Psalm 135:13-14 – Your name, O Lord, endures forever,
your renown, O Lord, throughout all ages.
For the Lord will vindicate his people,
and have compassion on his servants.
1 obsolete : to set free : deliver
2: avenge
3 a : to free from allegation or blame
4: to maintain a right to
To set free : deliver
The Lord sets the prisoners free (Psalm 146:8a).
As humans we are all in chains to sin, but God didn’t want that to be our future, so He sent Jesus to set us free from our prison of sin. We no longer have to be slaves to the things that have entrapped us in the past. We are free to be His and freed to be used by Him for His glory. In the short-term (the here and now) He can help us with the addictions we face, with the tumultuous relationships, with the fear of failure and all the other struggles we face as humans. When we die, we will also be set free from death and be able to take part in the promise we’ve been given of eternal life with God in heaven. God has set us free from the bondage of sin so we might enjoy freedom here on earth and eternal freedom with Him for eternity.
Avenge
Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God; for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” Romans 12:19
God has your back. You don’t need to get back at those who have done you wrong. I’m sure we all have some people we know have wronged us. Truth is the devil often likes to use the frustration we feel from those relationships and wants to use them to distract us from focusing on the Lord. Instead, if we continue to focus on the Lord and not try to avenge the wrongs done to us, we will be able to find peace in the Lord. We can also rest assured that they’ll get what’s coming to them. The Lord will repay. He’s got your back and He has mine too.
To free from allegation or blame
Let it be known to you therefore, my brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you; by this Jesus everyone who believes is set free from all those sins from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses.Acts 13:38-39
When we compare our lives to the law of Moses, it becomes clear quickly that we are sinners. That we fall short of what God called us to do in the old testament. We who were not able to justify ourselves by our own actions have been set free by Jesus. He has given us forgiveness of sins through His sacrifice of His life on the cross and His resurrection three days later. He took the sins on Himself, making us righteous even though we didn’t deserve it. It reminds me of Jesus’ prayer on the cross – “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” I think when I sin, it’s like He said that prayer not only for the soldiers who were casting lots, but also for me and all my sins.
Confirm, substantiate
I think this is part of why I love looking up words that are used in scripture. Not only is God freeing us from blame and avenging wrongs, He is vindicating us through His actions. Through miracles in days of old, through testimonies in scripture and those we hear now and through our personal relationships with Christ, God confirms and substantiates our faith in Him. What we believe will all be proven true on the last day. We will be vindicated on the day that these scriptures Philippians 2:9-11) are fulfilled:
Therefore God also highly exalted him
and gave him the name
that is above every name,
so that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bend,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue should confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
To provide justification or defense for
Galatians 3:6-9 – Just as Abraham “believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness,” so, you see, those who believe are the descendants of Abraham. And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, declared the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “All the Gentiles shall be blessed in you.” For this reason, those who believe are blessed with Abraham who believed.
God has provided the justification we needed by giving us faith in Him. We who believe in Him are no longer slaves to sins, but have been given a clean slate because of the faith worked in us by the Holy Spirit.
To protect from attack or encroachment
In the Old Testament, there were many attacks on the people of God. When they put their faith in God, they were never disappointed. We too can trust in God to protect us from the attacks the devil wages on us (often through those we expected to be able to trust). God has our back and will vindicate us. Keep your focus on Him that you might not lose site of all the Lord is doing for you each day.
To maintain a right to
See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 1 John 3:1
Because of the love the father has given us we are able to maintain a right to call ourselves children of God. We are His children and we have an inheritance waiting for us in heaven. We have a right to it, not because of what we have done, but because of the righteousness of the one who sacrificed that we might live, Jesus Christ.
Do you want vindication?
God is... 