Those of you who love the Lord, hate evil!
God guards the lives of his faithful ones,
delivering them from the power of the wicked.
Light is planted like seed for the righteous person;
joy too for those whose heart is right.
Rejoice in the Lord, righteous ones!
Give thanks to his holy name!
Psalm 97:10-12

It’s come up in my spiritual walk on a few occasions over the past several months, and I see it echoed here in this psalm: the unity between joy and purpose. Psalm 97 tells us that joy is planted like a seed in the hearts of those with an upright heart. When we live in accordance with that to which we have been called, joy is planted, and consequently blooms in our lives. Those few verses point this out rather clearly, but where does the purpose part enter the equation? Our purpose, both individual and communal, is that we live faithfully in the direction of the Lord, away from evil.

I think that it’s important that the psalmist says, “hate evil,” and not just “shy away from evil.” This particular context gives us the understanding that we are to have nothing to do with any kind of evil – we give a very wide berth to the things that we hate. We’re given the understanding that we’re not just talking “big evils,” the things that are typically connected to the word: things like genocide, racism, murder. We’re also to include the “little evils” of our day to day life: derision, condescension, favoritism. Steer clear!

It’s true that we can’t define God’s purpose in life by simply steering clear of a few things; must also run in the direction of the good. “Hate what is evil; cling to what is good,” is how Paul puts it in Romans 12:9. It’s in this clinging that we begin to fulfill our purpose. It should be clear to us, simply by moving through the world, that each one of us has the ability to grasp at very different kinds of good, which points out another broad truth: there are several kinds of good to which we can cling. Relational, emotional, environmental, political, and the list goes on! As we reach out our hands, we all cling to something unique. Your purpose is not mine, nor is mine yours. Though they are similar: cling to what is good. Love God. Serve others.

It’s as we identify these unique purposes in our lives, and consequently begin to live them out, that joy grows in our lives. Joy is planted in the lives of those with an upright heart, and it blooms as that person lives in the direction which they have been called. In John 15 Jesus tells his disciples that their joy will be complete in living out his plans for their lives. Our joy comes in living out our purpose which has been breathed into us even as we were knit together in our mothers’ wombs.

Lest we all get caught up in the grandiosity of identifying and living into our life purpose, I’d point out one last truth: we can find purpose in any given moment of the day. Thomas Merton asked himself, “what is required of a man like me at a time like this?” It’s a reminder that each “time” has its own demands to which we respond. Here I point back to the psalm, “Rejoice in the Lord…give thanks to his holy name!” We are called toward goodness, toward rejoice in our Savior. In that we can find joy.