It’s hard to not want revenge on those who have wronged us. Especially when the wrong-doers are rooting for our demise. 

The Psalmists know that feeling all too well.

Let’s look at Psalm 83, where Asaph cries out to God. He is pointing out the vicious activities of his enemies and the apparent inactivity of God. 

His foes have one desire: the elimination of God and his people from the earth. An elimination so thorough and so exact that their existence will be forgotten.  

“They say, ‘Come let us wipe them out as a nation; let the name of Israel be remembered no more.’ ” (verse 4)

Asaph hears their noise, sees them make their move and witnesses their crafty efforts to get rid of God’s people.

If you haven’t noticed yet, this doesn’t sit well with Asaph. 

In what feels like a panic prayer, he calls God into action. “You need to make noise, you need to make a move, you need to have a plan to stop this!” (my paraphrase)

(Brief aside: If you only knew how many times I’ve heard something like this from one of my kids when they feel like one of their siblings is getting away with something!)

Asaph goes on to list and describe God’s enemies, how they are unified in their pursuit, and then lays out a plan of vengeance for God to carry out. 

If you take your time reading through the chapter and let the imagery come to life, you will get caught up in a whirlwind of violence. The almost vengeful desires of the psalmist are not for the faint of heart (even though we might not bat an eye if we saw the scene on a movie screen). Asaph calls for their destruction. He wants God to treat them like a tumbleweed in the wind or like chaff that is easily blown. 

Why tumbleweed and chaff, you ask? Because they burn.

“As fire consumes the forest, as the flame sets the mountain ablaze, so may you pursue them with your tempest and terrify them with your hurricane!” (verse 15)

And then he says, “Fill their faces with shame” and later, “Let them be put to shame and dismayed forever, let them perish in disgrace.”

Asaph’s approach seems to be pretty fair, as far as revenge is concerned. Plus, God is the one who will carry it out. “They want you and your people to be forgotten? Well, forget them!” (my paraphrase)

Asaph wants them to be filled with shame.

And that is where we typically stop when we think about our own enemies. Especially if we believe God is fighting for us because of our prayers. After all, “‘Revenge is mine’, saith the Lord!” This seems like righteous justice, doesn’t it?

But Asaph, whether he fully realizes it or not, gives a much better picture of God’s justice. How do we know? He doesn’t stop at shame. 

Both times he calls for the enemies to experience shame, he is doing so that they might eventually discover, recognize and honor the Most High God.

“… that they might seek your name, O Lord.” (verse 16)

“… that they may know that you alone, whose name is the LORD, are the most high over all the earth.” (verse 18)

I don’t think this information is to be hung over their head. Typically, when we discover, recognize and honor God, it means transformation has occurred.  

It might seem fitting for God to wipe out the enemy in his power and might because, after all, he is God. But that is not what we see in the person of Jesus. And He IS God.

When we look at Psalms like 83 and others that seem to not only condone violence and destruction, but do so with God as the initiator of it, we should consider how those Psalms could be understood differently.

God is love. God is just and God is merciful. It’s not that God is sometimes just and sometimes merciful and when the situation calls for it, one gives way to other. No, God is always just and always merciful and is always existing as love.

Is it possible that the storm of God’s justice spoken of in verse 16 is doing something much different than what we might expect?

Because, just when we thought Asaph is interested in wiping them out, it appears God is inclined toward winning them over. 

We see this most in Jesus, who died not so his enemies would be forgotten, but so that they would know his love. 

He didn’t die so they would be stuck in their shame, but so he might swallow all the shame we’ve ever experienced. 

As the Apostle Paul writes, “For the Scripture says, ‘Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.’ ” (Romans 10:11)

Though it appears Asaph desires God’s enemies be forgotten, we know what God desires through Christ is that his enemies be found. 

It’s hard to want the best for those who root against us, those who welcome our failure. It might seem like the best response is revenge. But Jesus teaches us to respond in reverse.  

It’s impossible to love our enemies the way Jesus loves our enemies if we stop at shame. If God has helped you past your shame, you know the importance of letting others get past theirs. Loving our enemies like Christ loved us means we take the shame from them.

If we stop at shame then we are the ones left outside, looking in as Jesus sits at the table with our enemies. Hopefully, the shame that’s now on our face will not result in us looking for a seat, but compel us to be the ones who serve the meal.