In my sunday school class this past sunday, we looked at Jesus words to the Pharisees and teachers of the Law in Luke 11. We were discussing what we can learn about how to live our lives genuinely from his correction to them in the passage. During class, we asked the question, "Which of the things that Jesus mentions as the offenses of the Pharisees and teachers of the Law would you most like to see cleaned out of the world?" Injustice was the answer that beat out several others including snobbery, ignorance, greed, and even persecution of the saints. Not much "burns us up" quite like injustice can. It ignites something deep within that wants to scream, just like we did when we were kids, "That's not fair!"
In our Psalms today, we see David and the other Psalmists honestly addresses their own struggles with injustice. We also see them ultimately trust God for justice in the end. In Psalm 108, David expresses his confidence in God to provide them with victory against the nations that came against them. Do we have confidence in God for whatever victory we are currently fighting for?
Psalm 109 is one of those Psalms that I read initially and think, "God is it really okay for David to be so...angry?" I mean, David basically asks God to not forgive the people who have wronged him! They call this an "imprecatory psalm"- a call for God to judge the wicked. I think they key that we need to keep in mind here, is that as angry as David was, he did not take vengeance into his own hands. He was asking God to serve justice. God is the best place to take our anger, and the one person we can trust to execute justice perfectly.
Psalm 110 is one of the most quoted Psalms in the New Testament because of it's clear references to the Messiah. In this Psalm we see the prophesied Messiah take justice into his hands and overcome the forces of evil!
Psalm 111- 118 (even though we only read to 114) are called the Hallelujah psalms- meaning they are Psalms of praise. As we read Psalms 111-114, we see the Psalmists praise God for his righteousness, faithfulness and uprightness. Furthermore in Psalm 112, it says that "good will come to him who is generous and lends freely, who conducts his affairs with justice. Surely he will never be shaken, a righteous man will be remembered forever." I think we see in this psalm that there is a lot of hope and blessing to be found on the side of justice. While it doesn't mean that we need to necessarily take justice into our own hands, but when given the option to be on the side of justice or injustice, we should choose justice every time.
In Psalm 113, we see a glimpse of God's view of justice. "He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap; he seats them with princes, with the princes of their people. He settles the barren woman in her home as a happy mother of children." In God's eyes, a person's value has nothing to do with their social standing. We need to remember that all people are valuable to God, regardless of their social standing.
And finally, in Psalm 114, we see that even the earth itself is subject to God's command and judgement. We should all tremble before the power and might of God! As Psalm 112 says,
"Blessed is the man who fears the Lord...He will have no fear of bad news; his heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord. His heart is secure, he will have no fear; in the end he will look in triumph on his foes."
There is security is trusting God with justice, and knowing we are on His side!
Injustice. It sparks sibling rivalry, national debt, and international war. To be mistreated or unfairly judged or falsely accused is among my greatest dreads. To me, there's nothing more painful. But, I would be in good company with my Lord and Savior! Philippians says, "I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings..." I would have to agree with your SS class, though, Natalie. It infuriates me, too.
ReplyDeleteTrusting that He will right all wrongs....
I hope you don't mind me injecting a little humor in today's post. I heard this once before but as it came up last night, I thought how interesting that it involved what we was reading.
ReplyDeleteThis bumper sticker had on it, "Obama Psalm109:8"
The scripture reads, Let his days be few; and let another take his office."
Now that I got that out of the way,(I just had to do it) I was thinking how people are crying out because of injustice. You know the case that I am referring to. A little girl's life snuffed out before she really had a chance to live. All signs point to her mother killing her. There are those who are crying out about the injustice of it; that she got away with murder. Of course, on the other side, they say it shows how justice works because there wasn't enough evidence to convict her. What I say to people is this; God knows what truly happened and if people think they got away with something, they didn't. God will see that justice is served. I would much rather face the wrath of man than the wrath of God, wouldn't you? When bad things happen, we need to give it to God.
I know I have said this SO MANY times before in our blog, but NOTHING goes unseen by our Lord! All of these injustices will be brought to justice some day by the Lord and ALL will be brought into the light and dealt with! There is something VERY comforting and peace giving about that fact! As always, a fantastic post Natalie!!!
ReplyDeleteWhen injustices have been done to me or my family I just know there is comfort knowing EVERYTHING and all injustices will be judged by God. He knows all things, all hurts, all wrongs, all pains and things that are just down-right wrong. I hold comfort in knowing human decisions (whether right or wrong) will be judged by the one true God. Boots, thank you for pointing out that we need to give it to God.
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