I know it sounds odd, but this morning I was praying to the Father for a deep sense of hate to reside in my heart. You see I love too much, if you really knew me you would know that my love is too strong and my hate is too weak. You must know there is a catch to this though, surely you think I’m not praying to hate people or groups of people and you are right. This odd prayer of mine is the result of reading underlines and stars in
Proverbs eight and nine this morning. As I read the well known Psalm 9:10, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom” I asked the usual question. What is the fear of the LORD? What does that mean? Fear Him like Daniel with the lion? Like a robber in my home? Like a disappointed father? Some misunderstood awe that has nothing to with fear at all? Then I remembered that a few minutes earlier I had read another instance of fear and not fear in general, but what I really want to understand, fear of the LORD. In Proverbs 8:13 fear is labeled, here Scripture does not speak about awe or lions, but speaks of hatred. The verse reads, “The fear of the LORD is hatred of evil.” The author of this Holy Scripture goes on to elaborate on this saying that he hates pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech. Finally it clicked for me and I hope it is now clicking for you. To fear God is to hate evil in all its various forms. While we ought to desire a deep love for God we also must pray for a hatred for all things against God as they are two sides of the same coin. To be wise is to be full of deep hate towards evil, anything not according to Scripture. To have wisdom is to have a hatred for pride and arrogance and perversion and all evil. So I hope you will join me today in our prayer to the God of all the universe to develop in you a deep hatred for evil as well as a deep love for Him in the name of Christ. May our hatred not be removed from our lives, but strengthened and redirected at those things which God Himself hates. Then we will be wise.
Well, well written.