Be not a witness against your neighbor without cause, and do not deceive with your lips. Do not say, “I will do to him as he has done to me; I will pay the man back for what he has done.”
Proverbs 24:28-29
Payback is a nasty sort of consuming evil. It isn’t good. And here in the Book of Wisdom we are cautioned that scheming for payback is not wise. It should not consume us. It is the opposite of loving our neighbor as ourselves. It can lead us down a path to practice deception and lies. It might appease our fleshly sense of self-justice, but payback is not the path of divine justice.
I’ve met some bitter folks in my time… people so consumed with the concept of payback that they even begin to scheme against God. “If God were truly just, He’d take down this so-and-so”. And as hearts are consumed with bitter visions of payback, their happiness and joy melt like snowflakes on August Kansas asphalt! The foolishness of payback robs their very lives away. And that is what this proverb hopes to prevent.
What is the opposite of scheming payback? It’s deliberate prayer: Honest prayer repenting of vengeance and bitterness… lament prayer that turns the pain of injustice and abuse over to God… faith-filled prayers to seek God’s truth in order to be delivered from bitterness and hate… hopeful prayer that God will rule in justice in His time for our good and His glory.
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