Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 97:10
Ye that love the LORD, hate evil: he preserveth the souls of his saints; he delivereth them out of the hand of the wicked.
10. There is no need to alter the text as some modern critics would do, and read, They that love Jehovah hate evil; or, Jehovah loveth those that hate evil. An exhortation to those who love Jehovah to prove themselves what they profess to be by positive abhorrence of all that is antagonistic to Him was not superfluous, in an age when many an Israelite might still be tempted to half-hearted service. It corresponds to the warning of Psa 95:7 ff. For the language of the whole verse cp. Amo 5:15; Psa 37:28; Psa 34:20.
his saints ] His beloved, or, his godly ones. See Appendix, Note I.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
10 12. The duty and the confidence of Israel.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Ye that love the Lord, hate evil – Show your love for the Lord by hating all that is evil; that is, all that he hates, or that is evil in his sight. There can be no true love for God where evil is not hated in all its forms, since it is the object of the divine abhorrence. We cannot be like God unless we love what he loves, and hate what he hates. There is nothing more clearly affirmed in the Scriptures than that in order to the love of God there must be the hatred of all that is wrong, and that where there is the love of sin in the heart, there can be no true religion. Compare the notes at Isa 1:16-20.
He preserveth the souls of his saints – The lives of his saints, or his holy ones. That is, he guards them from danger, and watches over them with a careful eye. See Psa 3:8; Psa 37:39.
He delivereth them out of the hand of the wicked – That is, he often does this; they may expect that he will do it. He does not, indeed, always deliver them from the temporal calamities which wicked people bring upon them – for they are not unfrequently persecuted and wronged; but ultimately he will deliver them altogether from the power of the wicked. In heaven none of the machinations of wicked people can reach them. At the same time it is also true that God often interposes in behalf of his people, and delivers them as such from the designs of the wicked: that is, he delivers them because they are righteous, or because they are his friends. Compare the notes at Dan 3:16-17, notes at Dan 3:24-25; notes at Dan 6:18-23.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Psa 97:10-12
Ye that love the Lord, hate evil.
The privileges and duties of the Lords people
I. The character of the persons addressed. Ye that love the Lord. This love is–
1. The consequence of Gods love to the soul (Jer 31:3).
2. Genuine, or pure (Rom 12:9).
3. In its power unconquerable (Son 8:6-7).
4. In its duration lasting (Php 1:9-11).
5. In its influence constraining (2Co 5:14).
6. In its nature–
(1) Working.
(2) Uniting.
(3) Confirming.
(4) Lasting to eternity.
II. Their privilege declared. He preserveth the souls of His saints, etc.
1. He secures them from the sinfulness of their hearts (Rom 6:14).
2. From the prevalency of ignorance (Psa 73:24).
3. From all slavish fear (Isa 26:3).
4. From the curse of the broken law (Gal 3:13).
5. He rescueth them from Satan (Rom 16:20).
6. From wicked and deceitful men (Psa 27:2-3).
7. From every other kind of opponent (1Pe 1:5).
III. The duty or practice exhorted to. Hate evil.
1. Personal or internal evil (Rom 7:6).
2. The sin which we see in others (Psa 139:21-22).
3. The evil that is in the world (Psa 119:104).
4. All national evils (Pro 14:34).
IV. The state of the soul described (Psa 97:11).
1. Light.
(1) The knowledge of Gods purpose of grace (Eph 1:3-4).
(2) The comprehension of Scripture (Psa 119:105).
(3) Light was sown for the righteous (Isa 9:2).
(4) Salvation is sown for the righteous (Psa 27:1).
(5) The teaching of the Holy Ghost is light (2Co 4:6).
2. Gladness.
(1) Heartfelt (Psa 4:7).
(2) The gladness of received mercy (1Pe 4:13).
(3) Future and joyous gladness (Psa 31:7; Psa 31:19).
V. The evidences and experiences of the Christian (Psa 97:12).
1. Rejoice in the Lord.
(1) In the death of the Lord.
(2) In the life or righteousness of the Lord.
(3) In the majesty or power of the Lord.
(4) In Christ the salvation of the righteous.
2. Give thanks to Him.
(1) For His essential holiness as a Divine person.
(2) The holiness of His life as God-man mediator.
(3) For our being partakers of His holiness.
(4) And for that perfect holiness which we shall have and enjoy in heaven with Christ hereafter. (T. B. Baker, M.A.)
Righteous hatred
The Spirit of Christ is love. Wherever He governs, love reigns. The Christian man is not allowed to hate any one. But we may and must hate a mans sins. Hatred is a power of manhood, and therefore to be exercised. And we may hate and sin not. We may have hatred in our hearts, only see to it that it run only in one stream, and that against evil. And we are to hate all evil, not merely some. It was said long ago of some professors that they did–
Compound for sins they were inclined to,
By damning those they had no mind to.
But it is a universal duty to which we are here called.
I. Hate all evil in thyself. Thou hast good reason. Think–
1. What mischief it has already wrought thee. It kept you from Jesus, it would have lost you your soul but that grace interfered.
2. How unbecoming it is to thee. Thou art of the blood royal of the Kingdom of God. Shall such a man as thou sin? Thou art set apart for God Himself.
3. How it weakens you. Can you pray after committing sin? You know you cannot. You have lost your power. Sin will make thee leave off praying or else praying will make thee leave off sinning. And if you try to engage in work for Christ, you cannot do it. An unholy man must be a useless one.
4. Hate it, because if you indulge in it you will have to smart for it (Psa 51:1-19). If thou wouldest strew thy path with thorns and put nettles in thy death-pillow, then live in sin.
5. You will do hurt to others. The Church of Christ–how you will shame that: and poor sinners, how you will cause them to stumble and encourage them in their sin. And think especially–
6. How it grieves Christ. Now, if you would be rid of sin, the terrors of the law will not help you, but communion with Christ will. And get as much light as you can upon it. The housewife when she is busy about her house, with curtains drawn, may think everything looks clean; but she opens a little corner of the window, and in streams a ray of light, in which ten thousand grains of dust are dancing up and down. Ah, she thinks, my room is not so clean as I thought it was; here is dust where I thought there was none. Now, endeavour to get not the farthing rushlight of your own judgment, but the sunlight of the Holy Spirit streaming upon your heart, and it will help you to detect your sin–and detection of sin is halfway towards its cure. And if you have fallen into sin make confession of it, and when your mind is in a holy state seek to estimate sin aright. With regard to some sins, flee them. There is no other way. And if you would keep from sin, seek always to have a fresh anointing of the Holy Spirit. Old Master Dyer says, Lock up your hearts by prayer every morning and give God the key, so that nothing can get in. And never palliate sin.
II. Hate sin in others. Then, if you do, never countenance it, not even by a look. Often condemn it openly. Of course prudently. And do not get into it yourself. Those who live in glass houses, etc. And encourage all who are fighting against it. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
A good man sensitive to moral evil
If we would realize the full force of the term hatred of evil as it ought to exist in all, as it would exist in a perfectly righteous man, we should do well to consider how sensitive we are to pain, suffering and misfortune. How delicately is the physical frame of man constructed, and how keenly is the slightest derangement in any part of it felt. A little mote in the eye hardly discernible by the eye of another, the swelling of a small gland, the deposit of a small grain of sand–what agonies may these slight causes inflict. That fine filament of nerves of feeling spread like a wonderful network over the whole surface of the body, how exquisitely susceptible it is. A trifling burn, scald, or excision, how does it cause the member affected to be drawn back suddenly and the patient to cry out. Now, there can be no question that if man were in a perfectly moral state, moral evil would affect his mind as sensibly and in as lively a manner–would, in short, be as much an affliction as pain is to his physical frame. He would shrink and snatch himself away as sin came near; the first entrance of it into his imagination would wound and arouse his moral sensibilities, and make him positively unhappy. (Dean Goulburn.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 10. Ye that love the Lord hate evil] Because it is inconsistent with his love to you, as well as your love to him.
He preserveth the souls of his saints] The saints, chasidaiv, his merciful people: their souls-lives, are precious in his sight. He preserves them; keeps them from every evil, and every enemy.
Out of the hand of the wicked.] From his power and influence.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Ye that love the Lord; O all you who love and worship the true God and his anointed, and rejoice in the establishment of his kingdom.
Hate evil; show your love to him by your abhorrency of all idolatry, which is sometimes called evil or sin by way of eminency, and of all other wickedness. And although you that love the Lord Christ and his kingdom will meet with many troubles and persecutions, yet be not discouraged, for he will preserve you in troubles, and in his time deliver you out of them all.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
10-12. Let gratitude for theblessings of providence and grace incite saints (Ps4:3) to holy living. Spiritual blessings are in store,represented by light (Ps 27:1)and gladness.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Ye that love the Lord, hate evil,…. The evil of sin, which is to be hated, because of the evil nature of it, it being exceeding sinful; and because of its evil consequences, bringing death, ruin, and destruction with it to the souls of men, unless grace prevents; and disquietude, distress, and trouble to the saints themselves; and because it is hateful to God, being contrary to his nature, will, and law, and is hated by Christ; and therefore those that love him should hate that, shun it, avoid it, depart from it, and abstain from all appearance of it; as all such will that love him in sincerity above all persons and things; and all of him, and that belong to him, his people, ways, worship, truths, and ordinances: and such are they that have seen the loveliness of him, and know his love, and have had it shed abroad in their hearts; and these will not only hate the evil of sin, but evil men; not their persons, but their actions and conversations; and will avoid them, and have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness:
he preserveth the souls of his saints; that are set apart by him, and chosen in him to be holy; that are sanctified by his blood, and by his Spirit and grace, and to whom he is made sanctification: the “souls” of these, their better and more noble part, which are dear to him, and he has redeemed by his blood, and whose salvation he has obtained, and they still receive, he “preserves” from the evil of sin, from its governing and damning power, from a final and total apostasy by it, from ruin and destruction through it, from being hurt by the second death; and he preserves them from all their enemies, sin, Satan, and the world, from being destroyed by them, safe to his kingdom and glory; therefore he is to be loved, and sin to be hated by them:
he delivereth them out of the hand of the wicked; of wicked and unreasonable men, into whose hands they sometimes fall, cruel and bloodthirsty persecutors; as he is able to deliver them, so oftentimes he does; and will, ere long, put them entirely out of their reach. Kimchi interprets this of the deliverance of the Jews from the captivity of Babylon, Media, and Persia.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
It is true Psa 97:12 is = Psa 32:11, Psa 97:12 = Psa 30:5, and the promise in Psa 97:10 is the same as in Psa 37:28; Psa 34:21; but as to the rest, particularly Psa 97:11, this strophe is original. It is an encouraging admonition to fidelity in an age in which an effeminate spirit of looking longingly towards lit. ogling heathenism was rife, and stedfast adherence to Jahve was threatened with loss of life. Those who are faithful in their confession, as in the Maccabaean age ( ), are called . The beautiful figure in Psa 97:11 is misapprehended by the ancient versions, inasmuch as they read (Psa 112:4) instead of . does not here signify sown = strewn into the earth, but strewn along his life’s way, so that he, the righteous one, advances step by step in the light. Hitzig rightly compares ki’dnatai ski’dnatai, used of the dawn and of the sun. Of the former Virgil also says, Et jam prima novo spargebat lumine terras .
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
10 Ye that love Jehovah, hate evil Those that fear God are here enjoined to practice righteousness, as Paul says,
“
Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity,” (2Ti 2:19)
He shows from the very nature of God, that we cannot be judged and acknowledged to be his servants unless we depart from sin, and practice holiness. God is in himself the fountain of righteousness, and he must necessarily hate all iniquity, unless we could suppose that he should deny himself; and we have fellowship with him only on the terms of separation from unrighteousness. As the persecution of the wicked is apt to provoke us to seek revenge, and unwarrantable methods of escape, the Psalmist guards us against this temptation, by asserting that God is the keeper and protector of his people. If persuaded of being under the Divine guardianship, we will not strive with the wicked, nor retaliate injury upon those who have wronged us, but commit our safety to him who will faithfully defend it. This gracious act of condescension, by which God takes us under his care, should serve as a check to any impatience we might feel in abstaining from what is evil, (103) and preserving the course of integrity under provocation.
(103) “ De nous tenir en bride, de peur qu’il ne nous soit fascheux ou grief de nous abstenir de malice,” etc. — Fr.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(10) Ye that love the Lord.Notwithstanding certain points of similarity between this verse and Psa. 34:10-20; Psa. 37:28, and between Psa. 97:12 and Psa. 32:11, the psalmist shows himself at the close more than a compilera true poet.
Hate evil.It is better to point for the indicative, They who love Jehovah, hate evil, in order to avoid the awkward transition in the next clause. This practical test of true religion can never be obsolete. Love of God implies the hatred of all He hates. A heathen writer has expressed this in a striking way. Philosophy, holding a dialogue with Lucian, is made to say, To love and to hate, they say, spring from the same source. To which he replies, That, O Philosophy, should be best known to you. My business is to hate the bad, and to love and commend the good, and that I stick to.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
10. Ye that love the Lord, hate evil Learn to abhor it from this example of divine judgments against idolatry.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
A rule is here given to judge of real love. If I love Jesus, I shall love his people. If I love him, I love what he loves, and hate what he hates. See an appeal of this kind to the Lord, much in point, Psa 34:21-22 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Psa 97:10 Ye that love the LORD, hate evil: he preserveth the souls of his saints; he delivereth them out of the hand of the wicked.
Ver. 10. Ye that love the Lord ] As having tasted of Christ’s sweetness, being justified by his merit, and sanctified by his Spirit, 1Pe 2:4 1Co 6:11 ; carried after him with strength of desire, Psa 42:1 , and delight, Psa 73:25 . Such as these only are Christ’s true subjects; others will pretend to him, but they are but hangbys, unless the love of Christ constrain them to hate evil, to hate it as hell, Rom 12:9 . Sin seemeth to have its name of Sena to hate (the word here used), because it is most of all to be hated, as the greatest evil; as that which setteth us farthest from God, the greatest good . This none can do but those that love the Lord Christ in sincerity; for all hatred comes from love. A natural man may be angry with his sin, as a man is sometimes with his wife or friend for some present vexation; but hate it he cannot; yea, he may leave it (for the ill consequents of sin), but not loathe it. If he did, he would loathe all, as well as any, for hatred is ever against the whole kind of a thing, saith Aristotle, (Rhetor. lib. 2).
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Psa 97:10-12
10Hate evil, you who love the Lord,
Who preserves the souls of His godly ones;
He delivers them from the hand of the wicked.
11Light is sown like seed for the righteous
And gladness for the upright in heart.
12Be glad in the Lord, you righteous ones,
And give thanks to His holy name.
Psa 97:10-12 This strophe describes the appropriate way to exalt YHWH. He is the One who
1. preserves the souls (nephesh, BDB 659, see note at Gen 35:18 online) of His godly ones (BDB 339, see note at Psa 31:23)
2. delivers them from the hand of the wicked
3. sows light for the righteous (cf. Psa 97:4 a)
4. sows gladness for the upright in heart
How then should His godly ones respond?
1. hate evil – BDB 971, KB 1338, Qal imperative
2. love YHWH – BDB 12, KB 17, Qal participle
3. be glad in the Lord – BDB 970, KB 1330, Qal imperative, cf. Psa 32:11
4. give thanks to His holy name – BDB 392, KB 389, Hiphil imperative, cf. Psa 30:4
Psa 97:11 light is sown The MT has sown (, BDB 281, KB 282) but the LXX, Peshitta, and Vulgate have dawn (, BDB 280), which seems to fit the imagery better (NRSV, TEV, REB, cf. Ps. 112:40).
The UBS Text Project (p. 371) gives sown a C rating (i.e., considerable doubt).
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
This is a study guide commentary which means that you are responsible for your own interpretation of the Bible. Each of us must walk in the light we have. You, the Bible, and the Holy Spirit are priority in interpretation. You must not relinquish this to a commentator.
These discussion questions are provided to help you think through the major issues of this section of the book. They are meant to be thought provoking, not definitive.
1. How is this Psalm related to the previous Psalm?
2. What is Psa 97:2 a describing?
3. How are Psa 97:4 a and 6 related to Natural Revelation?
4. Who are the gods of Psa 97:9 b?
5. What does YHWH tell His faithful followers to do in the last strophe?
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
evil. Hebrew. ra’a’. App-44.
souls. Hebrew. nephesh. App-13.
saints = gracious (i.e. graced) ones.
wicked = lawless (plural) Hebrew. rasha, ‘. App-44.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Ye that: Psa 91:14, Rom 8:28, 1Co 8:3, Jam 1:12, Jam 2:5, 1Pe 1:8, 1Jo 4:19, 1Jo 5:2, 1Jo 5:3
hate: Psa 34:14, Psa 36:4, Psa 37:27, Psa 101:3, Psa 119:104, Psa 119:163, Pro 3:7, Pro 8:13, Amo 5:15, Rom 7:15, Rom 7:24, Rom 12:9
preserveth: Psa 31:23, Psa 37:28, Psa 37:39, Psa 37:40, Psa 145:20, Pro 2:8, Isa 45:17, Joh 20:28-30, Rom 8:28-30, 1Pe 1:5
delivereth: Psa 125:3, Jer 15:21, Dan 3:28, Dan 6:22, Dan 6:27, 2Th 2:8-12, 2Th 3:2, 1Jo 5:18, Rev 13:8
Reciprocal: Jdg 5:31 – them that 1Sa 2:9 – his saints Psa 16:1 – Preserve Psa 36:10 – and thy Psa 50:5 – my saints Psa 121:7 – he shall Zec 14:6 – not Act 12:11 – and hath 2Ti 2:19 – Let
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
LIFE AND CHARACTER
O ye that love the Lord, see that ye hate the thing which is evil.
Psa 97:10 (Prayer Book Version)
Holy Scripture teaches us that the outcome and the end of life is not what a man has done, or what a man has said, but it is what life has made of the man. Not so much what man has made of the life, but what life has made of the man. Life is a machinery with its complicated system for the working out of character, and at the end the soul comes out beaten upon by all the manifold forces and influences of life; the soul comes out of all those forces which baffle analysis, and there is your man. Holy Scripture says that the outcome of life is the formation of character, and that, compared with this, nothing else in the world matters.
I. Character is defined by one of two movements of the human will.That man is a good man, whatever his creed may be, who is always striving after what he thinks is the best. And that man, whatever his creed may be, is not a good man who, when he sees the good, deliberately turns away from it. That man is not good who, seeing the best, gropes after what he likes, and not after what he ought to like, who aims not at the high but at the low. That man is not a good man who does not aim at what he thinks to be noblest and the purest and the best. Underneath all the variety of nationality, race, and religion, underneath all variety of these things that change and give colour to life, underneath all is this distinction between men good and bad. I saw the dead, small and great, stand before Godthe dead, morally small, intellectually small, morally great and intellectually greatI saw them stand before God, and I observed a division: and what was the cause of that division? One man could say with truth, Lord, when saw I Thee in prison, or sick, and did not try to help? And the other man saw good and turned away; saw light and turned away; saw moral rectitude and chose moral evil.
II. Here is the key to human life.You tell me about a man. He may be a great public character, and you say to me, He is a man of great gifts and great wealth. And I say to you, Tell me something about the man. And you say, He is a man of extraordinary fascination and wonderful power of influence. I say, Tell me something about the man. You say, He is a man of wonderful power of mind and body and reason. I say, I do not know the man yet; tell me something about the man. And then you say, And all these powers of influence and fascination and wealth he used for his own ends. Now I know your man. That one act of the will is the secret of that mans life, and all the rest is only a setting to the picture. But, further, you may say, Well, but I cannot feel that I am perfectly free. I cannot feel that my will is absolutely free. No man in his senses will ever say to you that at any given moment of your life you are free from anything that you have done in the past. It is in the power of every man to work himself out of bad habits. He can get free by struggle, hard struggle. Not to-day, not to-morrow, it may be, not for a year, perhaps, but he can get free if he will struggle in the light of God, and in the power of Gods might he can get free, and at last he will sing with joy and peace, The snare is broken and I am delivered.
III. And now, how shall these things be?I find that I seem to have two wills. I am, you say, a man of strong purpose, and yet, when I come to things moral, I seem to be powerless. What am I to do? St. Paul says that behind your conscience, and behind your reason, you can set a person, a person whom you love. And now supposing that you set the greatest and the dearest of men, Jesus Christ, and supposing you learn to love Him, and supposing that you hear His voice, the voice of One who died for the honour of God and for the sake of men, the voice that called the Magdalene to His feet. Suppose you hear that voice sounding through your conscience, will not at length devotion to Him, the love of Him, draw all your passions, one by one, upon the side of right as against wrong? O ye that love the Lord! see that ye hate the thing that is evil.
IV. There are many things that society hates.It hates being dull, it hates being bored, it hates badly fitting clothes, it hates long sermons, it hates being found out. It hates evil when evil touches its pocket or injures its character in the face of men, but it does not hate evil as evil. Ye that love the Lord, see that ye hate above all things the thing that is evil. And as you learn to love the Lord, as you learn to hate evil, you will learn to love good, until at length, stealthily, quietly, in moments unknown and unmeasured, one by one, all your errant desires will come back from the side of wrong and take their place on the side of right, until at last your whole nature is brought into submission, and your whole heart flung down at the feet of God.
Prebendary Storrs.
Illustration
Sometimes we see a man who has been raised from poverty up to wealth, and we say, I liked that man better when he was poor, for when he was poor there seemed to be a splendour of character about him, which has now been overlaid by all this comfort and luxury and ease. Here is a fine lady who is lying upon her death-bed. She has had her day, and she has had her sway, and she has done her acts, and she has said her words, and she has had her receptions, and, as you, her friends, stand by her bedside, why is it that you do not feel any of that triumph which comes from a sense of strength and power? It is because you know, who knew her well, that, underneath all, her character has deteriorated, and she has become small instead of great. Or, once more, you stand by the coffin of your dead friend. You have crossed his hands in calmness and peace, and closed his eyes. Why is it that, in spite of all he has doneand he seems to have done great thingswhy is it that you are unhappy? It is because you know that, underneath it all, his moral nature has worsened. He has become a poorer character than he was.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
Psa 97:10. Ye that love the Lord O all you that love and worship the true God, and rejoice in the establishment of his kingdom; hate evil Show your love to him by hating all sin in temper, word, and work. Thus the psalmist, having sung the glory of the Redeemer, now delineates the duty of the redeemed. They are characterized by their love of God; they are enjoined to hate evil; the hatred of which indeed is a consequence and a sure proof of that love, when it is genuine and sincere. Religion must be rooted in the heart and spring from thence. A Christian must not only serve God outwardly, but must inwardly love him; he must not content himself with abstaining from overt acts of sin, but must truly hate it. They who do so are the saints of God, whose souls he preserveth from evil, and will finally deliver from the evil one and his associates, by a happy death and a glorious resurrection. Horne.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
97:10 Ye that {h} love the LORD, hate evil: he preserveth the souls of his saints; he delivereth them out of the hand of the wicked.
(h) He requires two things from his children: the one that they detest vice, the other, that they put their trust in God for their deliverance.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
3. The appropriate response 97:10-12
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Since God loves righteousness, it is only fitting that those who love Him should hate evil. By doing so, they become the objects of His blessing rather than partakers of His discipline.