Psalms 119:163 Meaning: Why Devotion Requires Both Hate and Love

The verse uses three Hebrew verbs that each carry weight. The first, sane, means to hate in a settled, personal way. It is the same word used of God hating evil. The second verb, ta‘av, goes further: it means to regard as an abomination, to turn away in disgust. For the psalmist, falsehood is not a minor irritation. It is something that repels him at a gut level. The word for falsehood, sheqer, covers any deception, fraud, broken promise, or disloyalty. It is the opposite of the solid truth of God.

Meanwhile, the word for love, ahav, is the same verb used throughout Scripture for God’s covenant love for his people. It is not a mild liking but a personal, committed desire. And the object is torah, God’s instruction. For the psalmist, love for God’s teaching is not a calm respect but an affectionate attachment. Together these words show that real devotion is never neutral. It moves toward what is good and away from what is false.

Matthew Henry saw in this verse a rooted antipathy to sin and a rooted affection for God’s word. He read “lying” broadly as any kind of treachery against God, including hypocrisy and false doctrine. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown understood “lying” as unfaithfulness to God’s covenant, the sin of turning away from loyalty to the Lord. Adam Clarke suggested the psalmist may have faced pressure to make false confessions under persecution, but he would not bend even to save himself. The Cambridge Bible noted that this stanza contains no petition, only honest profession. Across these readings, a common thread appears: devotion to God’s word and a holy rejection of deception cannot be separated.

Some read this verse as if the psalmist is boasting about his own spiritual achievements. It sounds like he is patting himself on the back for being honest and obedient. In fact, as the Cambridge Bible notes, this is not the pride of a Pharisee but the honest language of a good conscience. The psalmist is not parading his virtue. He is naming the two poles of his inner life before God: he turns from what is false and clings to what is true. That is the honest testimony of a heart shaped by God’s word, not self-congratulation.

This week, consider the small falsehoods that slip into daily life. A slight exaggeration on a report. A fake excuse to avoid a commitment. A silent nod when someone spreads a rumor. These feel minor, but the psalmist’s language suggests that falsehood in any form is not something to manage but to reject. Loving God’s law means letting his instruction train your heart to recognize what is false and to turn from it without debate. Before you speak today, ask: does this come from the truth of God, or does it bend reality? Let your love for what is true give you courage to hate what is false, even when it costs something.