Psalm 97: The LORD Preserves the Souls of His Saints

Introduction

“You who love Yahweh, hate evil! He preserves the souls of his saints. He delivers them out of the hand of the wicked.” Thierry Kapiale draws his message from Psalm 97, verse 10, preached on October 4, 2026 at the Église Évangélique de Liège. He shares that this theme is close to his heart and that this psalm deeply marked him: it reveals the power of a just God.

Before preaching, he prays to speak “in all simplicity.” The people of Israel, he reminds us, missed the coming of the Lord because they expected him in a spectacular way, when God actually appeared in simplicity.

The message travels from creation to the cross: man placed at the center of creation, the broken covenant, God's throne founded on righteousness and justice, and then Immanuel, God among men. At the end of the road, one simple question: who is the one who loves the LORD, and how is his soul kept?

Outline of the message

1. Three recommendations in Psalm 97

Reading the psalm in full, the preacher notices three recommendations: one at the introduction, one at the heart of the text, one at the conclusion.
In verse 1, the recommendation is addressed to creation: “Yahweh reigns! Let the earth rejoice! Let the multitude of islands be glad!” Creation can rejoice, because the LORD is the God of perfect works. When he had created everything, he said that everything was good.
In verse 10, the recommendation is addressed to man, and not just to any man: to the one who loves the LORD.
In verse 12, it is addressed to the righteous: “Be glad in Yahweh, you righteous ones! Give thanks to his holy name.”
The preacher sees three figures in it: man placed at the center of creation, man cast out because of sin, and man called righteous.

2. Man at the center of creation, in a covenant

In Genesis 2, the LORD forms man from the dust, breathes into his nostrils the breath of life, and man becomes a living soul. Then he places him in the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it.
This is the beginning of a covenant, “the Edenic covenant.” In a covenant, there are rules to fulfill between two parties: God entrusts creation to man, and he sets a limit. Man may eat from every tree, except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It is also a test of obedience.
The account shows the three dimensions of man: the body, the visible part, which has value in the Lord's eyes (like the courtyard of a temple); the soul, endowed with intelligence, knowledge, emotions and feelings; the spirit, which makes it possible to be in contact with the Creator.
God has put the thought of eternity in man's heart (Ecclesiastes 3:11). Believer or not, every person carries this thought, and it is the soul that directs it.
By bringing the animals to man so that he would name them, God adds to the soul the power to decide. What man named was respected. “It is at the level of our soul that we make decisions.”
God sees that it is not good for man to be alone and forms the woman, a helper suitable for him: this is the institution of marriage. He is the God of perfect works and finished works: when he starts something, he sees it through to the end.

3. The fall: a death at the level of the soul

Man did not keep the clause of the covenant. Seduced by the serpent, he ate the forbidden fruit, and this disobedience separated him from his Creator.
This separation produces death, because “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). The consequences reach all of humanity: work by the sweat of the brow, return to the dust, expulsion from the garden, and the cherubim with the flaming sword who guard the way to the tree of life (Genesis 3:19-24).
Physically, Adam and Eve went on living. Death took place at the level of the soul: the soul that sins dies. Since then, “all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God.”

4. A throne founded on righteousness and justice

The preacher returns to verse 2 of the psalm: “Righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.” The Most High speaks, and the thing happens. He commands, and it exists.
To righteousness, God added justice in the sense of fairness, which Thierry Kapiale defines as a principle of natural justice: treating each person rightly by adapting to their situation, rather than applying a rule uniformly.
One man sinned, and death reached all of humanity. But in Ezekiel 18, God puts an end to the proverb: “The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge.” All souls are his, and “the soul who sins, he shall die.” Responsibility is no longer universal, it becomes personal.
All these stages show the price of a soul in the eyes of the LORD. There was the covenant with Noah, with Abraham, with Moses. The people cried out, the LORD came to their rescue, but human nature still struggled to return to God.
Hence the psalm's recommendation. Why hate evil? Because it is evil that brings sin, separation from the Creator, and death.

5. Immanuel, a righteousness of compassion

God searched heaven and earth for someone worthy to open the book and break its seals (Revelation 5:2-4). He found no one. So, by his righteousness of compassion, he found a man in himself.
“In the beginning was the Word” (John 1:1). The Word became flesh and lived among us, full of grace and truth. To all who received him, he gave the right to become children of God (John 1:12-14).
A new covenant is established in the person of Immanuel, “100% God and 100% man.” He endured what people endure and remained faithful and obedient to God to the very end of his mission.
Romans 3:23-28: all have sinned, and they are justified freely by his grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. “Where then is the boasting? It is excluded.” For man is justified by faith, apart from the works of the law.
Jesus Christ took our place. He bore our transgressions and the weight of sin's consequences, and he gave himself as a ransom for our salvation. What the law could not reach, grace grants by faith.

6. Who is the one who loves the LORD?

Jesus himself gives the answer in John 14:21: “He who has my commandments and keeps them, that person is the one who loves me.” And in verse 23: “we will come to him, and make our home with him.”
The one who loves God is the new person, who entered the covenant through the blood of Jesus. “The people the psalm is speaking to are you and me.”
The punishment that brought us peace fell on him (Isaiah 53:5). The one who knew no sin was made sin for us (2 Corinthians 5:21). This salvation is the salvation of our soul. In the soul, two eternities present themselves: the one that turns toward evil and the one that turns toward good, eternal life.
“We are not told to hate the sinner, we are told to hate the sin.” God's ways are unsearchable: Paul, who passed on to us most of the books that build us up, had been a murderer. Only God knows the end of a thing from its beginning.
We have received more than the natural man: the Father and the Son come to dwell in us through the Holy Spirit. “It is the Holy Spirit who keeps us.” He convicts us of sin and reminds us of what the Word of God says (John 14:26; 16:8).

7. Keeping your soul within the community

Reconciled with God, we return into the covenant, and this covenant lets us continue the mission Jesus accomplished: reconciling souls with their Creator.
The shepherd leaves the ninety-nine sheep safe to look for the one that is lost (Luke 15:4-7). The Lord asks us to seek first the kingdom of God (Matthew 6:33) and to make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19).
We who are safe have been given a framework by God. After Jesus left, the believers stayed together in community: this is the beginning of the early Church, where they grew in the knowledge of the Word, in teaching and in prayer (Acts 2:42).
“Our mission is not just to sit here.” The soul is thirsty, the soul needs to be fed. Jesus said: “My food is to do the will of him who sent me” (John 4:34). Tempted in the desert, he answered that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God (Matthew 4:4).
The preacher encourages everyone to join the life of the Church: Bible studies every other Monday, also followed by video conference, and Tuesday prayer with the group of praying mothers. Only the Lord changes a heart of stone into a heart of flesh (Ezekiel 36:26), and prayer can transform.

Key takeaways

Psalm 97:10 is addressed to those who love the LORD: hating evil means refusing what brings sin, separation from God and death.
It is at the level of the soul that man decides. It is also there that the fall produces death, and there that salvation works.
God's throne rests on righteousness and justice. His righteousness of compassion led him to come himself as Immanuel.
The one who loves Jesus keeps his commandments. He hates sin, never the sinner.
The Holy Spirit keeps the souls of the faithful, and the community is the framework where that soul is fed by the Word and prayer.

Personal application

What evil do you still tolerate in your life, even though it pulls you away from your Creator?
What decisions are you making right now with your soul, and in what direction are they steering you?
In the way you look at others, do you distinguish between hating sin and hating the sinner?
Concretely, how are you keeping Jesus' commandments this week?
What is your soul thirsty for today, and which gathering of your church (Bible study, prayer) could feed it?

Verses cited

Frequently asked questions

What does Psalm 97:10, “You who love Yahweh, hate evil,” mean?

For Thierry Kapiale, this recommendation is not addressed to everyone but to those who love the LORD. We must hate evil because it is evil that brings sin, separation from the Creator and death. And the LORD preserves the souls of his saints and delivers them out of the hand of the wicked.

Who is the one who loves the LORD according to the Bible?

The preacher relies on John 14:21: the one who has Jesus' commandments and keeps them is the one who loves him. This is the person who has entered the new covenant through the blood of Jesus Christ. The Father and the Son come to make their home with that person through the Holy Spirit.

Should we hate sinners?

No. Thierry Kapiale insists: we are asked to hate sin, not the sinner. God's ways are unsearchable. Paul, who wrote a large part of the books that build us up, had been a murderer. Only God knows the end of a thing from its beginning.