Psalms 36:4 - Homiletics

The portrait of the godless man.

"He abhorreth not evil." This dark trait is the crowning stroke in the portrait here drawn of the godless man. If a man does not hate evil, it is certain he loves not good. Those twin precepts are like stems from one root ( Romans 12:9 , "Abhor … cleave"). What a man loves and follows shows what he will be ; but what he hates shows what he is.

I. HATRED OF SIN IS A MORE SEARCHING MORAL TEST THAN ADMIRATION OF GOODNESS . True, any real love for goodness, desire after righteousness and holiness, shows a man not yet hopelessly bad. But there is a weak approval of good, with no earnest effort to follow it, which only amounts to self-condemnation. To recognize the right, true, good, kind, honourable path, and yet not choose it, is even a distinct step downward. Power to say "No" is the decisive test of strength of moral character. Good, if followed at all, must be pursued actively—uphill. But to go wrong you need hut yield , and drift with the stream. "The kingdom of heaven suffereth violence" ( Matthew 11:12 ).

II. Hence HATRED OF SIN IS AN ESSENTIAL AND GLORIOUS FEATURE OF GOD 'S CHARACTER . ( Habakkuk 1:13 ; Jeremiah 44:4 ; Proverbs 6:16 .) If men had power to stop the mischief and suffering caused by sin, they would think lightly of sin itself. It is because God does not think lightly of sin that he does not interfere to prevent the misery. If the stream is to flow clean, the fountain must be cleansed. God will not make an evil tree bear good fruit. Suffering is the divinely ordained penalty, warning men off from sin, tracking men out in their sins, calling men to repent of sin, witnessing to God's hatred of sin ( Romans 6:23 ). But this is only one side. Misery, suffering, death, are no arbitrary infliction; no artificially contrived punishment. They are sin's natural result. Want of love to God and to man, ripening into "enmity against God" ( Romans 8:7 ); and that self-indulgence and self-worship which practically are enmity to men, cannot but bear the bitter fruit of misery and death ( Romans 6:21 ; Galatians 5:19-21 ). A world of perfect joy and lasting happiness must be a world from which sin is eternally shut out ( Revelation 21:27 ; Revelation 22:15 ).

III. This note of warning is one SPECIALLY NEEDED BY THE TIMES WE LIVE IN . Modem society is strong (stronger than at any past epoch) in benevolence, kindliness; pity for the suffering, the fallen, even the guilty. It is weak on the sterner side—indignation against wrong, contempt of falsehood, stern zeal for justice, hatred of evil. We may see this in social life, in commercial life, in political life, in Church life, in theology. We like to "make things pleasant." We persuade ourselves that sin is no such very great evil; that God will not he very hard on it. We forget that the most tremendous denunciations of sin and of sinners are from the loving lips of our Saviour himself. "Ye that love the Lord , hate evil !" ( Psalms 97:10 ).