, especially non-believers.  We cannot hold non-believers to the standards we would believers—they don’t believe what we do.  Our first goal should be to win them over and show them God’s love and mercy.  I say this in regard to Psalm 139:22, where it says, “I have nothing but hatred for them, I count them my enemies.”  The psalmist does say this, but we have been called to love those in the world.

But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.
Matthew 5:44

As followers of Jesus, He obey His commands…and if He said that we are to love our enemies…then we are to love our enemies.  He is not saying  “Love all the sin that your enemies do.”  Nope.  He is saying—love the person, hate the sin.

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In Attitude Towards Righteousness and Wickedness, Ann reminded us of God’s attitude….

Having meditated on God’s great love for him, the psalmist reciprocates with great love and loyalty to his Lord.  His anger is stirred against those who oppose and blaspheme God’s wonderful name.  In deep sympathy with God and His cause, he so identifies himself with the Lord that he hates what God hates and loves what God loves.

You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness
therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions
by anointing you with the oil of joy.
Hebrews 1:9

This shows that it is not enough for God’s children to love righteousness, they must also hate evil.  We see this clearly in Christ’s devotion to righteousness (Isaiah 11:5) and His hatred of wickedness in His life.

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In Respect, Tina reminded us of the importance of respect….

Through respecting and honoring them, I am showing the same respect for God.  God tells us we will be blessed with long life and abundance when we respect and honor our parents.  But we also need to teach this to our children and to those around us.  When everyone has a respect for each other, then this world will become a better place.  It only needs to start with us.

Honor your father and your mother,
so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.
Exodus 20: 12

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