The opposite of love is to detest. The Lord loves and detests. The Lord loves when we express faith, hope, and love from the heart; especially love. (1 Corinthians 13;13) The Lord detests men of a perverse heart (20). A perverse heart resides in the wicked (21).
The word detests (i.e. abomination) is a word that elsewhere expresses abhorrence of pagan practices (Deuteronomy 18:9, 12; Jeremiah 4:1, 7:10, 30, 44:4,22) and moral abuses (3:32; Ezekiel 18:12-13, 24). What the Lord detests is often taught in Proverbs (e.g. 3:32, 6:16, 8:7, 11:20, 12:22, 15:8,9,26, 16:5, etc.). Here, I learn the Lord detests men of perverse hearts.
The Lord delights in those whose ways are blameless (i.e. without fault, righteous). The word delights is a word that elsewhere is linked with rejoicing (8:30,31; Song of Solomon 1:4). To delight in someone and find joy in someone are emotions that stem from a love for that someone. When I find myself having delight and joy because an amazing woman has entered my life means that I am loving who she is as a person. Thus, when the Lord delights in someone’s ways, he is loving their personality.
The Lord’s love for someone and detests for someone has outcomes. “The wicked will not go unpunished, but those who are righteous will go free.” (21) The Lord’s judgment is coming. Everyone will be judged according to what they did while in the flesh. (Revelations 20:12-13) Jesus taught, “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.” (Matthew 25:31-33)
