Romancing The Rock

“Appoint someone evil to oppose my enemy;
    let an accuser stand at his right hand.
When he is tried, let him be found guilty,
    and may his prayers condemn him.
May his days be few;
    may another take his place of leadership.
May his children be fatherless
    and his wife a widow.
May his children be wandering beggars;
    may they be driven from their ruined homes.
May a creditor seize all he has;
    may strangers plunder the fruits of his labor.
May no one extend kindness to him
    or take pity on his fatherless children.
May his descendants be cut off,
    their names blotted out from the next generation.
May the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the Lord;
    may the sin of his mother never be blotted out.
May their sins always remain before the Lord,
    that he may blot out their name from the earth.”

[Psalm 109:6-15 NIV]

As I was reading this Psalm the other day, I began to think about David and how he lived. David was not the kind of man to lift a finger in revenge. Time and time again he was wronged and he never took matters into his own hands.

King Saul was out to murder him — you can’t get much worse than that — and yet David refused to be involved in his death. And when David was king there were plenty of times when he was betrayed and opposed, but he never acted in vengeance.

Photo by Jesper Noer

But, when you read some of the Psalms, you see what he would like to see done to his enemies. Instead of reacting in anger and bitterness, David went to God and poured out his vengeful thoughts to Him. And in most cases, by the end of the Psalm, David is praising God.

It makes me think — what do we do with our anger? Do we lash out at others? Do we bottle it up and suppress it? Do we plot revenge and hold on to our bitterness?

Perhaps, like David, we should go before God and let it all out. God knows our hearts — He doesn’t mind hearing how angry we are and even if we wished someone were dead. As long as in the process of pouring out our grief to Him, we actually release it and hang on to it no longer. Instead, we should be able to walk away praising our Father in Heaven in the freedom of forgiveness.

Do you have something you need to release today? Take it to the Lord — He has big shoulders. 🙂