Vengeance is The Lord's

Based 1 Samuel 24-26

"Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord." Romans 12:19

It's not easy to ignore what our enemies do to us. It's even harder to ignore the betrayal of a friend and not do anything. In both cases though, putting it all in the hands of God IS doing something! When God has His way, it's handled much better than we ever could handle it...and it's done according to God's perfect will, not our own selfish will. David practiced this and always found favor with God!

"And the men of David said unto him, Behold the day of which the Lord said unto thee, Behold, I will deliver thine enemy into thine hand, that thou mayest do to him as it shall seem good unto thee. Then David arose, and cut off the skirt of Saul's robe privily. And it came to pass afterward, that David's heart smote him, because he had cut off Saul's skirt." 1 Samuel 24:4‭-‬5

David was presented with a couple opportunities to kill Saul. Saul wasn't just the king to David, but they had a special connection. David would often play the harp to calm Saul down, and David would also win many battles for Saul. And for a long time now, Saul pursued David. This must have felt like betrayal. After all, at one point Saul became David's father-in-law! But even in this great unfair circumstance, David only cut off Saul's robe & felt guilty afterward!

"David also arose afterward, and went out of the cave, and cried after Saul, saying, My Lord the king. And when Saul looked behind him, David stooped with his face to the earth, and bowed himself." 1 Samuel 24:8

David still bowed in humility to Saul! This great actually did touch Saul's heart:

"Swear now therefore unto me by the Lord, that thou wilt not cut off my seed after me, and that thou wilt not destroy my name out of my father's house. And David sware unto Saul. And Saul went home; but David and his men gat them up unto the hold."
1 Samuel 24:21‭-‬22

David may have cut off Saul's robe, but promised he would not cut off or cause harm Saul or his family. This seems like a truce, but even after this Saul pursued David! This continued act of betrayal and anger was of course interrupted by another unfair action against David by his enemy Nabal:

"And David said unto his men, Gird ye on every man his sword. And they girded on every man his sword; and David also girded on his sword: and there went up after David about four hundred men; and two hundred abode by the stuff." 1 Samuel 25:13

Basically, David showed Nabal's sheep-shearers, but Nabal refused to help David in return. It was another instance where David could have chosen to harm, but chose not to. The complete disregard of Nabal got David pretty mad, and he chose to pursue him. But Abigail, Nabal's wife, met David on his way to attack Nabal & reminded him to trust God instead of taking matters into his own hands.

"And when Abigail saw David, she hasted, and lighted off the ass, and fell before David on her face, and bowed herself to the ground,"
1 Samuel 25:23

Abigail was an amazing example of humility like David! Her husband was not a nice man, but she still pleaded for him & protected him, like David did with Saul. This caused David to stop pursuing Nabal, and God ended up having His way with Nabal, and Abigail became David's wife!

"I pray thee, forgive the trespass of thine handmaid: for the Lord will certainly make my Lord a sure house; because my Lord fighteth the battles of the Lord, and evil hath not been found in thee all thy days." 1 Samuel 25:28

"Yet a man is risen to pursue thee, and to seek thy soul: but the soul of my Lord shall be bound in the bundle of life with the Lord thy God; and the souls of thine enemies, them shall he sling out, as out of the middle of a sling." 1 Samuel 25:29

Abigail knew God would fight David's battles! She had so much confidence in what God was going to do, and she was so humble. We need to have this same faith that God will solve our problems when we trust Him!

"And David said to Abishai, Destroy him not: for who can stretch forth his hand against the Lord's anointed, and be guiltless?"
1 Samuel 26:9

One last instance of David giving vengeance to The Lord was when Saul's spear was right next to him as he slept. Abishai said this was the moment he was waiting for, yet David again held himself back!

"Then Saul said to David, Blessed be thou, my son David: thou shalt both do great things, and also shalt still prevail. So David went on his way, and Saul returned to his place."
1 Samuel 26:25

There was finally somewhat of a peace. This outcome is so much better than bloodshed by the hand of David! God wants us to love both our friends & enemies. Let God be the Judge. Let God teach the lessons. The point will get across to them and impact them more than we ever can. You never know, there could be a special reason for that negative experience, and we could be interrupting God's plan by taking matters into our own hands!