Stay with me for a moment… because at some point in life, we have all felt the urge to “make someone pay” for what they did to us.
We may not say it out loud. We may hide it behind a calm face. But when someone hurts us, betrays us, lies about us, or treats us unfairly, something inside us rises. And it’s not always forgiveness.
Psalm 35 shows us something deeply human. David — the same man who defeated giants — does not sound strong here. He sounds overwhelmed. He feels attacked without cause. He feels misunderstood. He sounds anxious, frustrated, almost desperate.
And instead of pretending he is fine, he does something many of us struggle to do: he brings his raw emotions directly to God.
“Contend, Lord, with those who contend with me.”
That is not a polished prayer. It is a cry.
David does not hide his anger. He does not deny his fear. He does not suppress his pain. But here is the key: he does not act on revenge. He prays it.
He does not pick up a sword. He lifts up a prayer.
That changes everything.
Because when we are deeply hurt, our natural instinct is to react. To defend ourselves. To respond with the same intensity that wounded us. We want immediate justice. We want balance. We want them to feel what we felt.
But David teaches us something powerful: it is better to pour your anger into God’s presence than to pour it out onto people.
There is something striking in this Psalm. At one point, David essentially says, “Awake, Lord.” That almost sounds irreverent. But it is not disrespect. It is intimacy.
You only speak that way to someone you truly trust.
Many believers today pray cautiously. Carefully. Politely. Afraid of saying something “wrong.” So we use correct words, but we hide our real feelings.
David hides nothing.
He shows us that you can bring your stress, your anxiety, your frustration, your confusion, even your desire for justice, directly to God. He is not offended by honesty. He welcomes it.
What destroys us is not feeling anger. What destroys us is letting that anger turn into revenge.
Revenge may feel satisfying for a moment, but it always leaves bitterness behind. It steals peace. It steals sleep. It steals the presence of God in our hearts.
Intense prayer, on the other hand, purifies. It empties the poison before it spreads.
What is powerful about Psalm 35 is how it ends. David begins in distress, but he finishes speaking about God’s justice and praising Him. Not because the situation instantly changed — but because his heart shifted.
He took his pain to the right place.
Today we live in a culture that teaches us to respond immediately. Comment for comment. Attack for attack. If someone hurts you, you hurt back. “Don’t let anyone walk over you.”
But the Kingdom of God operates differently.
It is not about staying silent in the face of injustice. It is about refusing to become what hurt you.
There will be moments when you feel overwhelmed. Angry. Betrayed. Afraid. That does not mean you lack faith. It means you are human.
The real question is not what you feel. The real question is where you take it.
If you take it to pride, it becomes revenge.
If you take it to God, it becomes prayer.
And prayer can do what revenge never will — it transforms your heart while God handles justice.
Maybe today you are carrying resentment quietly. Maybe someone has spoken against you. Maybe you feel misunderstood. Maybe you feel attacked without reason.
Do not make decisions from your wound.
Do what David did.
Pray intensely.
Tell God exactly how you feel. Without filters. Without pretending. He is not intimidated by your emotions. He is near to the brokenhearted.
Because in the end, it is better to cry in His presence than to stain your hands with revenge.
Let me leave you with this thought: true strength is not in striking back — it is in trusting that God fights for you.
I invite you to join me in this prayer:
Lord, You know my heart and the wounds I carry. Sometimes I want to react. I want to defend myself. I want to answer with the same force that hurt me. But today I choose to bring it all to You. Clean my heart from resentment. Remove bitterness from my spirit. Teach me to trust Your justice. I would rather pour out my frustration before You than harm someone in my pain. Fight for me, while I rest in Your presence. Amen.
In Somos Cristianos, we connect hearts with Christ.
