Psalm 119:113 – Hate and Love

Lawbreakers I hate,
But your instruction I love!

Well, now. That’s harsh!

Commentary on verses uses “hate” and “love” often centers on explaining that these two words don’t always mean the same thing. For example, Malachi 1:2-3 includes the words “Jacob I love, but Esau I hate.” This again sounds pretty harsh, but commentators point out that the Hebrew words “love” and “hate” can mean something like “chosen” and “rejected,” even if that relates to selection for a role.

That’s sort of correct, as long as people realize that “love” and “hate” in Hebrew also include the emotional preference and a range of meanings. And in case you’re trying to make “hate” too gentle in that particular instance, Malachi 1:4b says “They will be called a country of wickedness, a people with whom the LORD is angry for ever.” This is a fairly energetic form of rejection.

Sometimes we’re looking for harsh. It brings clarity. The popularity of movies such as the early Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, and a number of adventure movies show this by their popularity. What do these movies have in common? There are good guys and bad guys, and we know which is which. We also know that the bad guys lose and the good guys win. We like it to be that way.

Then reality sets in. A reality in which the good guys and the bad guys overlap and sometimes change places, and we can’t always be sure who wins, at least in the short term.

One reason we really like fiction that has a clear line between good and evil is that real life doesn’t generally work out that way. We are usually flawed people working with other flawed people and trying to make things work out reasonably well. We often can’t agree on what is good and evil.

There’s a passage from one of my favorite Science Fiction writers, David Weber, in his book A Rising Thunder. Someone is looking at the difference between shades of gray and black and white (the long, tall niece in the passage sees more black and withe).

“Well, usually, that’s what it is.” Benton-Ramirez y Chou’s tone was suddenly much more serious. “But sometimes it isn’t, and my long, tall niece here has a point.” He smiled a little sadly at Honor. “Comfortable or not, when those ‘sometimes’ come along, the only coinage history seems willing to accept is our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.”

David Weber, A Rising Thunder (ePub Edition), 308.

And that’s why we like fiction, like many of Weber’s books, where the lines are much more clearly drawn.

I think it’s important, while recognizing our own faults and failings, to also realize that there are lines that we should not cross, things we should and should not do, and that we should be willing to back those lines with our emotions and actions.

Sometimes “harsh” is also “true.”

What lines are you facing? What lines might you need to draw?

(Featured image generated by Jetpack AI.)