The Divine Prerogative: Vengeance, Waiting, and Deliverance Text: Proverbs 20:22
Introduction: The Itch for Payback
We live in an age that is drowning in grievances. Our entire culture seems to be built on the sandy foundation of perceived slights, historical injustices, and personal offenses. And the spirit of the age tells us that the proper response to being wronged is to nurse that wound, to cultivate a spirit of resentment, and, when the opportunity arises, to exact a pound of flesh. Whether it is through the public shaming of social media, the petty machinations of office politics, or the open hostility of street protests, the world screams one message: get even. The impulse for payback is a deeply human one. It feels like justice. It feels like balancing the scales. When someone hits you, every fallen instinct in your body tells you to hit back, only harder.
But the wisdom of God is not the wisdom of this world. In fact, it is often the polar opposite. The wisdom of the world is earthly, sensual, and demonic. The wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. And this heavenly wisdom cuts directly across our natural, carnal desire for personal vengeance. It confronts our pride, our self-righteousness, and our arrogant assumption that we have the right to be the judge, jury, and executioner in our own case.
The book of Proverbs is intensely practical. It is not a collection of abstract platitudes for pious needlepoint. It is divine wisdom for the street, for the marketplace, for the family room, and for the heart that has just been wounded by the treachery of a friend or the malice of an enemy. The proverb before us today is a direct command that addresses one of the most powerful temptations known to man: the desire to repay evil for evil. It commands us to do something that feels unnatural, and to trust in a promise that feels distant. But in this simple verse, we find the secret to true liberty, the foundation of genuine justice, and the pathway to a deliverance that is far greater than mere personal satisfaction.
The Text
Do not say, “I will repay evil”;
Hope in Yahweh, and He will save you.
(Proverbs 20:22 LSB)
The Prohibition of Personal Vengeance
The first clause of this proverb is a direct and unambiguous prohibition.
"Do not say, 'I will repay evil'..." (Proverbs 20:22a)
Notice the specific wording. The prohibition is against what you "say." This is not merely a restriction on your outward actions. The wisdom here goes deeper, to the level of the heart's intention. To say, "I will repay evil," is to make a vow to yourself. It is to formalize a resolution in your heart. It is to set your will on the course of retribution. Jesus taught us that murder begins not with the knife, but with the anger of the heart. In the same way, vengeance begins not with the retaliatory act, but with the internal declaration: "I will get him back for this."
This command is a frontal assault on our pride. When we are wronged, our pride is wounded. We feel diminished, and we believe that retaliating will restore our honor. But this is a lie. Seeking personal revenge does not make you strong; it makes you a slave. You become chained to the person who wronged you, allowing their sin to dictate your actions and consume your thoughts. You are letting them live rent-free in your head. The refusal to retaliate is not weakness; it is a profound display of strength and freedom.
Now, we must be careful here. This is not a command to become a doormat. This is not a call for pacifism in the face of all evil. The Bible is clear that God has established the civil magistrate, the government, as His deacon to wield the sword and punish evildoers (Romans 13:4). There is a place for justice. There is a place for restraining evil. But the key distinction is jurisdiction. God has given the sword of vengeance to the state, not to the individual. When the state acts justly to punish a criminal, it is acting as God's minister. When you take that sword into your own hands to settle a personal score, you are usurping a divine prerogative. You are playing God.
The Apostle Paul echoes this proverb perfectly in the New Testament: "Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, 'Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord'" (Romans 12:19). The reason you must not say, "I will repay evil," is because God has already said, "I will." His justice is perfect, His knowledge is complete, and His motives are pure. Ours are not. Our desire for "justice" is almost always tainted with pride, bitterness, and a sinful desire to inflict pain. God's justice is righteous altogether. Therefore, the first step of wisdom is to take your hands off the scales of justice. They are not yours to balance.
The Posture of Active Trust
If we are forbidden from taking matters into our own hands, what are we to do? The second clause provides the divine alternative. It is not an alternative of passive resignation, but of active, expectant faith.
"...Hope in Yahweh..." (Proverbs 20:22b)
The command is to "Hope in Yahweh." The King James says "wait for the LORD." The Hebrew word here is qavah. It doesn't mean to sit around twiddling your thumbs. It means to wait with eager expectation, like a taut rope pulled tight. It is the posture of a watchman on the wall, scanning the horizon for the first light of dawn. It is an active, engaged, and confident trust.
This is the very opposite of the anxious, frenetic energy of the vengeful man. The man who says, "I will repay evil," is a man who believes that if he doesn't act, no one will. He believes the universe is ultimately meaningless and that justice is something he must create for himself. He is a practical atheist. But the man who hopes in Yahweh is a man who believes in the sovereignty of God. He knows that God is on His throne, that He sees every injustice, and that He is righteous in all His ways. He is able to be still because he knows that God is God (Psalm 46:10).
Hoping in Yahweh is not an emotion; it is a decision. It is the choice to entrust your case to the supreme court of heaven. It means you pray. You lay out your complaint before the Lord, as David did countless times in the Psalms. You tell God exactly how you have been wronged. You ask Him to act. You ask Him to bring justice. And then, having filed your appeal with the highest authority in the universe, you go about your business, living faithfully and obediently, leaving the outcome in His hands.
This is the path of sanity. To hope in Yahweh is to anchor your soul to the unshakeable rock of His character. The vengeful man is tossed to and fro by the waves of his own bitter passions. But the man who waits on the Lord has a deep and settled peace, because his hope is not in his own ability to settle the score, but in God's promise to make all things right.
The Promise of Divine Deliverance
This command to hope is not a leap into the dark. It is grounded in a firm and certain promise.
"...and He will save you." (Proverbs 20:22c)
The promise is that Yahweh "will save you." The Hebrew word for save is yasha, from which we get the name Joshua, or, in Greek, Jesus. It means to deliver, to rescue, to preserve. In the Old Testament, this was often a very tangible, physical deliverance. It meant being saved from your enemies, from oppression, from poverty, or from a false accusation. This is not a wispy, ethereal, "pie in the sky when you die" kind of salvation. This is a robust, earthy promise that God will intervene in your circumstances to rescue you.
How will He save you? The text doesn't say, and that is part of the trial of faith. He might vindicate you publicly. He might bring your enemy to ruin. He might expose the lie that was told about you. Or, He might save you in a way you did not expect. He might save you from the bitterness that was poisoning your own soul. He might use the injustice to produce in you a deeper character, a firmer faith, and a greater compassion for others. He might deliver you not by changing your circumstances, but by changing you.
Ultimately, this proverb points us to the gospel. The ultimate act of injustice in all of history was the crucifixion of the only innocent man who ever lived. Jesus Christ was betrayed, falsely accused, mocked, and murdered. And what did He do? He did not repay evil. He did not call down twelve legions of angels. He entrusted Himself to Him who judges justly (1 Peter 2:23). He hoped in His Father, even in the darkness of the cross.
And what was the result? God saved Him. He delivered Him from the grave, raised Him from the dead, and exalted Him to the highest place, giving Him the name that is above every name. And in that great act of salvation, God provided the means to save us. He saves us from our greatest enemy, which is not the person who slandered us last week, but our own sin. He delivers us from the just penalty of our own rebellion. He rescues us from the power of death and the dominion of the devil.
Therefore, when we are wronged, we are called to follow in the footsteps of our Savior. We refuse to repay evil because He refused. We hope in God because He hoped. And we trust that God will save us, because He has already accomplished the greatest salvation imaginable through the death and resurrection of His Son. When you have been delivered from the eternal wrath of God, you are set free from the need to settle petty scores here and now. You can afford to be gracious. You can afford to forgive. You can afford to wait, because you know that your vindication is secure in Christ, and the final verdict of history has already been written in His favor.