Vengeance

March 20

Numbers 18

Psalm 35:22-28

Proverbs 8:22-24

Mark 15:1-20

Vengeance

“You have seen it, O Yahweh, do not keep silent;  O Lord, do not be far from me.  Stir up Yourself, and awake to my justice and to my cause, my God and my Lord.” 

Psalm 35:22-23 LSB

Psalm 35 is an imprecatory Psalm.  In it David lays out his case to God and prays for the defeat of his enemies.  We are not told when David wrote this Psalm or the enemies he was referring to but it may have been written when Saul was hunting David and seeking to kill him.  Whoever the enemy was, they were unjust and wrong in their actions toward David.  David appealed to God wanting justice.  He asked that God put them to shame, that their way would be dark and slippery, that destruction would come upon them, that they would fall into the nets they set for him, and that they would be put to shame and surrounded by dishonor.  David leaves no doubt about how he wants God to deal with his enemies.  This Psalm is troubling to many Christians and often it is skimmed over by those who want to go straight from offense to forgiveness. A failure to process and deal with the pain of the offense in a rush to skip to forgiveness often leads to deep seated bitterness and resentment that is destructive to any future relationship.  The imprecatory Psalms allow us to be sad and to grieve.  They allow us to complain to God in ways that often make Christians uncomfortable and cause us to wonder whether we are allowed to feel that way. 

David was described as “a man after God’s own heart.”  This suggests that God was not mad at him for pouring out his heart to Him.  God knows what we are thinking.  He knows our hearts better than we know ourselves.  We are made in God’s image and a desire for justice reflects His character in us.  Justice is necessary in a society for order and civility to be maintained.  Justice is also necessary to bring about instruction and training in appropriate behavior so that the offender can learn and mature as they face the consequences of their actions.  A desire for those who have wronged us to “pay” for what they have done is deeply rooted in our justice system.  So the question becomes, how do we reconcile the longing for justice and vindication with the instructions to forgive and show mercy.  I don’t think this is an either/or dilemma.  It is possible to desire justice and that the person experiences the consequences of their actions and at the same time seek to forgive them.  Forgiveness does not mean that they don’t have to pay for what they did.  We know from reading the accounts of David’s interactions with Saul that he did not harbor hatred for him.  He had the opportunity on two separate occasions to kill Saul, but he refused to take matters into his own hands.  God dealt with Saul in the way He deemed best.

This Psalm is not an example of David acting in a way that showed weakness or behavior that did not please God.  It is evidence of the way that we should all react when we are mistreated and wronged.  David didn’t take matters into his own hands, he didn’t go out complaining to everyone about how he had been treated trying to get people on his side, and he didn’t harbor bitterness and resentment in his heart.  David took it to God.  He poured out his anger, fear, frustration, disappointment, and hurt to God and he asked God to vindicate him.  Then he left it in God’s hands to deal with as He chose.  He told God how he wanted Him to deal with his enemies, but there is no indication that David considered taking any action himself against his foes.  He even mourned when Saul was killed.  Our motivation is important.  David desired that right be done and that justice prevail. He truly wanted Saul to turn to God and repent, not for him to be destroyed. 

I have friends who were driving to church one Sunday morning in 2012 when a drunk driver hit their van killing their 6-year-old daughter and putting them and their other 3 children in the hospital with serious injuries.  He was a repeat DUI offender.  He was convicted and served 10 years in prison.  The family advocated for tougher DUI laws in South Carolina leading to the passage of Emma’s Law in 2014 which requires repeat offenders and those convicted of DUI with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.15% or higher to install an ignition interlock device.  Recently, the man requested a pardon for his crimes.   My friends fought against this because it would diminish the seriousness of his crime and take away the long-term consequences of his actions.  The pardon was denied.  I do not know the man and have no idea what his life is like now, but I do know that forgiveness and justice are not mutually exclusive.  I pray that he has found Jesus and is able to have a productive life.  I also pray that he is not given the opportunity to hurt anyone else.