Topic: Don’t Avenge Yourself
Bible Reading: 1 Samuel 25-26; Luke 16:19-31.
Memory Verse: “And blessed be thy advice, and blessed be thou, which hast kept me this day from coming to shed blood, and from avenging myself with mine own hand.” 1 Samuel 25:33 (KJV)
In our Bible passage in 1 Samuel 25, David was annoyed by the response he got from Nabal and he decided to avenge himself by destroying the household of Nabal but God prevented him by sending Abigail to him. Thank God that he listened to her and heeded her advice. Hear David himself when responding to Abigail, Nabal’s wife in 1 Samuel 25:33 (KJV), “And blessed be thy advice, and blessed be thou, which hast kept me this day from coming to shed blood, and from avenging myself with mine own hand.” What he would have gotten or even less, if he had gone ahead with his planned avenge, were packaged for him by Abigail and he had no cause to shed the blood of anyone. Without any war, he even married Abigail and Nabal was destroyed!
David learnt his lesson from that incident and that was apparent in his future encounters. Such that when he had the opportunity of killing a more dangerous and powerful enemy in the person of Saul, the king of Israel then, he did not kill him rather, he took action to show the king that he had the opportunity to kill but refused to do so. He said in 1 Samuel 26:23 (KJV), “The LORD render to every man his righteousness and his faithfulness: for the LORD delivered thee into my hand to day, but I would not stretch forth mine hand against the LORD’S anointed.” Subsequently, Saul was killed by the Philistines and David still became the king of Israel which Saul tried unsuccessfully to prevent.
You may be in a similar situation with your boss in the office, your spiritual head in the church, your friend, or even your family member where he or she has offended you greatly and you now have the opportunity of taking your own pound of flesh, always remember the word of God which says in Romans 12:19 (KJV), “Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.” God who has promised to avenge you will certainly do more for you than you would have done by yourself and in the right proportion and at the right time taking the circumstances into consideration. And your conscience will be free!
A number of times when people try to avenge, they are usually unable to repay the person, the exact pain he or she might have inflicted on them. But more importantly, they may miss the facts that led to the original offence and so it’s better left for the one who knows all things! The Omni-scient God!
God showed us the way when he allowed his only son, Jesus Christ to be crucified on the cross by mere mortals that he could have destroyed completely. In describing his power to have destroyed his arresters, Jesus said in Matthew 26:53 (KJV), “Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?” But he looked unto a higher purpose which is to fulfill the scriptures! Please obey the scriptures in all your dealings with people.
Prayer: Father, please give me the grace to permanently give you the right to avenge for me in the mighty name of Jesus Christ.
Bro. Biodun Oyapero