Psalm 58
1 Do you indeed decree what is right, you gods? Do you judge the children of man uprightly?
2 No, in your hearts you devise wrongs; your hands deal out violence on earth.
3 The wicked are estranged from the womb; they go astray from birth, speaking lies.
4 They have venom like the venom of a serpent, like the deaf adder that stops its ear,
5 so that it does not hear the voice of charmers or of the cunning enchanter.
6 O God, break the teeth in their mouths; tear out the fangs of the young lions, O LORD!
7 Let them vanish like water that runs away; when he aims his arrows, let them be blunted.
8 Let them be like the snail that dissolves into slime, like the stillborn child who never sees the sun.
9 Sooner than your pots can feel the heat of thorns, whether green or ablaze, may he sweep them away!
10 The righteous will rejoice when he sees the vengeance; he will bathe his feet in the blood of the wicked.
11 Mankind will say, "Surely there is a reward for the righteous; surely there is a God who judges on earth."
- Psalms 58
Justice. It's central to God's character. It's as much of who he is as mercy is. He is perfectly just.
With the events of the last week, many feel like there is no justice. How could there still be such racism? How could there still be such hate in this world? How could God allow this to happen? At the end of the day, it's the last question that really digs deep into our hurt.
God has placed civil authorities in leadership to provide justice. When David is writing this, there was a justice problem. The authorities weren't doing what they were obligated to do, so evil was able to flourish.
I've struggled a lot with knowing what to do in times when social media is exploding because of social justice issues. I truly hurt with those who are hurting, and desire justice for any actual oppressors. This is something that is the heart of God. Loving the hurting, and justice for wrong. But what you do with that feeling is the question? I think we are shown in this passage.
Do something. Injustice is fueled when people in authority fail to act. Now you may not be in a position of authority, but you can pray. Praying against injustice shows solidarity with the heart of God because God loves justice.
It was justice that drove God to send Jesus to the cross. Yes it was love for us, but a price needed to be paid for the sin we all commit. So God's just anger had to be satisfied, and it was on the cross. He loves justice.
If you feel like you're being treated unfairly, or there are unfair things in this world, and you don't know what to do, pray. Take a page from David here. Pray. Don't pray for evil to happen, but for justice and peace. David prays for things that seem aggressive towards the pursuers of evil: break the fangs, vanish them, dissolve like snail slime, never born. But if you notice, all of those are prayers of failure for those doing evil. Prayers for God to undo the evil. Not prayers for harm.
This is how we pray in those situations. We don't pray for God to kill all the KKK, we pray for Him to undo the evil in their hearts. That goes for anything that seems unjust.
Praying for our country and our church today.
Charlie
2 No, in your hearts you devise wrongs; your hands deal out violence on earth.
3 The wicked are estranged from the womb; they go astray from birth, speaking lies.
4 They have venom like the venom of a serpent, like the deaf adder that stops its ear,
5 so that it does not hear the voice of charmers or of the cunning enchanter.
6 O God, break the teeth in their mouths; tear out the fangs of the young lions, O LORD!
7 Let them vanish like water that runs away; when he aims his arrows, let them be blunted.
8 Let them be like the snail that dissolves into slime, like the stillborn child who never sees the sun.
9 Sooner than your pots can feel the heat of thorns, whether green or ablaze, may he sweep them away!
10 The righteous will rejoice when he sees the vengeance; he will bathe his feet in the blood of the wicked.
11 Mankind will say, "Surely there is a reward for the righteous; surely there is a God who judges on earth."
- Psalms 58
Justice. It's central to God's character. It's as much of who he is as mercy is. He is perfectly just.
With the events of the last week, many feel like there is no justice. How could there still be such racism? How could there still be such hate in this world? How could God allow this to happen? At the end of the day, it's the last question that really digs deep into our hurt.
God has placed civil authorities in leadership to provide justice. When David is writing this, there was a justice problem. The authorities weren't doing what they were obligated to do, so evil was able to flourish.
I've struggled a lot with knowing what to do in times when social media is exploding because of social justice issues. I truly hurt with those who are hurting, and desire justice for any actual oppressors. This is something that is the heart of God. Loving the hurting, and justice for wrong. But what you do with that feeling is the question? I think we are shown in this passage.
Do something. Injustice is fueled when people in authority fail to act. Now you may not be in a position of authority, but you can pray. Praying against injustice shows solidarity with the heart of God because God loves justice.
It was justice that drove God to send Jesus to the cross. Yes it was love for us, but a price needed to be paid for the sin we all commit. So God's just anger had to be satisfied, and it was on the cross. He loves justice.
If you feel like you're being treated unfairly, or there are unfair things in this world, and you don't know what to do, pray. Take a page from David here. Pray. Don't pray for evil to happen, but for justice and peace. David prays for things that seem aggressive towards the pursuers of evil: break the fangs, vanish them, dissolve like snail slime, never born. But if you notice, all of those are prayers of failure for those doing evil. Prayers for God to undo the evil. Not prayers for harm.
This is how we pray in those situations. We don't pray for God to kill all the KKK, we pray for Him to undo the evil in their hearts. That goes for anything that seems unjust.
Praying for our country and our church today.
Charlie
Comments
Post a Comment