Let me witness the vengeance you take on them for to you I have entrusted my cause. What does it mean to call God one’s avenger as the prophets often did or as St. Paul encourages us to do (cf. Romans 12:19)? Does it mean asking God to exert revenge on one’s behalf? While such would be the meaning that the phrase immediately conjures in our minds, I believe that God as an avenger denotes something totally different. The prophets were messengers of God. And even though there was nothing personal in the messages they were sent to communicate, the prophets often found themselves denounced as messengers of doom and haters of their community. More often than not, because of such misunderstanding, the prophets’ lives were always in danger. Persecution from all corners notwithstanding, the prophets stood firm in their call because they believed that their lives were in the hands of God. Moreover, they believed that as long as their task was not complete, no harm would come their way. And if, as it always did, harm did come their way, they were not to take it personal. They were to see it was part of their call. What emboldened them was the knowledge that God would vindicate them (cf. Psalm 35). It was in this vindication that their revenge was constituted.
The prophets prayed that the Lord revenge their persecution, not necessarily by inflicting harm on those who persecuted them, but by bringing to fulfillment their proclamations. The coming true of some of the prophecies was no thrill for the prophets, for in most instances, it meant some form of calamity befalling the people (the prophet’s own community). However, when the prophecies were fulfilled, the prophets were relieved to know that they were not on the wrong, and that even if the community as a whole was not on their side, at least they had the truth on their side.