Vengeance Is Yours

When you need to remember — that You're still my Shepherd.

You can watch arrogance run wild and feel something inside you go quiet. Not silent — guarded. You stop reacting because reaction has not changed anything, and now the people doing the harm act like nobody can see them. Like the rules do not apply. What you actually want is for God to show up — visibly, audibly — and remind every loud voice that He has not gone deaf or blind to what they are doing.

This cry does not pretend to be polite. "O Lord God, to whom vengeance belongs—O God, to whom vengeance belongs—shine forth! Rise up, O Judge of the earth; render a reward to the proud." That is faith refusing to keep quiet about cruelty. Then he names the audacity that fuels arrogance: "They crush Your people, O Lord, and afflict Your heritage. They slay the widow and the stranger, and murder the fatherless. Yet they say, 'The Lord does not see, neither does the God of Jacob regard it.'" That last line is the lie underneath every untouchable abuse of power — that God is not paying attention. The response is calm, devastating logic: "He who planted the ear, shall He not hear? He who formed the eye, shall He not see? He who chastises the nations, shall He not correct? He who teaches man knowledge, shall He not know?" The God who designed perception is not blind. The God who teaches knowledge is not ignorant. He sees the lie, and He sees the harm — you do not have to make Him see, because He already does. And the cry that opens this keeps echoing: "Lord, how long shall the wicked, how long shall the wicked triumph? They utter and speak hard things; all the workers of iniquity boast themselves." He refuses to let their loudness be the final word.

• Right now, name one place where you have been carrying anger about harm no one is stopping — and pray plainly: "Rise up, O Judge of the earth." • Write this down: "Where have I been quietly believing that God does not see what is happening?" • Repeat this line when injustice feels invincible: "He who planted the ear, shall He not hear?"

Stop. Breathe. Name the lie that "He does not see" for what it is, then tell Him exactly where you need His justice to shine forth — out loud if you can.

God, vengeance belongs to You, and I am bringing You what I cannot fix and would not want to handle myself. You see what people in power are doing to the small. You hear what is whispered in rooms I cannot enter. Rise up, O Judge of the earth — render a reward to the proud, and defend those who are being crushed. Keep me from believing the lie that You have stopped paying attention. Teach me to wait for Your justice without becoming the same darkness I am praying against. You're still my Shepherd.

The God who designed eyes and ears is not blind to what is happening.