LET GOD AVENGE YOU!
TEXT:
"To me belongeth vengeance, and recompence; ..." ( Deuteronomy 32 verse 35, King James Version).
To offend or to do wrong to a child of God is a very serious matter because eventually, God will out of responsibility as a Father and Guardian step in personally to take vengeance against the oppressor. In Acts 9:4, we see this fact played out when Saul took it upon himself to persecute the believers and as he was on his way to Damascus to further his atrocities, the Lord Jesus appeared to him saying, "Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?" We note that although Saul wasn't really persecuting Jesus directly, he was rather persecuting His followers. To the Lord, any assault on His followers was an attack on Him.
No doubt, when we are wronged, the temptation is usually very rife for us to take matters into our own hands, to exact revenge against those that offend us. This is the natural way to get scores settled. But God doesn't want His Children to pursue vengeance by themselves. "To me belongeth vengeance, and recompence; ...", He says in Deuteronomy 32 verse 35.
One reason why people prefer to settle scores by themselves, rather than waiting for God to do it on their behalf is because they sometimes feel that He delays. The Psalmist puts it clearly saying, "O LORD God, to whom vengeance belongeth; O God, to whom vengeance belongeth, shew thyself. Lift up thyself, thou judge of the earth: render a reward to the proud. LORD, how long shall the wicked, how long shall the wicked triumph? ... Yet they say, The LORD shall not see, neither shall the God of Jacob regard it." (Psalms 94 stanzas 1 to 7).
Notwithstanding, it's a settled fact that "God is jealous, and the LORD revengeth; the LORD revengeth, and is furious; the LORD will take vengeance on his adversaries, and he reserveth wrath for his enemies." Though the LORD may be slow to anger, and may sometimes delay to avenge His own, it's settled that He is "great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked:" (see Nahum 1 verses 2 to 3).
Allowing the Lord to avenge us is a matter of faith in Him. It means that we believe that He will do as He has said to do and that as we turn the case over to Him, no matter how long it takes, He will avenge us. Someone has rightly said that "If there is no God who will hold people accountable for their actions, then turning the other cheek would be the worst thing we could do" as Christians. But with the Lord promising to avenge and repay, it follows that anyone that takes matters into his own hands is showing lack of faith in the Living God! It means in other words, that such an one doesn't believe that God will keep His promise to avenge him.
Dearly beloved, put away your sword and let the Lord carry out His promise to avenge you. You can be rest assured that He will do it better for you. Take David for an example. David almost took matters into his own hands to avenge for himself in the matter of Nabal in 1st Samuel chapter 25. But through Abigail's wise intervention, David was prevented from shedding Nabal's blood. The Bible says that ten days later God killed Nabal Himself (1st Samuel 25 verse 38). "And when David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, Blessed be the LORD, that hath pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal, and hath kept his servant from evil: for the LORD hath returned the wickedness of Nabal upon his own head." (1st Samuel 25 verse 39).
PRAYER:
Lord, since vengeance belongs to You, I let You to avenge me, believing that You will do it better for me, in Jesus name.