"Thou shalt destroy them that speak leasing,"
whether in jest or earnest. Those that lie in jest will (without repentance)
go to hell in earnest. John Trapp
CHS Treasury of David "The foolish shall not stand in
thy sight." Sinners are fools written large. A little sin is a
great folly, and the greatest of all folly is great sin. Such sinful fools as
these must be banished from the court of heaven. Earthly
kings were wont to have fools in their trains, but the only wise God will have
no fools in his palace above. "Thou hatest all workers of
iniquity." It is not a little dislike, but a thorough
hatred which God bears to workers of iniquity. To be hated of God is
an awful thing. O let us be very faithful in warning the wicked around us, for
it will be a terrible thing for them to fall into the hands of an angry
God!
"Thou hatest all workers of
iniquity." For what God thinks of sin, see Deuteronomy
7:22; Proverbs 6:16; Revelation 2:6, 15; where he expresseth his detestation
and hatred of it, from which hatred proceeds all those direful plagues and
judgments thundered from the fiery mouth of his most holy law against it; nay,
not only the work, but worker also of iniquity becomes the
object of his hatred. William Gurnall.
What an astonishing thing is sin, which maketh the God of love and
Father of mercies an enemy to his creatures, and which could only be
purged by the blood of the Son of God! Though all must believe this who
believe the Bible, yet the exceeding sinfulness of sin is but weakly
apprehended by those who have the deepest sense of it, and will never be fully
known in this world. Thomas Adam's Private Thoughts, 1701-1784.
"Thou hatest all workers of
iniquity." If God's hatred be against the workers of
iniquity, how great is it against iniquity itself! If a man hates a poisonous
creature, he hates poison much more. The strength of God's hatred is against
sin, and so should we hate sin, and hate it with strength; it is an
abomination unto God, let it be so unto us. Proverbs 6:16-19, "These six things doth the Lord hate; yea, seven are an
abomination unto him; a proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed
innocent blood, an heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift
to mischief, a false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord
among brethren." William Greenhill.
Those whom the Lord hates must perish. But he hates
impenitent sinners, "Thou
hatest all workers of iniquity." Now, who are so properly
workers of iniquity as those who are so eager at it that they will not leave
this work, though they be in danger to perish for it? Christ puts it out of
doubt. The workers of iniquity must perish. Luke 13:27. Those whom the
Lord will tear in his wrath must perish with a witness; but those whom he
hates, he tears, &c. Job 16:8. What more due to such
impenitent sinners than hatred? What more proper than wrath,
since they treasure up wrath? Romans 2:5. Will he entertain
those in the bosom of love whom his soul hates? No; destruction is their
portion. Proverbs 21:15. If all the curses of the law, all the
threatenings of the gospel, all judgments in earth or in hell, will be the
ruin of him, he must perish. If the Lord's arm be strong enough to wound him
dead, he must die. Psalm 68:21. . . . . . . Avoid all that Christ hates. If
you love, approve, entertain that which is hateful to Christ, how can he love
you? What is that which Christ hates? The psalmist (Psalm 45:7) tells us,
making it one of Christ's attributes, to hate wickedness. . . . . As Christ
hates iniquity, so the "workers of
iniquity." You must not love them, so as to be intimate
with them, delight in the company of evil doers, openly profane, scorners of
godliness, obstructors of the power of it. 2 Corinthians 6:14-18. If you love
so near relations to wicked men, Christ will have no relation to you. If you
would have communion with Christ in sweet acts of love, you must have no
fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, nor those that act them.
David Clarkson, B.D., 1621-1686.
