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Key Bible Verse: Never avenge yourselves. Leave that to God, For it is written, "… I will repay those who deserve it" (Romans 12:19). Bonus Reading: Psalm 69:22-25, 27-28

The open vindictiveness expressed in the Psalms unsettles those who've learned to bottle up such feelings. But when David asked God to erase his enemies from the Book of Life (Psalm 69:28), he gave up his own right to do the erasing. "Such rage isn't only brought into Yahweh's presence," notes Old Testament scholar Walter Brueggemann, "it's submitted and relinquished to him."

Human nature being what it is, we might try to retrieve our rage and act on it. But if we continue praying in the mode of the Psalms, over time we'll surrender our vindictiveness to the One who claims the sole right to it—who alone can execute vengeance justly.

Begin offering to God your hurts and desires to get even. Don't mentally rehearse ways to make your boss pay for treating you unfairly. Don't give your wife the silent treatment. Instead, hand situations like these over to God to deal with.

The imprecatory psalms won't let you hide yourself from God for long. As you pray them, take inventory of your heart. Ask God to show you any vengeful feelings you need to release. Then you can turn the other cheek, rather than slapping the cheek of the one who hurt you.

—Mark Roberts in No Holds Barred

My Response: A deep hurt I need to turn over to God is ____.

Thought to Apply: When you read God's Word, you must constantly be saying to yourself, "It is talking to me, and about me."  —Soren Kierkegaard (Danish philosopher)

Adapted from Mike Singletary: One-on-One (Regal, 2005) by permission.

Copyright © 2008 by the author or Christianity Today International/Men of Integrity magazine.
Click here for reprint information on Men of Integrity.

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Prayer for the Week

Thank You, Lord, for psalms that show how a man after Your own heart approached You. Help me learn from them.

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