“O God, do not keep silence; do not hold your peace or be still, O God! For behold, your enemies make an uproar; those who hate you have raised their heads.” Psalm 83:1-2 ESV.
Reflection: why do some people hate God, and therefore hate God’s people?
When you stop and think about it, hate is a very curious thing. I’m not talking about dislike, like when we “hate certain foods”, or being irritated or annoyed with someone, upset about something, or anything like that. No, I am talking about deep rooted hate that comes from the heart. The dictionary even has difficulties defining it, but one of the definitions is “to feel extreme enmity toward”, which is kind of funny because it is recursive since enmity is another word for hate, right? But we all know what it is, and most have probably experienced some form of it. Throughout Bible history, God and God’s people have been hated, and it seems like it is mostly without reason. Just try to publicly stand on, and speak God’s word and commands into today’s world, and we quickly find who the enemies of God are. And it is very strange to experience, to be hated by someone without having done anything towards them, for no apparent reason. So,
where does hate come from?
We read the following about enmity from the Bible, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”” Genesis 3:15 ESV. Did you notice there are two offsprings? Seed of Adam, and seed of the serpent, which opens up a huge discussion, of course. But, the main point here is that God already called out that there would be this enmity, this deep rooted hatred, between the good and the evil. But, is it only the evil, the seed of the serpent, who hates? It seems like based on this verse, that both sides hate each other, right? And we think of God as only love, but
does God also hate?
““I have loved you,” says the Lord. But you say, “How have you loved us?” “Is not Esau Jacob’s brother?” declares the Lord. “Yet I have loved Jacob but Esau I have hated. I have laid waste his hill country and left his heritage to jackals of the desert.”” Malachi 1:2-3 ESV. In fact, reading both the Old Testament and New Testament we find this enmity throughout. Jesus showed his hatred for the Pharisees and religious leaders at that time, over and over, calling them children of the serpent. Which is why they were plotting to get rid of him.
Nothing new here. In Psalms 83, we read an example of the enemies of God, and their plotting against God’s people. “For behold, your enemies make an uproar; those who hate you have raised their heads. They lay crafty plans against your people; they consult together against your treasured ones. They say, “Come, let us wipe them out as a nation; let the name of Israel be remembered no more!” For they conspire with one accord; against you they make a covenant“ Psalm 83:2-5 ESV. Have things changed? Do we see the same hatred of God’s people today? We might be afraid of finding out who hates God, and therefore hates us?
So how can we square this with Jesus teaching, where he says ““You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?” Matthew 5:43-46 ESV. There s not a simple answer here, that is for sure. But to be passive, to be in hiding has never been the right answer for God’s people.
Asaph goes on, pleading with God, “O my God, make them like whirling dust, like chaff before the wind. As fire consumes the forest, as the flame sets the mountains ablaze, so may you pursue them with your tempest and terrify them with your hurricane! Fill their faces with shame, that they may seek your name, O Lord. Let them be put to shame and dismayed forever; let them perish in disgrace, that they may know that you alone, whose name is the Lord, are the Most High over all the earth.” Psalm 83:13-18 ESV. We see here this close relationship, this partnership that Asaph has with God, asking God to act where he cannot, not to just let the enemies of God’s people get away with their plotting, their evil deeds.
So what is the message here for us today? It should come as no surprise that we are in an active battle, which means there are enemies of God and therefore of God’s people. That we have people who hate us for being Christian, because of their hate for God. As Asaph, let’s partner with our God in prayer, and in action, not to stay silent out of fear, but to join the battle. We do know how the battle ends.