By Dick Blackford
“I don’t get mad, I get even.” Who hasn’t seen that bumper sticker? It reflects the thinking of many people. There is a tendency to wish bad fortune on those who mistreat us. I am reminded of an old Irish prayer that says:
“May those who love us, love us.
And those who don’t love us, may
the Lord turn their hearts. And if
he doesn’t turn their hearts may
he turn their ankles, that we may
know them by their limping.”
Funny, but not God’s way. “Vengeance belongs to me, I will repay, saith the Lord” (Rom.12:19). God settles some accounts at the judgment — others in life. He ordained government to settle those in life.
Concerning rulers he says, “Be subject to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake: whether to the king, as supreme; or unto governors, as sent by him for vengeance on evil doers and for praise to them that do well” (1 Pet. 2:13).