John Calvin Commentary Psalms 119:163

"I hate and abhor falsehood; [But] thy law do I love." — Psalms 119:163 (ASV)

I have hated and abhorred deceit. In this verse, he declares more distinctly what I referred to a little earlier: that he was cleansed from corrupt affections so that he might give to the law of God the honor and esteem it deserved. Having encountered almost the same statement elsewhere, I will briefly touch upon the reason why the Prophet affirms that he hated deceit before he speaks of his love and devotion to the law.

Since hypocrisy is in the hearts of all people by nature, and since we are naturally prone to vanity and deceitfulness, we should diligently work to purge our hearts, so that the love of the law may reign in them. Now, if the beginning of a good life and the first point of righteousness is to hate and abhor deceit, it follows that nothing is more excellent than integrity; for unless that virtue holds the primary place, all the other virtues quickly disappear.

Nor is abhorring unnecessarily added to hating; its purpose is to teach us that it is not enough to hate falsehood with an ordinary hatred, but that God’s children must hate it with a deadly hatred. Now, if the love of the law and the hatred of falsehood are inseparably joined, it clearly follows that all who are not taught in the school of God are infected with deceit and hypocrisy.