God Is My Avenger

Have you ever been falsely accused?

As a teenager, I once worked for a family friend. They owned a small restaurant, so I was cleaning and doing a little cashier work. Now, I’ll be honest; as an elementary kid, I crushed math. Multiplication and division were my forte. I remember finishing those quizzes first and showing off that I finished first.

“Um, teacher, I am done, so what should I do with the quiz?” (smirk)

“Sean, you know that when you are done, you just flip it over and wait until the other kids are done.”

(quiet murmuring and sighing in the background from the other kids)

“What? He is done already?”

So fair to say, I was a math whiz in elementary school.

Now, why am I sharing this? Back to my part-time job as a cashier. By the time I was a teenager, my math was not good. So I found myself messing up on how much money to give back and calculating simple math in my head!

This led to a conversation I had with my parents one night. They sat me down and asked, “Sean, why did you steal $20 from your work? Don’t you know they are our family friends?”

At that moment, I felt a rush of emotions coming up because I was falsely accused. I was indeed bad at math, but I was no stealer.

Here in Psalm 35, David was falsely accused by those around him. Verse 11, “Malicious witnesses rise up.” Verse 20, “For they do not speak peace, but against those who are quiet in the land they devise words of deceit.” Verse 21, “They open wide their mouths against me; they say, “Aha, Aha! Our eyes have seen it!”

So David cries out all throughout this psalm,

Contend, O LORD, with those who contend with me; fight against those who fight against me!

- Psalm 35:1

He is basically saying, “God, be my avenger. I don’t feel safe, so Lord, please come support and save me.”

I believe, biblically, God can avenge and make the wrongs right in our time here on Earth. When God chooses to, it pictures the greatness of God, who delights in the welfare of His servant (verse 27). When God chooses to, it is for the glory of God, ultimately. It showcases who He is.

However, don’t hear what the Bible is not saying. When we are falsely accused, sometimes, in the mystery of God, wrongs are not made right in our lifetime. Sometimes, we may never know why until we get to Heaven and God replays His purpose and plans. But one thing is for sure, in heaven, we will praise Him and proclaim, “Great is the Lord, who delights in the welfare of his servant!” In Heaven, we will praise Him for his perfect justice and avenging work. We will praise him for His deep love and care for us.

When my parents falsely accused me, I felt hurt and betrayed. I tried to explain myself. I tried to make this wrong, right. The blessing is, they understood. And my parents were and are godly, Jesus-believing parents. They are great parents. And I’m glad it was reconciled.

But this very small situation helped me to understand Psalm 35. There have been many other circumstances where I’m sure you and I have been falsely accused, from smaller things to bigger things. The Bible suggests seeking God for safety, support, and saving. Seek conversations to reconcile the situation, to take action to make the wrong right. However, with some false accusations, God may not avenge it in the way we may think.

But when we get to Heaven, all will be made right for the greater glory of God. Amen.

Pastor Sean

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