Leave the vengeance to God

“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.” 1 Samuel 24:12
In 1 Samuel 24 we have the familiar account of how David had the opportunity to kill Saul, as he and his men were hiding in the very same cave that Saul chose to enter to relieve himself. Instead of killing him though, David cut off the hem of his robe. This was a conscious act on his part – the men with him were urging him to kill Saul. But David knew that this was not how God would have Saul’s life end. A second opportunity presented itself, in 1 Samuel 26, but again David did not take it.
David sets an excellent example for us here. Here is a man who has nothing wrong, but is being persecuted by the authorities because he has the call of God on his life. In response, he flees, seeking to wait it out until the time Saul dies of natural causes or in battle. David had been greatly wronged by Saul, but he chose not to take revenge into his own hands. He left the vengeance up to God.
This is a theme in Deut. 32:35 and echoed in Rom. 12:19 and Heb. 10:30. God sees the bigger picture; He sees the end from the beginning. He is completely just, and He will ensure that in the eternal picture, every punishment and every reward will be completely fair. Our vision is limited, and our vengeance usually comes from strong emotions and fleshly motivations. Choose today, if you are wronged, to let the Lord deal with it for you.