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Psalm 119:163
I hate and abhor falsehood. I love your law.
161Princes have persecuted me without a cause, but my heart stands in awe of your words.
162I rejoice at your word, as one who finds great plunder.
163I hate and abhor falsehood. I love your law.
164Seven times a day, I praise you, because of your righteous ordinances.
165Those who love your law have great peace. Nothing causes them to stumble.
Notice
The sharp turn from hating falsehood to loving God’s law asks you to consider both what you reject and what you cherish.
Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.
What makes the words “hate and abhor” difficult or fitting for your response to falsehood?
Write on thisWhere does love for God’s law shape what you choose to say?
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Where else Scripture says this
12 passages readers most often link with this verse, and the thread each one shares with it.
This verse's connections, by chapterThe Bible's strongest chapter linksHover or tap a book to trace it
Romans 12:9Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor that which is evil. Cling to that which is good.Both passages join abhorrence of wrong with love for what is good, refusing to separate love from moral conviction.
Proverbs 13:5A righteous man hates lies, but a wicked man brings shame and disgrace.Hatred of lies marks the righteous person in Proverbs and finds a personal voice in the psalm’s rejection of falsehood.
Psalm 97:10You who love the LORD, hate evil! He preserves the souls of his saints. He delivers them out of the hand of the wicked.Both passages connect love directed toward God or his law with hatred of what opposes him.
Psalm 119:128Therefore I consider all of your precepts to be right. I hate every false way. PEBoth verses join regard for God’s instruction with hatred of falsehood, naming what the speaker values and rejects.
Romans 7:15For I don’t understand what I am doing. For I don’t practice what I desire to do; but what I hate, that I do.Both speakers name what they hate, though Romans describes doing the hated thing while the psalm declares love for God’s law.
Psalm 119:29Keep me from the way of deceit. Grant me your law graciously!Both verses link rejection of deceit with God’s law, one through a plea for help and the other through declared love.
Proverbs 6:16–19There are six things which the LORD hates; yes, seven which are an abomination to him:Both passages use strong language of hatred, though the supplied Proverbs verse does not yet name what the LORD hates.
Amos 5:15Hate evil, love good, and establish justice in the courts. It may be that the LORD, the God of Armies, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.”Both passages pair hatred of wrong with love for good; Amos also commands justice in the courts.
1 Samuel 27:10Achish said, “Against whom have you made a raid today?” David said, “Against the South of Judah, against the South of the Jerahmeelites, and against the South …The connection is limited: David gives an account of his raid, but the supplied verse alone does not establish falsehood.
Psalm 62:4They fully intend to throw him down from his lofty place. They delight in lies. They bless with their mouth, but they curse inwardly. Selah.Falsehood is central to both passages: one speaker hates it, while the people described in Psalm 62 delight in lies.
Proverbs 30:8Remove far from me falsehood and lies. Give me neither poverty nor riches. Feed me with the food that is needful for me,Both passages reject falsehood, with Proverbs asking for its removal and the psalm expressing hatred of it.
Ephesians 4:25Therefore, putting away falsehood, speak truth each one with his neighbor, for we are members of one another.Both passages reject falsehood; Ephesians makes the practical demand explicit by commanding truthful speech with a neighbor.
Where this verse fits
Temptation. work conflict. sermon or Bible study notes.
One step
Something small to carry out of this verse
Encouragement
God’s law is worth your love. The psalm’s strong words are aimed at falsehood; its affection is directed toward the instruction God has given.
Now put it in your words.
Start an entry on Psalm 119:163. Write what it stirs. Psalmlog sets your words beside Scripture and gives you one next step. Your first entry is free, no account needed.
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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).