SERIES: Leadership in Hard Times
Vengeance is Mine
SCRIPTURE: 1 Samuel 24, 26
SPEAKER: Michael P. Andrus
Note to David: This is from a series I did in 1988 in St. Louis. Check to see if you have the tape.
Introduction: Revenge has been called life’s most subtle temptation. It’s also one of life’s most frequent temptations. It’s subtle because we are never tempted to take vengeance without provocation, and if we’re provoked it’s easy to justify our response. And it’s frequent because the provocations in life are so numerous. A guy cuts you off in traffic, a friend snubs you, your spouseirritates you, the boss gives someone else credit for a job you did, your father or mother ground you for something that wasn’t your fault, the coach makes you sit on the bench when you know you should be playing, your teacher makes unreasonable demands—all of these irritations in life are fertile soil for revenge.
Hard facts about revenge
What we tend to call it (26:8). I know very few people who are willing to say out loud, “I’m going to take revenge on so‑and‑so.” Far more common are statements like, “I need to protect my rights,” or, “It’s important to teach so‑and‑so a lesson,” or, “If I let him get by with this, he’ll do something worse to someone else,” or, “God’s honor needs to be vindicated,” which being interpreted usually means, “My honor needs to be vindicated, but I’ll bring God into it to make it sound a little more spiritual.” You can call it whatever you want and fool yourself in the process, but it’s still the same old sin—revenge.
It’s possible to even view revenge as a godly opportunity. In fact, that’s exactly what happened in the story we read this morning. David’s men said, “This is the day the Lord spoke of when he said to you, ‘I will give your enemy into your hands for you to deal with as you wish.'” David, you don’t think this was accidental, do you? God is obviously in this. Go, get him! God himself has provided an open door of opportunity.
The problem is that whenever you find an open door, you should always ask whose hand is on the doorknob. God doesn’t open doors that contradict His Word. Satan may, but not God. Another way to express this truth is that “it is never right to do wrong to do right.” It was right that Saul should be judged, but it was wrong for David to do it without God’s authorization.
Why we do it (24:19a). The ultimate reason why we take revenge against those who have hurt us is our sin, human depravity. Saul expressed it well in 24:19: “When a man finds his enemy, does he let him get away unharmed?” Shakespeare puts similar words into the mouth of the Jew in The Merchant of Venice: “If you prick us, do we not bleed? If you tickle us, do we not laugh? If you poison us, do we not die? And if you wrong us, shall we not take revenge?” [i]
We have an exaggerated sense of justice when we happen to be on the short end of the stick. We have been injured and feel strongly that the person who inflicted the injury should pay. And we want the person to pay now. God, however, is slow to anger, giving the wrongdoer many opportunities to have a change of heart. We are not comfortable leaving the vengeance with Him. After all, by the time He gets around to exercising judgment, we may not even remember the injury. And that will never do. So, we take matters into our own hands.
What God says about it (Romans 12:17, 19; Luke 9:54-55). This is a simple matter, as stated in Romans 12:17 and 19: “Never pay back evil for evil to anyone.” Then the Apostle adds, “Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, ‘Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,’ says the Lord.”
This same prohibition of retaliation is repeated throughout the Scriptures by both example and by teaching. Jesus Himself lived it, as 1 Peter 2 indicates: “while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously.” And He lived the same truth. Do you recall when the Samaritans refused to receive Him because He was heading toward Jerusalem, as recorded in Luke 9:54-55? When James and John saw the indignity their Lord was subjected to, they asked, “Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” (Can you imagine the incongruity of these two men asking Jesus if He wants them to command fire to come down from heaven!). He responds kindly, but firmly, “You do not know what kind of spirit you are of: for the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.”
We have been studying how David became a great leader of God’s people, and one of the key lessons he learned in the process is to leave vengeance with God. In the chapters before us today David’s life communicates to us three important warnings about the temptation to take revenge:
Do not take revenge on an enemy who seeks to destroy you. (24)
Do not take revenge on a fool who offends you. (26)
Do not take revenge on a friend who disappoints you.
Let’s read the 24th chapter of 1 Samuel:
After Saul returned from pursuing the Philistines, he was told, “David is in the Desert of En Gedi.” 2 So Saul took three thousand able young men from all Israel and set out to look for David and his men near the Crags of the Wild Goats.
3 He came to the sheep pens along the way; a cave was there, and Saul went in to relieve himself. David and his men were far back in the cave. 4 The men said, “ This is the day the Lord spoke of when he said[b] to you, ‘I will give your enemy into your hands for you to deal with as you wish.’” Then David crept up unnoticed and cut off a corner of Saul’s robe.
5 Afterward, David was conscience-stricken for having cut off a corner of his robe. 6 He said to his men, “The Lord forbid that I should do such a thing to my master, the Lord’s anointed, or lay my hand on him; for he is the anointed of the Lord.” 7 With these words David sharply rebuked his men and did not allow them to attack Saul. And Saul left the cave and went his way.
8 Then David went out of the cave and called out to Saul, “My lord the king!” When Saul looked behind him, David bowed down and prostrated himself with his face to the ground. 9 He said to Saul, “Why do you listen when men say, ‘David is bent on harming you’? 10 This day you have seen with your own eyes how the Lord delivered you into my hands in the cave. Some urged me to kill you, but I spared you; I said, ‘I will not lay my hand on my lord, because he is the Lord’s anointed.’ 11 See, my father, look at this piece of your robe in my hand! I cut off the corner of your robe but did not kill you. See that there is nothing in my hand to indicate that I am guilty of wrongdoing or rebellion. I have not wronged you, but you are hunting me down to take my life. 12 May the Lord judge between you and me. And may the Lord avenge the wrongs you have done to me, but my hand will not touch you. 13 As the old saying goes, ‘From evildoers come evil deeds,’ so my hand will not touch you.
14 “Against whom has the king of Israel come out? Who are you pursuing? A dead dog? A flea? 15 May the Lord be our judge and decide between us. May he consider my cause and uphold it; may he vindicate me by delivering me from your hand.”
16 When David finished saying this, Saul asked, “Is that your voice, David my son?” And he wept aloud. 17 “You are more righteous than I,” he said. “You have treated me well, but I have treated you badly. 18 You have just now told me about the good you did to me; the Lord delivered me into your hands, but you did not kill me. 19 When a man finds his enemy, does he let him get away unharmed? May the Lord reward you well for the way you treated me today. 20 I know that you will surely be king and that the kingdom of Israel will be established in your hands. 21 Now swear to me by the Lord that you will not kill off my descendants or wipe out my name from my father’s family.”
22 So David gave his oath to Saul. Then Saul returned home, but David and his men went up to the stronghold.
An almost identical story to this one occurs in 1 Samuel 26. There the traitorous Ziphites inform Saul that David is in the desert near them, so Saul takes his best 3,000 troops and pursues him there. David sneaks up on Saul’s camp late at night and notices that not only is the King asleep, but so is his bodyguard and all his troops. So, he takes one of his own men, sneaks into the camp, and takes Saul’s spear and water jug from right next to his head. No one wakes up because the Lord had put all of them into a deep sleep, but when David is safely stationed on an opposite hill he yells out to Saul’s bodyguard, “Why didn’t you guard your lord the king? Where are his spear and water jug?”
Saul is again convicted of his sin, as he seemed to be in chapter 24, and confesses to having acted like a fool. He even pronounces a blessing upon David, but David knows better than to trust him and is forced to wait longer still for God’s timing in removing Saul from his position of leadership. The message comes through both chapters loud and clear that we are not to take revenge on an enemy who seeks to destroy us.
Then in chapter 25 we learned by example that we are not to take revenge on a fool who offends us. We saw how David was tempted to kill Nabal and all the males in his household because Nabal offended him. Only through the wise leadership of Abigail was vengeance averted. David himself spoke these words to Abigail, beginning in verse 32, “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, who has sent you today to meet me. May you be blessed for your good judgment and for keeping me from bloodshed this day and from avenging myself with my own hands.”
Now with that as an overview of our subject and our texts, I would like for us to spend the bulk of our time examining five biblical principles concerning vengeance.
Biblical principles concerning vengeance:
Taking revenge is a usurpation of God’s prerogative of judgment. The Bible makes it abundantly clear that God is the judge of all the earth and that He has not delegated his authority for judging to anyone else. James 4:12 says, “There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the One who is able to save and to destroy; but who are you who judge your neighbor?” David knew this principle. In chapter 24 he says to Saul while displaying the corner of his robe, “May the Lord judge between you and me. And may the Lord avenge the wrongs you have done to me, but my hand will not touch you…. May He consider my cause and uphold it.”
Unfortunately, David forgot this principle briefly when Nabal’s offense stirred him to anger, but Abigail reminded him of it in 25:29, “Even though someone is pursuing you to take your life, the life of my master will be bound securely in the bundle of the living by the Lord your God. But the lives of your enemies he will hurl away as from the pocket of a sling.” Leave it with God, David. Don’t try to do His job for Him!
David, as we learned, listened to this godly counsel, and then in chapter 26 he shows how well he learned the lesson, for there he says to Abishai, who urged him to kill Saul while he slept, “The Lord himself will strike him; either his time will come and he will die, or he will go into battle and perish. But the Lord forbid that I should lay a hand on the Lord’s anointed.”
Taking vengeance into our own hands is tantamount to a denial that God Himself is capable of righteous judgment. But God has His ways. We do not have to seize His prerogatives or preempt His timing.
Taking revenge causes us to stoop to the level of our enemies and places a staggering burden on our consciences. Will you notice a proverb which David quotes in 24:13: “As the old saying goes, ‘From evildoers come evil deeds,’ so my hand will not touch you.” This seems to be the point of Romans 12:21, too: “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” To respond to an offense with a spirit of revenge is to be overcome by evil; it is to stoop to the level of our enemies.
The result is a guilty conscience. One of the truly remarkable features of David’s character was his very sensitive conscience. The most well‑known evidence of that comes later in his life in the 51stPsalm, in which he expresses his great remorse over his sin with Bathsheba. But there’s even a more startling example right here in chapter 24. It says that David crept up unnoticed and cut off a corner of Saul’s robe, but afterward he was “conscience‑stricken for having cut off a corner of his robe.”
Now that’s what you call a sensitive conscience! Here Saul has been stalking him all over the country, has driven him into exile, has forced him to live in caves and beg for food, but he develops a guilty conscience over cutting off a corner of his robe! I’ve tried to understand why this action would bother David so much, and the best I can come up with is that while it didn’t harm Saul physically, it had the potential of embarrassing Saul, and David felt bad about even causing embarrassment to the one whom the Lord had chosen as king. I suppose a parallel might be found today in a situation where we choose to take vengeance, not by hurting someone physically, but just by bad‑mouthing them to others. Do we feel guilt over that?
I’m of the opinion that David’s sensitive conscience may be one of the important keys to why he was called a man after God’s own heart. And it may be one of the reasons why so few today could be so labeled. Some Christian people today say things, do things, watch things, and listen to things that their consciences would never have allowed twenty years ago, but they no longer feel any guilt because the conscience is being seared by society. It’s a very dangerous situation.
Taking revenge is often a violation of our responsibility to honor those in authority over us. Have you ever noticed how often vengeance is directed toward those in authority over us? Donald Regan was tempted to write a book of vengeance against the Reagans, not the other way around, and this fits with the psychology of revenge. It is usually used by those in a position of weakness who cannot achieve redress of their grievances through normal channels.
1900 years ago Juvenal wrote, “Revenge is always the delight of a mean spirit, of a weak and petty mind!” Such people feel the desperate need to get even, but their enemy has all the ammunition, so revenge seems the only way out. We see this played out before our eyes on the international scene through terrorism.
The problem is that perception is not always according to reality. The believer never has to operate from a position of weakness, because if God is on his side, he couldn’t have more going for him. And being in a position of strength, he can choose to respect those in authority rather than take revenge on them.
There is a great deal said in the Scripture about our responsibility to honor those in authority. Romans 13 says, “Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities,” for rulers are all godly Christians seeking your life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness.” No, of course they’re not, at least not all of them, certainly not Nero, under whom Paul wrote those words. What he really says is, “Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment upon themselves.”
Now it is certainly true that on occasion a human ruler may demand that we violate a commandment of God, as when Nebuchadnezzar asked the three Hebrew young men to bow down to his graven image, and then we must refuse, but even then we must refuse respectfully. Remember that Shadrach, Meshach and Obednego spoke to the King and said to him, “King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.” (Daniel 3:16-18) In the armed services soldiers are taught that you don’t salute the man, you salute the rank. If the colonel is a creep, you salute him anyway because he is a colonel.
David saw it as his responsibility to honor King Saul even though he was a carnal man whose every act was opposed to God. He asked repeatedly, “Who am I to lift up my hand against the Lord’s anointed?” There was no question that God had placed Saul into the kingship; therefore, it must be God who removes him. That doesn’t mean David was totally passive, refusing to even try to reason with Saul. In fact, he declared the truth to him concerning his loyalty and begged him not to listen to the men who were lying about him. But David refused to countenance revenge; he left room for the wrath of God.
One of the more socially progressive Christian congressmen in the U.S. House of Representatives reported that he received a letter from a lady in his district. She wrote, “I have disagreed with nearly every decision you have made since you were elected, but I pray for you every day because I know that you need divine guidance for a very difficult task.” He said that letter meant more to him than any other letter he had received. That lady knew what it meant to honor those in authority over us, rather than taking revenge.
Taking revenge is a denial that God is the sovereign giver of all good things. I see this principle in chapter 30, where David’s men wanted to cut the share of those men who didn’t go into battle because of exhaustion. He responded, “No, my brothers, you must not do that with what the Lord has given us. He has protected us and handed over to us the forces that came against us.”
There are times when feelings of revenge arise, not so much because someone has intentionallyinjured us as because they have failed us. We needed help and they didn’t offer it; or they didn’t dotheir share of the work; or they weren’t there when we needed emotional support. And so, we want to get even, and the only way we can think of doing it is to deprive them in turn of something that is important to them.
Let me give some examples. You’re on a committee responsible for a major event. You get almost no help from the other members, but they get much of the credit when the event goes off well. You feel the temptation to let people know that so‑and‑so did nothing to help you.
Or you happen to be hurting badly because of some unusual stresses in your life and your spouse shows little concern or sensitivity. You are then tempted to withhold support from him/her the next time they’re hurting.
Whenever we are tempted to take revenge by depriving someone of something we feel they didn’t really earn, it is important to remember that in the final analysis none of us has earned anything. Everything we have is a gift from God. As James puts it, “Every good thing bestowed and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation, or shifting shadow.” (James 1:17) When we’re really honest about it, we have to admit that whatever success in life we have enjoyed has far more to do with what family and country we were born into, what kind of parents we had (and we didn’t choose them, you know!), what schools we were able to go to, and what level of intelligence and talent we were given than it does with our hard work.
Taking revenge prevents us from seeing what God can do when we leave it to Him. (Rom. 12:20) Last week we saw how God took care of Nabal in a more thorough way than David ever could. Had David killed Nabal himself, and then taken Abigail as his wife their relationship would have been always tainted, as was his with Bathsheba later. But because David left room for the wrath of God, God accomplished the same end without any guilt on David’s part.
Years ago our Elder Board in Wichita accepted the application of a young student at Dallas Seminary to be our summer pastoral intern. He grew up here in St. Louis, attending the Blessed Hope Bible Church down on Page Avenue in the City, went to Dallas Baptist College, where he was Student Body president, and then on to Seminary. He had excellent qualifications but was having a great deal of difficulty finding a church in which to do his required internship. You see, he was black. And his wife was white. Not only that, she was blonde.
The Elders knew there was enough latent racism in a congregation that large to create some problems (recognize this was in the early 1980’s) but they also believed there was no biblical basis for turning this man down, so they recommended him, and the congregation voted to hire him.
Well, two families immediately left the church and there were some other strong undercurrents that had me worried. Some false accusations against me were circulating and I contemplated what to do to fight back. About two weeks later, Stephen Olford, the evangelist from Calvary Baptist Church in New York City was at our church to preach, and I shared with him what we were going through. I’ll never forget his advice. He asked, “Do you think you did what was right?” “Absolutely,” I replied. “Then leave the people who don’t like it to the Lord. He’s able to deal with them appropriately.”
And then he told me a story. He said that when he accepted the pulpit of Calvary Baptist Church in the early 60’s he did so with the understanding that the church would change their bylaws, which at the time barred blacks from membership, and begin to accept people of all races. Five leading men in the church trie to block this change, launching a number of false accusations against Olford. He decided to just turn those individuals over to the Lord, and within three months all five were dead. He said that put the fear of the Lord in the church and they never heard another complaint about blacks in the church.
I would be remiss, however, if I conveyed the notion that God will always destroy your enemy if you leave vengeance with Him. More often He may choose to change your enemy, or even make him your friend. That’s, of course, a far better way to get rid of an enemy, but vengeance will never accomplish it. Listen to Romans 12:20: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”
Isn’t that what David did to Saul? In both chapters 24 and 26 Saul was blown away by David’s kindness in sparing him. The fact that his repentance was not lasting should not blind us to the fact that God accomplished a significant temporary change in Saul’s attitude. Who would have ever thought this proud and haughty king would weep publicly and say to the one whom he spent years trying to destroy, “You are more righteous than I…. May the Lord reward you for the way you treated me today…. I have sinned.” Saul felt the coals of fire on his head, but unfortunately, he was too far gone spiritually for any lasting change to result.
Practical application about revenge
Since human nature is depraved, we must expect to be mistreated. It’s going to happen. We will find those who try to destroy us, we will be offended, and we will be disappointed. You can count on it. So, the best thing to do is to learn to take mistreatment in stride. I am not suggesting a completely passive, fatalistic attitude toward life, however. There are times when fighting is appropriate; there are times when the believer may resort to legal protection; there are times when the wicked must be punished. But never should vengeance be our motive. When it is, we will invariably hurt ourselves more than the one against whom we act.
Since mistreatment is inevitable, we must anticipate feelings of revenge. It is part of the human condition to feel revengeful. I don’t think we can avoid it; nor should the feelings themselves create guilt. But it makes a great deal of difference what we do with those feelings. If we know they’re coming and anticipate them it will be a lot easier to deal with them righteously.
Since feelings of revenge are predictable, we must decide in advance to let God be God. This is the key. Don’t wait until you’ve been hurt to decide how you’re going to handle it, because then it is too late. Decide in advance that you will never take revenge but rather leave room for the wrath of God.
Now let’s get very honest with ourselves. I ask you to think about that individual toward whom you have the strongest negative feelings, the one whom you would like to get even with more than anyone else. Write that name down in your mind and let’s pray.
Dear God, I acknowledge tonight that I am resentful of ____________ (fill in the blank by name). Even though Jesus took my sins and died for me, I am holding against ____________ the treatment he or she has given to me. Please forgive me. Tonight I ask you to free me from this bondage and to keep me from it for the rest of my life. I claim God’s power through Jesus Christ my Lord.
Heavenly Father, at this time of the year when the beauty of spring is upon us there is healing that needs to take place so the beauty can be appreciated. Forgive us for excusing and rationalizing this taproot of bitterness. Expose it in all its ugliness and put it to death. Thank you for Jesus Christ who went through hell for us and gives us the power we need to overcome sin in our lives. Through Jesus Christ our Lord we pray, Amen.
DATE: May 15, 1988
Tags:
Vengeance
Revenge
Conscience
Racism
[i] William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice, Act 3, Scene 1.