From the Poet

Dear Reader,

In a world that whispers “just a little compromise,” Psalm 97:10 rings like a clarion call from heaven: “You who love the Lord, hate evil!” This ode is my humble attempt to clothe that divine command in classical dress — rich with the thunder and lightning of the Psalm itself, the unyielding cedar of conviction, and the certain dawn of the coming King.

May these lines strengthen your heart to stand unmoved. Hate what God hates. Love what He loves. Refuse every gilded truce with darkness. The King is returning in glory, and righteousness shall dawn.

With prayer and holy resolve,

The Poet

Psalm 97:10

KJV

Ye that love the LORD, hate evil: he preserveth the souls of his saints; he delivereth them out of the hand of the wicked.

ESV

O you who love the LORD, hate evil! He preserves the lives of his saints; he delivers them from the hand of the wicked.

AMP

You who love the LORD, hate evil; He protects the souls of His godly ones (believers), He rescues them from the hand of the wicked.

NIV

Let those who love the LORD hate evil, for he guards the lives of his faithful ones and delivers them from the hand of the wicked.

O ye who love the Eternal Flame, whose breast

Doth throb with holy fire unquenched by night,

Hate evil as the serpent’s venomous crest

That poisons Eden’s bowers with subtle blight!

Let not thy foot in compromise be led

Where shadows weave their silken, treacherous thread;

Nor let thy hand in friendship’s false embrace

Clasp hands that bear the mark of darkness’ race.

Behold the throne where Righteousness and Truth

Like twin seraphim guard the sapphire height!

Clouds mantle Him in majesty uncouth

To mortal gaze, yet blaze with living light.

Lightning leaps forth—His arrows swift and keen—

And mountains melt like wax where sin hath been.

The heavens declare His glory, earth obeys,

And every idol crashes in the blaze.

Thou, saint of God, preserved amid the flood

Of raging wickedness that swells and roars,

Shalt stand unmoved, a cedar in the wood

When tempests howl and lesser branches fall.

No compromise with Belial’s gilded lies,

No truce with Mammon’s lustful, hungry eyes;

Thy convictions, forged in heaven’s anvil bright,

Shall shine as adamant against the night.

Let evil’s hosts in purple pomp advance,

With crowns of fading laurel on their brow;

Thy soul shall spurn their revels and their dance,

And turn to Zion’s hill with steadfast vow.

For He who loves thee guards thy life with care—

From wicked hands He snatches thee from snare.

The oil of joy upon thy head is poured;

Thy path is lit by His unfailing Word.

Thus sing, O heart that loves the Lord alone:

“Hate evil! Cling to good with iron will!”

Though darkness rage and tempters slyly drone,

The upright soul shall climb the holy hill.

No compromise, though empires tempt and fall;

Thy King returns in glory—Righteousness shall dawn!