Psalm 119:163 NKJV
I hate and abhor lying,
But I love Your law.
Loving Truth, Hating Lies
My Notes
Scripture: “I hate and abhor lying, But I love Your law.” —Psalm 119:163 (NKJV)
This verse reveals the moral clarity of a heart shaped by God’s Word. David doesn’t merely dislike lying—he hates and abhors it. His language is doubled for emphasis, showing a soul that has been trained to recoil from falsehood in all its forms. Why such intensity? Because lying is not just a social offense—it is a spiritual affront. It deceives others, dishonors God, and distorts reality.
Lying includes more than spoken falsehoods. It encompasses hypocrisy, false doctrine, breach of trust, and manipulation. It is treachery against truth, and every godly heart must learn to detest it. Proverbs 6:16–19 lists lying twice among the seven things the Lord hates—once as a lying tongue, and again as a false witness. God’s hatred of lies is not arbitrary; it flows from His nature as the God of truth (John 14:6).
David’s hatred of lies is matched by his love for God’s law. “But I love Your law.” This is the holy balance of a sanctified heart: hatred for what is false, and love for what is true. The more we love truth, the more we will hate deception. The more we delight in God’s Word, the more we will grieve over anything that contradicts it.
This love is not merely intellectual—it is relational. David loves the Word because it reveals the character of God: holy, just, and true. He loves it because it has been written on his heart (Psalm 40:8). He loves it because it has preserved him from sin and guided him in righteousness.
This verse also reminds us that spiritual maturity involves rightly ordered affections. Love and hatred are powerful forces in the soul. When they are aligned with God’s truth, they protect us from compromise and equip us for discernment. To love God’s law is to love truth, and to love truth is to hate lies.
Time to Reflect
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What forms of lying or falsehood do you find most tempting or troubling?
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Do you love truth enough to hate deception—even when it’s subtle or socially accepted?
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How has falsehood—whether in doctrine, relationships, or culture—hurt you or others?
Prayer
Abba, I hate and abhor lying—not just because it offends me, but because it offends You. I ask for forgiveness for any lies that I have told, even if they are little “white” lies. Teach me to love truth with holy passion, and to reject falsehood with holy fear. Let Your Word shape my affections. Let me love what You love and hate what You hate. Guard my heart from deception, hypocrisy, and compromise. Let my speech be honest, my doctrine sound, and my life sincere. I love Your Word, Lord. Let it dwell richly in me, and let it be my delight, my defense, and my guide. I ask for this in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Cross References for Further Study (NKJV)
Truth and Falsehood
Proverbs 6:16–19 These six things the Lord hates, Yes, seven are an abomination to Him: A proud look, A lying tongue, Hands that shed innocent blood, A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that are swift in running to evil, A false witness who speaks lies, And one who sows discord among brethren.
Zechariah 8:17 Let none of you think evil in your heart against your neighbor, And do not love a false oath. For all these are things that I hate,’ Says the Lord.
Revelation 21:8 But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.
Love for God’s Word
Psalm 119:97 Oh, how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day.
John 17:17 Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.
2 Thessalonians 2:10 And with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
Hypocrisy and False Teaching
Matthew 23:27–28 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
2 Peter 2:1–3 But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed. By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words; for a long time their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction does not slumber.
Titus 1:16 They profess to know God, but in works they deny Him, being abominable, disobedient, and disqualified for every good work.
Holy Affections
Romans 12:9 Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good.
Psalm 97:10 You who love the Lord, hate evil! He preserves the souls of His saints; He delivers them out of the hand of the wicked.
Amos 5:15 Hate evil, love good; Establish justice in the gate. It may be that the Lord God of hosts Will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.
Delight in God’s Law
Psalm 19:7–10 The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul; The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes; The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, Yea, than much fine gold; Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.
Psalm 40:8 I delight to do Your will, O my God, And Your law is within my heart.
Romans 7:22 For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man.
Proverb for Today
My son, pay attention to my wisdom; Lend your ear to my understanding, That you may preserve discretion, And your lips may keep knowledge. Proverbs 5:1-2 NKJV
NOTE: Psalm 119 has 22 sections to which each section is represented by a letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Today, we’re looking at verse 163, which is in the 21st section, which is called “Shin (שׁ)” It is the twenty-first letter of the Hebrew alphabet, representing the phonetic sounds “sh” when a dot is placed on its upper right side and “s” when the dot is on the upper left side, known as Sin (שׂ). It holds a numerical value of 300 in gematria, a system of assigning numerical values to letters.
In Hebrew, “Shin (שׁ)” is associated with deep symbolic and theological meanings. It is the first letter in the name “Shaddai,” a title for God meaning “Almighty,” emphasizing divine power and presence. The letter is also linked to concepts such as steadfastness, change for the good, return, and the year. Symbolically, Shin is often depicted as resembling a flame, representing the divine light and the burning bush encountered by Moses. It is commonly inscribed on mezuzahs (parchment scroll inscribed with specific Hebrew verses from the Tora, primarily Deuteronomy 6:4–9 and 11:13–21, which are part of the Shema prayer), affixed to Jewish doorposts, as a sign of God’s protection and presence.
James Boice noted that this section represents a quiet obedience, waiting for God.
……..Bill
Summary of Commentaries:
Psalm 119:163 expresses David’s intense moral clarity—he “hates and abhors lying” in all its forms, including false doctrine, hypocrisy, and deceit. Spurgeon highlights this double expression as a sign of spiritual maturity and deep reverence for truth. David’s hatred of falsehood is matched by his love for God’s law, which he cherishes for its purity and reliability. True devotion involves rightly ordered affections: loving what is holy and hating what is evil. This verse reminds believers that love for truth naturally produces hatred for lies, and that both affections, when sanctified, powerfully influence others and guard the soul from compromise.
Commentaries:
Charles Spurgeon
“I hate and abhor lying.” A double expression for an inexpressible loathing. Falsehood in doctrine, in life, or in speech, falsehood in any form or shape, had become utterly detestable to David. This was a remarkable state for an Oriental, for generally lying is the delight of Easterns, and the only wrong they see in it is a want of skill in its exercise, so that the liar is found out. David himself had made much progress when he had come to this. He does not, however, alone refer to falsehood in conversation; he evidently intends perversity in faith and teaching. He set down all opposition to the God of truth as lying, and then he turned his whole soul against it in the most intense form of indignation. Godly men should detest false doctrine even as they abhor a lie.
“But thy law do I love,” because it is all truth. His love was as ardent as his hate. True men love truth, and hate lying. It is well for us to know which way our hates and loves run, and we may do essential service to others by declaring what are their objects. Both love and hate are contagious, and when they are sanctified, the wider their influence, the better.
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Enduring Word
I hate and abhor lying, but I love Your law: The hatred and love in this verse fit together perfectly. One who truly loves the pure truth of God will naturally hate lies. (Guzik)
i. “If we keep clear of all lying, our song will be the more acceptable because it comes out of pure lips. If we never flatter men, we shall be in the better condition for honoring the Lord.” (Spurgeon)
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Albert Barnes
I hate and abhor lying – The mention of lying here particularly seems to have been suggested by the necessity, from the structure of the psalm, of finding some word at the beginning of the verse which commenced with the letter Schin. At the same time, it is an illustration of the nature of piety, and doubtless there had been numerous occasions in the life of the psalmist when he had seen and experienced the effects of falsehood. This sin, therefore, might occur to him as readily as any other. It is unnecessary to say that religion “forbids” this sin in all its forms.
But thy law do I love – Particularly here the law which forbids lying. The psalmist was conscious, as every good man must be, that he truly loved that pure law which forbids falsehood in all its forms.
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John Gill
I hate and abhor lying,…. The sin of lying in common conversation, which owes its rise to Satan, the father of lies; is common to human nature, though very dishonorable to it; exceeding unbecoming a professor of religion; and was greatly hated by David, as it ought to be by all good men, Psalm 101:7. Or “falsehood”; false doctrine; everything contrary to the truth of the word of God, with all false worship, superstition, and idolatry; and this may the rather be thought to be designed, since the law or doctrine of God is opposed to it in the next clause;
[but] thy law do I love; because holy, just, and true; he being a regenerate man, and having it written on his heart, he loved both the precepts of the law and the doctrines of the Gospel: or, “thy doctrine”; the doctrine concerning God, his mind and will, his grace and love; see Psalm 119:97.
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Matthew Henry
Love and hatred are the leading affections of the soul; if those be fixed aright, the rest move accordingly. Here we have them fixed aright in David.
He had a rooted antipathy to sin; he could not endure to think of it: I hate and abhor lying, which may be taken for all sin, inasmuch as by it we deal treacherously and perfidiously with God and put a cheat upon ourselves. Hypocrisy is lying; false doctrine is lying; breach of faith is lying. Lying, in commerce or conversation, is a sin which every good man hates and abhors, hates and doubly hates, because of the seven things which the Lord hates one is a lying tongue and another is a false witness that speaks lies, Prov. 6:16. Every man hates to have a lie told him, but we should hate telling a lie because by the former we only receive an affront from men, by the latter we give an affront to God.
He had a rooted affection to the word of God: Thy law do I love. And therefore he abhorred lying, for lying is contrary to the whole law of God; and the reason why he loved the law of God was because of the truth of it. The more we see of the amiable beauty of truth, the more we shall see of the detestable deformity of a lie.
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Miscellaneous Comments
“I hate and abhor lying” not only “hate” it, nor simply I “abhor” it, but “hate and abhor,” to strengthen and increase the sense, and make it more vehement. Where the enmity is not great against the sin, the matter may be compounded and taken up; but David will have nothing to do with it, for he saith,—I loathe and abhor it, and hate it with a deadly hatred. Slight hatred of a sinful course is not sufficient to guard us against it.
—Thomas Manton.
Sin seemeth to have its name from the Hebrew word sana, to hate, the word here used, because it is most of all to be hated, as the greatest evil, as that which setteth us furthest from God, the greatest good. None can hate it but those that love the law of God, for all hatred comes from love. A natural man may be angry with his sin, but hate it he cannot; nay, he may leave it, but not loathe it; if he did, he would loathe all sin as well as any one sin.
—Abraham Wright.
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