Psalm 97 is a song of joy and awe. Yet tucked inside this praise is a verse that can trouble modern readers

“The Lord loves those who hate evil;
he preserves the lives of his saints
and delivers them from the hand of the wicked.” (Psalm 97:10)

At first hearing, this can sound conditional—almost as if God’s love depends on our moral purity. But when read alongside the broader witness of Scripture, Psalm 97:10 is not about exclusion; it is about alignment.

Love That Refuses What Destroys

In the biblical imagination, evil is never merely personal wrongdoing. Evil is whatever distorts God’s good creation—violence, injustice, exploitation, deceit, and idolatry. To “hate evil” is not to hate people, but to refuse participation in what destroys life and community.

God’s love, then, is not passive or sentimental. It is protective and faithful. God loves those who stand against evil because they are standing with God’s own desire for wholeness and justice. Psalm 97 reminds us that divine love is inseparable from God’s commitment to preserve life and oppose what threatens it.

Wisdom at the Heart of Creation

Proverbs 8 deepens this vision by introducing us to Wisdom, poetically portrayed as present with God from the very beginning:

“When he established the heavens, I was there…
rejoicing before him always.” (Proverbs 8:27, 30)

Wisdom is not an afterthought or a moral add-on. Wisdom is woven into the fabric of creation itself. To live wisely is to live in harmony with how God has made the world to flourish.

Christians have long heard echoes of Jesus in this passage. The Gospel of John proclaims Christ as the eternal Word through whom all things came into being. While Proverbs 8 does not yet articulate Trinitarian theology, it prepares us to recognize that God’s love, order, and creative purpose are eternal.

Evil, then, is not simply “breaking rules.” It is living against the grain of Wisdom. To hate evil is to cherish the life-giving design God has placed at the heart of the world.

Love Given Flesh and Feet

John 13 brings all of this into the intimacy of human relationship. On the night before his death, Jesus tells his disciples:

“Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.
By this everyone will know that you are my disciples.” (John 13:34–35)

Here, love is no longer abstract. It has a face, hands, and feet. Jesus has just washed his disciples’ feet—including the feet of the one who will betray him. This is not love that ignores evil. Jesus names betrayal, injustice, and violence clearly. But he confronts evil without surrendering to hatred.

This is the fulfillment of Psalm 97, not its contradiction. Jesus shows us how to hate evil without hating people. He resists evil not by destroying his enemies, but by refusing to become what evil demands.

One Love, One Story

Taken together, these Scriptures tell a single story:

• Psalm 97 proclaims a God whose love opposes what destroys life.
• Proverbs 8 reveals that this love is rooted in the very structure of creation.
• John 13 shows us that this love is lived out through self-giving relationship.

To love as God loves is to stand against injustice, violence, and lies while remaining committed to compassion, mercy, and humility. It is to refuse both cruelty and indifference.

A Prayer for Our Day

God of wisdom and love,
Teach us to love what you love
and to resist what destroys your good creation.
Give us courage to hate evil without losing compassion,
and grace to love one another as Christ has loved us.
Shape our lives by your wisdom
and mark us as your disciples by our love.
Amen.