Real Justice
Opening Prayer
Thank God for where you live: your home, your town or city, your nation. Ask for his blessing on it.
Read PSALM 58:1-11
[1] For the director of music. To the tune of “Do Not Destroy.” Of David. A miktam. Do you rulers indeed speak justly? Do you judge uprightly among men? [2] No, in your heart you devise injustice, and your hands mete out violence on the earth. [3] Even from birth the wicked go astray; from the womb they are wayward and speak lies. [4] Their venom is like the venom of a snake, like that of a cobra that has stopped its ears, [5] that will not heed the tune of the charmer, however skillful the enchanter may be. [6] Break the teeth in their mouths, O God; tear out, O LORD, the fangs of the lions! [7] Let them vanish like water that flows away; when they draw the bow, let their arrows be blunted. [8] Like a slug melting away as it moves along, like a stillborn child, may they not see the sun. [9] Before your pots can feel the heat of the thorns- whether they be green or dry-the wicked will be swept away. [10] The righteous will be glad when they are avenged, when they bathe their feet in the blood of the wicked. [11] Then men will say, “Surely the righteous still are rewarded; surely there is a God who judges the earth.” Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. All rights reserved throughout the world. Used by permission of International Bible Society.
Reflect
What is the final result hoped for by the psalmist?In a week when we’ve considered a proper response to the government and other authorities over us, perhaps today’s reading raised a smile! It seems that David is calling down all kinds of woe on powerful people he judges to be ruling unjustly. Put these two passages together and it’s no wonder that teachers down the ages have tried to sidestep this psalm.
Psalm 58 is brutal, both in language and in intent. So how should we read it? I think we should read this psalm as a lament—crying out to God, not against the individuals who he has put in authority over us, but against the tendency to corruption by those in authority. We should not be resigned to bad leadership and poor government; we should use every platform available to us to speak truth—graciously—to power. Most of all, we should pray and we should cry out to God for change.
Those of us in relatively peaceful and well-governed societies should furthermore plead with God for those nations where injustice and corruption are rampant, and pray that he intercedes on behalf of the persecuted church around the world.
Apply
Is your response to injustice worldwide all it should be? If not, what needs to change? Talk to God about it.
Closing prayer
Lord, give me a greater heart for justice in the world. Show me what I can do to promote it.
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