The righteous shall rejoice when he sees the vengeance; he shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked, so that men will say, “Surely there is a reward for the righteous; surely He is God who judges in the earth.” (Psalm 58:10-11)
There is a belief revealed within rabbinic literature that there are people who are delivered from danger, not because of their own virtue, but because of someone more righteousness than they. One such person that comes to mind is Lot, the nephew of Abraham. Of his own accord, he settled among some of the most wicked people of his time and, consequently, lost most of his family when God overturned Sodom and Gomorrah. The Bible suggests that Lot’s salvation was due to Abraham’s intervention, as it is written: “And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when He overthrew the cities in which Lot had dwelt” (Genesis 19:29).
The point is, when someone such as Lot is delivered, he doesn’t necessarily witness the destruction of his enemies. On the other hand, the rabbinical commentators believe that when God allows someone to witness the downfall of his adversaries, it is because God considers that person to be a truly righteous person. Therefore when it says, “The righteous shall rejoice when he sees the vengeance,” it is not to suggest he gloats over the suffering of his enemy but rejoices at the sign that God has deemed him to be righteous. The same principle applies to the following verse regarding the blood of the wicked. The statement isn’t to imply that God’s people participate in some gruesome ritual but rather, in seeing the consequences of wickedness, God’s people are inspired to avoid the thoughts and deeds that result in such a pathetic ending.
The Bible clearly states that God, the Judge of the whole earth, takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked, and that being so, the same should be said of His people. We shouldn’t be giddy at the prospect of someone’s destruction but should realize “There but for the grace of God go I.” At the same time, to witness God’s justice — for He alone is Just — and see an end to what has afflicted and oppressed us, how can we not be joyous? If the rabbinical understanding of these verses is accurate, who wouldn’t be overjoyed to know that, by allowing us to witness the overthrow of evil, the Creator of the Universe has moved on our behalf and provided a sign to us that we are His? But like Lot, our deliverance comes not because of our own righteousness, but because of One who is more righteous than we — the Messiah. When all is said and done, those who are granted the privilege to stand before God will give glory to the Son because He is the reason we have been delivered.
Blessings and Shalom,
Bill
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