‘People have heard when I groan with no one to comfort me. My enemies, hearing of my plight, all rejoiced at what you had done. Hasten the day you have promised when they will suffer as I do!
The Revised English Bible (Cambridge; New York; Melbourne; Madrid; Cape Town; Singapore; São Paulo; Delhi; Dubai; Tokyo: Cambridge University Press, 1996), La 1:21.
Have you ever really wanted someone who had hurt you to suffer?
Think before you answer.
I recall teaching a class on the Old Testament for a Wednesday night study group. We were dealing with some of the more difficult passages and got to Psalm 137:8-9, especially the line “blessed is the one who takes your little ones and dashes them against the rocks.”
I presented a scenario to the group. Supposing enemies took over our town and had killed our children right in front of us so we had to watch? How would we react?
The consensus of the room was that as Christians we are supposed to be forgiving. So we should forgive. The group also felt that they would not be so angry as to desire that anything bad would happen to the enemy’s children. Never that!
Then one older lady raised her hand and said quietly: “I think many of us are lying to ourselves.”
A number of people admitted they felt they were as well. Revenge is a very strong motivation. When someone hurts us, we want them to hurt as well. It’s natural.
But revenge is also very dangerous. A bit of wishing is one thing; carrying it out is another matter. It’s what keeps feuds and even wars going. If we could get over the past, we might well have another world.
Revenge also needs to be separated from justice. A desire for justice is positive. But I think in order to control our desire for revenge, we need to acknowledge that we actually have it. We need to identify the anger and the hurt as what they are before we can seek another way.
Hoping for revenge is a losing proposition. The hurt keeps going. But by acknowledging this in our grief and yes, lamentation, we can learn to seek a better way.