Day 110, Year 1 The Righteous Heart Sorrows Over Sin

(Regarding Lot in the Old Testament,) “For by what he saw and heard that righteous man, while living among them, felt his righteous soul tormented day after day by their lawless deeds.” (2 Peter 2:8 NASB)

Fearing God causes believers to hate evil. When we see people sin, our hearts could be filled with sorrow. Today’s verse speaks of Lot, whose righteous soul was “tormented day after day” as he saw the various evil deeds in the city where he lived. “Soul” in Greek, following the interpretation in the Old Testament, is psuche, meaning “soul, feeling, or emotion” here. This sorrow might involve his sighing toward the lawless deeds he sensed then.

Hating evil is hating sinful acts, and even hating the evil spirits behind them. Meanwhile, the sorrow of the righteous heart could be directed toward sinners. Here, the author depicts that Lot was not involved in their corruption, but felt sorrow for those who kept sinning. The “torment” in today’s verse, basanizo in Greek, also means “to test the purity of gold or silver by rubbing it with a touchstone.” Thus, when people see evildoings, their lives are put to the test. Our righteous hearts are unveiled as we feel tormented due to the various sins of others and thus suffer pain.

In other words, divine wisdom transforms our emotions—from loving evildoing to hating evil, from enjoying being partners with the wicked to feeling sorrow for them. These transformations often happen not only as we sense the Lord Jesus’ emotions, but also as we see the evil spirits tormenting sinners, and foresee the miserable end awaiting the wicked. In this process, as we ask God for His wisdom, she enables us to transcend immediate personal feelings or stimulation, detach from sinful pleasures, and experience His feelings toward sinners. Instead of being bound by the present sinful stimuli or enjoyment, we are aware of the harmful impact and consequences of sins on people in the future, leading us to feel sorrow for the sinners with His compassion.  

The righteous draw near to God in heaven while inevitably feeling sorrow for the sinners due to their evil deeds on earth. His wisdom changes the feelings of the righteous without making us numb. Rather, divine wisdom causes us to feel our righteous soul “tormented day after day” for the sinners while disgusting the feeling of sinful pleasure. An important aspect of seeking God’s wisdom is to gradually change our own feelings according to His Word with the stirrings of the Holy Spirit in order to align our feelings and emotions with His. To change our feelings and emotions, the first step is to halt or pause our distorted or foolish reactions, avoid voicing or acting on them, but practice silence to know God’s reactions and act like His.

Reflection questions:

1) Do you think there is a conflict between hating evil on one hand and feeling sorrow for those who do evil on the other? Why?

2) Have you ever experienced a different feeling when facing the sinful reality because you foresee your and others’ future?