If I’m being honest, there have been times I’ve read “Vengeance is Mine; I will repay” and felt a little satisfied. “Alright, Lord… I’ll stay out of it, but You go get them.” I wanted God to step in, swing the hammer, and settle the score.
But here’s what I’ve learned. The God revealed in Jesus doesn’t do business that way. He’s not the heavenly hitman I secretly hope for. He’s the Father who loves the one who hurt me with the same love He has for me. And that changes the whole picture.
The Hebrew word for vengeance means to set things right, to restore balance. The Greek word carries the same idea: justice carried out by the One with the authority to do it perfectly. This is not an emotional flare-up. It is measured, deliberate restoration.
In Pain to Praise, I wrote that when we hold on to our hurt, it is like living in a dark pit that keeps getting deeper. Holding on to our “right” to see someone pay keeps us chained to the very pain we want to escape. God’s invitation in “Vengeance is Mine” is an invitation to step out of that pit, put down the gavel, and let Him handle the case.
Here’s the uncomfortable part. When God takes your case, His goal isn’t to ruin your enemy; it is to redeem. If they belong to Him, His discipline will be fatherly, not vindictive. If they do not know Him yet, His judgment will still be just, but His heart will be for them to come to repentance.
Think about Jonah, sulking outside Nineveh. He wanted fire to fall. God wanted mercy to flow. Jonah’s sense of justice was rooted in a desire for payback. God’s justice was about restoration.
And that’s where this truth rubs against our wounds. In my flesh, I want lightning bolts. God offers the cross. I want them to taste shame. God wants them to taste grace.
When my kids were young, and they fought, I never punished one to comfort the other. Both needed correction. Both needed love. That is what our Father does. He sees the wrong in them and the wrong in me, and He works to bring both of us into maturity in Christ.
If you let Him, God’s vengeance will heal you and may even heal them. That does not mean He excuses what they did. Forgiveness is not saying it was okay. It is saying, “I release my right to make you pay because I trust God to handle you as He handled me, with truth and grace.”
The cross is the ultimate picture. God’s vengeance against sin was real, but instead of placing it on you, He put it on Himself. Justice was satisfied, and mercy was unleashed. That is His way.
So yes, vengeance belongs to Him. But do not expect Him to run a divine collection agency for your pain. Expect Him to make things right in you, in them, and in the story, you thought was beyond repair. And in that process, you may discover that the freedom you wanted all along did not come from seeing them hurt. It came from seeing God heal.