PSALM 11
TEHILLIM 11
1 (To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.) In Yahweh put I my trust: how say ye to my soul, Flee as a bird to your mountain?
2 For, lo, the wicked bend their bow, they make ready their arrow upon the string, that they may privily shoot at the upright in heart.
3 If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?
4 Yahweh is in his holy temple, Yahweh's throne is in heaven: his eyes behold, his eyelids try, the children of men.
5 Yahweh trieth the righteous: but the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth.
The Difference between Kindness and Love
Though God sends His benefits upon the wicked He does not love them; the very opposite—we are told that He hates them.—(Psalms xi 5.) He is angry with the wicked:
"My soul hateth the proud man," He says; and to certain people who brought their sacrifices with uncleanness, He said "These are a smoke in my nostrils: a fire that burneth all the day."
Therefore to be like God we are not required to do a moral impossibility; for it is a moral impossibility to love everybody. We can be kind: that is another thing. It is possible to be kind—to take a benevolent interest in people...
We can bring ourselves to this; but to arrive at the point of love is impossible. God does not ask us to do what He doesn't do Himself; and He doesn't love the wicked—neither does Jesus; for he is coming to destroy them. But he is kind and patient for the present, and so must we be.
The Ambassador of the Coming Age, May 1868
6 Upon the wicked he shall rain snares, fire and brimstone, and an horrible tempest: this shall be the portion of their cup.
7 For the righteous Yahweh loveth righteousness; his countenance doth behold the upright.