Tag: Justice

Digging in Deeper: Habakkuk

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“O Lord, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not hear?  Or cry to you ‘Violence!’ and you will not save?  Why do you make me see iniquity, and why do you idly look at wrong?  Destruction and violence are before me; strife and contention arise.  So the law is paralyzed, and justice never goes forth.  For the wicked surround the righteous; so justice goes forth perverted.”  (ESV – Read the book)

This will be a longer comment, but it’s going to cover the whole book.  Habakkuk is one of my favorite books in the Bible (and not just because it’s really fun to say!).  It is definitely my favorite among the minor prophets.  I am drawn to it because it asks a question that people still ask today, and offers an answer that while not immediately satisfying (in fact, initially, it is deeply unsatisfying), after some reflection leads us into a greater peace and faith than we had before. Read the rest…

Digging in Deeper: Proverbs 24:29

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“Do not say, ‘I will do to him as he has done to me; I will pay the man back for what he has done.'”  (ESV)

Do you want to know what one of the most natural expressions to come out of the mouths of humans is?  The very one the writer of this proverb tells us not to say.  This declaration of human justice is totally natural.  It does not need to be taught at all.  And, it begins to manifest itself from a pretty young age. Read the rest…

Morning Musings: Jeremiah 22:3

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“Thus says the Lord: Do justice and righteousness, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor him who has been robbed.  And do no wrong or violence to the resident alien, the fatherless, and the widow, nor shed innocent blood in this place.”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

Over and over again in the prophets we see that God’s chief concern for the people was not that they got religion right, but that they got justice right.  He complained about their offerings and sacrifices not because they weren’t done strictly according to the guidelines set out in the law, but because they pursued them without the accompanying set of behaviors (namely, a generous pursuit of justice for the least, last, and lost in their midst). Read the rest…

Morning Musings: Isaiah 1:16-17

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“Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause.”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

This is a powerful call to righteousness and justice in its own right, but its context makes it even more powerful.  Take a minute to read again what comes just before this.  God essentially tells the people to stop worshiping Him.  Well, not exactly that, but close enough as far as they were concerned.

For the people of Israel, the worship of God was found in the rituals.  Having rituals be a part of our worship isn’t a bad thing.  In fact, where those rituals help focus our hearts and minds on the God to whom we are directing our attention they can be a very good thing.  But, it is easy to begin thinking that the rituals are valuable in and of themselves.  As a point of fact, they’re not. Read the rest…

Morning Musings: Proverbs 20:22

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“Do not say, ‘I will repay evil’; wait for the Lord, and he will deliver you.”  (ESV)

When we have been affronted by some evil, or when we see someone else who has been affected by it, our natural response is to want to repay it.

Throughout the whole of human history, our natural response has been to repay in kind when we have been dealt an offense.  And this is right, isn’t it?  If something is wrong, we need to act to set it right.  For someone who doesn’t believe in a just god, this is obviously necessary, because who else is going to do it?  But even for those who believe in a God who is perfect in justice this should be something that is good and right, yes?  After all, this would be our participating in His character of justice.   Read the rest…