Do not I hate them, O LORD, that hate thee? and am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee?
Parallel translations
- WEB Yahweh, don’t I hate those who hate you? Am I not grieved with those who rise up against you?
- BSB Do I not hate those who hate You, O LORD, and detest those who rise against You?
- NKJV Do I not hate them, O Lord, who hate You? And do I not loathe those who rise up against You?
- NASB Do I not hate those who hate You, Lord? And do I not loathe those who rise up against You?
- NLT O Lord, shouldn’t I hate those who hate you? Shouldn’t I despise those who oppose you?
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
David asks whether he ought not to hate those who hate Yahweh and grieve over those who oppose Him. It expresses solidarity with God against His enemies.
Overview
David's 'hatred' is not personal spite but covenant loyalty: he aligns his heart fully with God's cause. Faithful readers understand this as zeal for God's glory, set within the Old Covenant before the fuller revelation of loving enemies in Christ (Matthew 5:44). The tension is resolved at the cross, where God's enemies are both judged and, through repentance, reconciled.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Ps 119:158I beheld the transgressors, and was grieved; because they kept not thy word.
- Rev 2:2I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars:
- Ps 31:6I have hated them that regard lying vanities: but I trust in the LORD.
- 2 Chr 19:2And Jehu the son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him, and said to king Jehoshaphat, Shouldest thou help the ungodly, and love them that hate the LORD? therefore is wrath upon thee from before the LORD.
- Ps 26:5I have hated the congregation of evil doers; and will not sit with the wicked.
- Rev 2:6But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitanes, which I also hate.
- Ps 15:4In whose eyes a vile person is contemned; but he honoureth them that fear the LORD. He that sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not.
- Luke 19:41And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it,
- Rom 9:1–3I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost,
- Mark 3:5And when he had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, he saith unto the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it out: and his hand was restored whole as the other.
- Ps 119:136Rivers of waters run down mine eyes, because they keep not thy law.
- Jer 13:17But if ye will not hear it, my soul shall weep in secret places for your pride; and mine eye shall weep sore, and run down with tears, because the LORD’s flock is carried away captive.
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Christ at the center
The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.
How Psalms 139:21 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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