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Psalm 139:21

LORD, don’t I hate those who hate you? Am I not grieved with those who rise up against you?

19If only you, God, would kill the wicked. Get away from me, you bloodthirsty men!
20For they speak against you wickedly. Your enemies take your name in vain.
21LORD, don’t I hate those who hate you? Am I not grieved with those who rise up against you?
23Search me, God, and know my heart. Try me, and know my thoughts.
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← Psalm 139:20
Notice

Hatred here targets people who oppose God, within a passage that names bloodthirsty men and then turns toward the speaker’s own heart with a plea for God’s searching.

Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.

What difference does the mention of bloodthirsty men make to your reading of this hatred?

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What do you make of hatred and grief appearing together in this address to YHWH?

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How might the request to be searched in verse 23 shape your response to verse 21?

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Connect

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
Psalm 119:158I look at the faithless with loathing, because they don’t observe your word.Both speakers express revulsion toward people whose conduct opposes God, with Psalm 119 naming their failure to observe his word.
Psalm 31:6I hate those who regard lying vanities, but I trust in the LORD.Both speakers declare hatred toward people whose allegiance opposes the LORD; Psalm 31 also declares trust in him.
Revelation 2:2“I know your works, and your toil and perseverance, and that you can’t tolerate evil men, and have tested those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, …Both passages express rejection of people who practice evil; Revelation adds the testing and exposure of false apostles.
Psalm 26:5Both speakers declare hatred toward evildoers, and Psalm 26 connects that hatred with refusing their company.
2 Chronicles 19:2Jehu the son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him, and said to King Jehoshaphat, “Should you help the wicked, and love those who hate the LORD? Because of …Both passages name people who hate the LORD, with Jehu rebuking Jehoshaphat for helping and loving such people.
Ecclesiastes 3:8a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.Both texts name hatred, though Ecclesiastes assigns it a time without identifying the people or circumstances in view.
Revelation 2:6But this you have, that you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.Both passages speak of hatred in relation to allegiance to God, though Revelation names hated works while the psalm names people.
Proverbs 29:27A dishonest man detests the righteous, and the upright in their ways detest the wicked.Both texts describe hostility between those aligned with righteousness and those opposed to it, using language of hatred or detestation.
Luke 19:41When he came near, he saw the city and wept over it,Both express sorrow, though Luke’s line names tears over a city and does not identify their cause.
Romans 9:1–3I tell the truth in Christ. I am not lying, my conscience testifying with me in the Holy SpiritThe shared thread is speech concerning God; the supplied Romans line addresses truthfulness and conscience, without mentioning hatred or grief.
Psalm 119:136Streams of tears run down my eyes, because they don’t observe your law. TZADHEBoth speakers grieve over opposition to God, with Psalm 119 describing tears because people do not observe his law.
Mark 3:5When he had looked around at them with anger, being grieved at the hardening of their hearts, he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, …Both passages join grief with a forceful response to people: hatred toward God’s opponents in the psalm, anger at hardened hearts in Mark.
Where this verse fits

Injustice and anger. sermon or Bible study notes.

What the Bible says about anger →
One step

Something small to carry out of this verse

Pray Psalm 139:23 after reading Psalm 139:21 aloud

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Encouragement

The hatred in this prayer is severe. It grants no license for personal revenge; the speaker who names God’s enemies also asks God to search his own heart.

Now put it in your words.

Start an entry on Psalm 139:21. Write what it stirs. Psalmlog sets your words beside Scripture and gives you one next step. Your first entry is free, no account needed.

Keep goingPsalm 139 · the whole chapter with its connection mapPsalms · every chapterBuild a reading plan through Psalms

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).