When
we've been wronged we want justice. Actually a lot of the time, we don't want justice. We want vengeance. And
we want God to give it to us.
And
God promises to deliver. In the New
Testament, Paul
referenced
the Lord’s assurance that:
Vengeance is Mine, and recompense;
Their foot shall slip in due time;
For the day of their calamity is at hand,
And the things to come hasten upon them.’ (Deuteronomy
32: 35)
David
was so happy about it that he wrote these lyrics: :
It is God who avenges me,
And subdues the peoples under me;
He delivers me from my enemies.
You also lift me up above those who rise against me;
You have delivered me from the violent man.
Therefore I will give thanks to You, O Lord, among
the Gentiles,
And sing praises to Your name. (2 Samuel 22: 48-50/ Psalm 18: 47-49)
Like
David, we rejoice when we win.
Or,
are we rejoicing that our adversaries have lost?
Does
your praise mean, “Thank you, Lord, that I won”?
Or does
your praise mean, “Thank you Lord, that they lost”?
Nope. It’s not the same thing. Not according to the Bible.
David’s
son, Solomon, wrote:
Do not rejoice when your enemy
falls,
And do not let your heart be
glad when he stumbles;
Lest the Lord see it, and it displease Him,
And He turn away His wrath
from him. (Proverbs
24: 17,18)
God
very specifically states that He doesn’t like it when we like it when our
enemies catch a beat-down. In fact, it
bothers God so much to see us gloating that He might stop in the middle of
administering said beat-down and just let your enemy go ---- unpunished.
Jesus said, “But I say to you who hear:
Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you, and pray for those
who spitefully use you.” --- Jesus (Luke 6: 27-28)
You
can’t honestly love, pray for, and bless people while you’re celebrating their
destruction.
Of
all David’s enemies, the one who caused him the most stress was his predecessor,
King Saul. David was unwaveringly loyal to Saul, but the
old king was psychotically jealous of David. (It all started in 1
Samuel 18: 5-9.)
Saul
tried to set him up to be killed in battle.
He tried to have him assassinated.
He threw a spear at David with premeditated intent to drive it through the
young man’s chest so hard that David would be left hanging from the far
wall. He tried that twice.
But
God was on David’s side. God put Saul in
a completely vulnerable position where David could have easily killed the crazy
old king. The Lord did that twice (1
Samuel 24 & 26),
But
David wouldn’t take the shot.
Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather
give place to wrath (Romans 12: 19)
Way
back in the Old Testament, David understood that vengeance belonged to
God. God would deliver payback--- in God’s
own time.
…for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I
will repay,” says the Lord. (Romans 12: 19b)
David
sincerely loved his enemy. And when bad
things happen to someone you love, you don’t rejoice; you mourn. When David heard that Saul had been killed in
battle,
David took hold of his own clothes and tore them,
and so did all the men who were with him. And they mourned and wept and fasted until
evening… (2 Samuel 1: 11, 12)
David
became king. Saul was killed, but not by
David or David’s orders. David totally
won because he didn’t try to make his enemy totally lose.
Maybe
that’s why we can’t completely win.
Maybe that’s why we have to keep fighting enemies we’d already beaten: because we’re so happy to see our enemies fall.
And
when we celebrate their defeat, God sees and it displeases Him and He stops beating
them down, and we have to deal with them all over again.
Kinda
explains a lot of American history.
Kinda
explains a lot of personal history, too.
Be glad you got the job. Don't be glad them other fools are still broke.
Be happy that your son's team won. Don't be happy that the opposing quarterback got hurt.
Thank God for the undeserved redemption and grace He purchased for you by the blood of Jesus Christ. But don't do the that's-what-you-heathens-get dance when you hear about a Muslim or Hindhu girl disfigured by an acid attack or honor killing.
Cry out for deliverance. God will answer. Thank God, and move forward. But don’t
gloat. Don’t brag. Don’t forget that your salvation isn't justice. It's mercy.
Blessed are the merciful, For they shall obtain
mercy. (Matthew 5:7)
Be merciful to your enemies. Treat your haters with love.
If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat;
And if he is thirsty, give him water to drink;
For so
you will heap coals of fire on his head,
And the Lord will reward you. (Proverbs 25: 21, 22)
Love
those who want you to lose.
It’s
the only sure for you way to win.
---Anderson T. Graves
II is a writer, community organizer and consultant for education, ministry,
and rural leadership development.
Rev.
Anderson T. Graves II is pastor of Miles Chapel CME Church in Fairfield,
Alabama; executive director of the Substance Abuse Youth Networking
Organization (SAYNO); and director of
rural leadership development for the National Institute for Human Development (NIHD).
Subscribe
to my personal blog www.andersontgraves.blogspot.com .
Email atgravestwo2@aol.com
#Awordtothewise
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can help support Rev. Graves’ work by visiting his personal blog and clicking the DONATE button
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Support
by check or money order may be mailed to
Miles
Chapel CME Church
P O
Box 132
Fairfield,
Al 35064
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