Daily DevotionalAugust 25, 2025

Daily Devotional | Tables Turn

Lamentations 4:21–22

According to an old saying, “Revenge is a dish that is best served cold.” It means that revenge is most satisfying when it is delayed. However, Scripture offers a different perspective when it warns us not to take revenge but to “leave room for God’s wrath” (Rom. 12:19).

The Scriptures speak so often about vengeance that we shouldn’t be surprised to find that Jeremiah concludes this fourth poem with a warning to Edom that the tables will eventually turn. The people of Edom, the descendants of Esau, had long been the enemies of Judah. Their animosity dated to the time of Jacob, and they had a history of rejoicing in Judah’s troubles. After Jerusalem’s fall, Nebuchadnezzar gave Edom land that had previously belonged to Judah, apparently as a reward for refusing to join their coalition with Egypt against him.

Judah’s loss may have been Edom’s gain, but not for long. Edom might celebrate now, Jeremiah warns, “But to you also the cup will be passed; you will be drunk and stripped naked” (v. 21). Some may be troubled by Jeremiah’s words, which sound to the modern ear like nationalism at best and ethnic prejudice at worst. Yet the fact that the descendants of Esau are addressed as “Daughter,” just as Jerusalem is, indicates something else. The people of Edom also traced their lineage back to Abraham. They were the fruit of God’s promise to make that patriarch a “father of many nations” (Gen. 17:4–5; Rom. 4:18). Their long-standing hostility toward the descendants of Jacob was ultimately a hostility directed at the God to whom they owed their existence. With this reminder of divine justice, Jeremiah ends this fourth song on an upbeat note. The just God who had cast Daughter Zion out of the land He had promised to give her would turn the tables again. Exile would not be permanent.

Go Deeper

Can you trust God enough to leave the payback to Him? Why or why not? How can you trust Him more?

Pray with Us

Today’s passage from Lamentations 4 echoes Paul’s exhortation: “Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay,’ says the Lord” (Rom. 12:19). Amen.

Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath.Romans 12:19

About the Author

John Koessler

Dr. John Koessler is Professor Emeritus of Applied Theology and Church Ministries at Moody Bible Institute. John authors the "Practical Theology" column for Today in the Word of which he is also a contributing writer and theological editor.

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