A Prayer

Father,

You are the God of vengeance. You are the one who has said, ‘Vengeance is mine. I shall repay.’ This is an aspect of who You are that we don’t hear very much about. This is an aspect of who You are that we are not as familiar with. We talk about Your love and Your grace and how awesome it is for us to enjoy these aspects of Your character. But we don’t talk much about how You will avenge yourself on Your enemies. But You will. This is simply an expression of Your justice. This creation is Yours. You are the God who runs this place. And You have made it abundantly clear that You have expectations. All creatures are to acknowledge that You are God. This is simply agreeing with reality. You are God. And You have also made it abundantly clear that all who refuse to do this, all who rebel against You, will be held accountable for their choices. You will repay them for their refusal to acknowledge the obvious. You are God. We feel uncomfortable thinking about this, but it makes sense. You are the just God who rules creation.

This helps us as we find ourselves confronted by those who hate You and take it out on us. There will be justice. But it isn’t something for us to try to bring about. Vengeance belongs to You.

There should be sadness as we contemplate what will happen to Your enemies. You take no pleasure in the death of the wicked and neither should we. And yet it is a comfort for us to know that a day is coming when You will vindicate Your name and Your Gospel. Grant us the patience we need to wait for that day.

As we contemplate Your justice remind us that the only reason we will not have to face it is Jesus. We will never experience Your just rage against our rebellion because Jesus already has. Humble us with that thought as we consider the fate of so many. And motivate us with this truth so that the rebels that we know will see the effects of the Gospel in our lives. And seeing that, we ask that they would come to submit to Jesus as Savior and Lord, and give up their rebellious ways. Through Christ, our Lord, Amen.

Psalm 94.1; Romans 12.19; Ezekiel 33.11