This psalm written by David is about people who slander those in positions of authority. He was king, but many people didn’t like him. Why?
Joseph was hated by his brothers because God had given him dreams about his purpose in life. Joseph was hated by Potipher’s wife because he wouldn’t have sex with her. The new king of Egypt hated Israel because he feared them. Jeremiah was hated by the false prophets and the king’s advisors because he gave them God’s message. Jesus was hated because of His popularity among the people and because He criticized the religious leaders for their hypocrisy. These are just a few of the examples in scripture.
What about God? What does He hate? “There are six things the Lord hates – no, seven things He detests: (1) Haughty eyes, (2) a lying tongue, (3) hands that kill the innocent, (4) a heart that plots evil, (5) feet that race to do wrong, (6) a false witness who pours out lies, (7) a person who sows discord in a family.” (Proverbs 6:16-19, numbering added)
The sad part of this is that number 7 is often found in the church family. Since all believers still have sinful natures, we can slip into this sin without realizing it. We might not agree with something the preacher said and criticize him. We might not agree with a decision the church makes. We might not understand why a member did something in or outside the church. As long as we live, we will all probably do something in this matter: I have.
Two specific examples I can think of illustrate this. The first was very hurtful to a good woman. During her life she had become a smoker. One day she overheard a couple of Christian women criticize her by saying, “I thought she was a Christian but she smokes cigarettes.” These two women had taken scripture out of context and applied it incorrectly.
The second example is more humorous but still hurtful. It is about a preacher during his first pastorate. One Sunday as he was shaking hands with people as they left church, a man said to him, “I don’t like the way you preach”. When the pastor asked him what he meant, the man replied, “you don’t run up and down the aisles like the other preachers”. I have personally never found anything in the scriptures about preachers having to run up and down aisles.
May the Lord help us with our attitudes and words. Instead of criticizing, maybe we should spend time in prayer asking for a good attitude. Because we are still sinners, we should be quick to pray and slow to speak.