Psalms 119:163 Meaning and Explanation
“I hate and abhor lying: but thy law do I love.”
King James Version (KJV)
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Read Full Chapter →Strong feeling gets a poor reputation in discussions of faith, and this line is unembarrassed about it. Hatred and love both appear, aimed carefully. What makes the verse useful is the pairing. A person's affection for truth can be measured by their reaction to deceit, and the poet treats those two responses as parts of one settled character.
Two strong verbs describe his reaction to falsehood, and one strong verb describes his reaction to God's law. Loving what is true and loathing what is false are presented as a single disposition.
The Context of Psalms 119:163
This is the third line of the shin stanza, verses 161 to 168, and the Hebrew word for lying begins with the required letter. Verse 161 named princes who persecute without cause, which supplies the setting: false accusation is in the air. Verse 162 described joy over God's word. Verse 163 states what the poet feels about falsehood. Verse 164 will report praise seven times a day, verse 165 will promise great peace to those who love the law, and the stanza closes with the poet's ways laid open before God.
What Does Psalms 119:163 Mean?
Two verbs are stacked for emphasis. 'Hate' names rejection; 'abhor' adds disgust, the physical recoil a person feels at something foul. Doubling them signals settled aversion rather than a passing mood. The object is a noun covering falsehood in all its forms: deceit in speech, a false witness in court, a promise made with no intention of keeping it. Against that stands a single verb, 'love', attached to God's law. The sentence is arranged so the two halves balance. What the poet cannot stomach and what he cannot do without are named in one breath, and the second explains the first.
The psalm has already used this pairing. Verse 104 says that through God's precepts the poet gets understanding and therefore hates every false way. Verse 128 repeats the movement, esteeming all the precepts right and hating every false way. In each case love of the law produces the aversion rather than the other way round. Israel's law had made lying a serious matter: false witness is forbidden in the Ten Commandments, and the courts of a small agricultural society depended on truthful testimony. Proverbs lists a lying tongue and a false witness among the things the LORD hates. The poet's reaction has good precedent.
Jesus traced lying to its source, telling opponents that the devil is a liar and the father of it, and He described Himself as the truth. Paul told the Ephesians to put away lying and speak truth with a neighbour, because we are members one of another. The psalmist's disgust therefore has a shape in Christian practice: honesty inside a community is the point, since deceit takes apart the very thing love builds. Loving God's law and refusing to lie turn out to be the same commitment seen from two sides, and both are cared for by the one who calls Himself true.
Psalms 119:163 in the Original Language
sheqer (שֶׁקֶר), 'lying' -- falsehood or deception, used of a lie told, a false witness in court, and anything that misrepresents reality. The same noun stands behind the prohibition of false testimony in Israel's law.
Bible Verses Related to Psalms 119:163
“Through thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way.”
- Psalm 119:104
“A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,”
- Proverbs 6:17
“Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.”
- Exodus 20:16
“Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.”
- Ephesians 4:25
Where Psalms 119:163 Echoes in Scripture
Proverbs 6:17 places a lying tongue among the things the LORD hates, and two verses later a false witness who speaks lies appears again in the same list. The overlap with this psalm is more than verbal. What God hates, the person shaped by God's law comes to hate as well, and the psalmist reports that formation as an accomplished fact. Aversion to falsehood is presented in both texts as a family resemblance rather than a personal preference, which raises the stakes of the small lies we excuse.
How to Apply Psalms 119:163 Today
Most of our lying is small and social. A softened figure, an excuse for lateness, a story arranged to make us look better. This verse invites a stronger reaction to those habits than we usually give them. One practical step is to notice the moment of decision, the half second before we round the number, and choose the plain version instead. Another is to stop passing on stories we have not verified. Loving God's law is what makes this bearable, since the aim is a life we do not have to keep managing, where what we say and what is so agree.
Reflection & Prayer
Where did I last shade the truth, and what was I protecting? A prayer for an honest tongue: LORD, I have grown comfortable with small untruths and have called them kindness or convenience. Give me Your own distaste for them. Make me love Your law enough that the plain word comes first, and let the people around me find me easy to believe.