Sunday 1 January, 2017

1 Help, Lord, for no one is faithful anymore; those who are loyal have vanished from the human race. 2 Everyone lies to their neighbor; they flatter with their lips but harbor deception in their hearts. 3 May the Lord silence all flattering lips and every boastful tongue— 4 those who say, “By our tongues we will prevail; our own lips will defend us—who is lord over us?” 5 “Because the poor are plundered and the needy groan, I will now arise,” says the Lord. “I will protect them from those who malign them.” 6 And the words of the Lord are flawless, like silver purified in a crucible, like gold[c] refined seven times. 7 You, Lord, will keep the needy safe and will protect us forever from the wicked, 8 who freely strut about when what is vile is honored by the human race.

When I encounter lying and malicious people it can be very easy to take justice into my own hands. I meditate on how I will ‘correct’ the situation and fixate on justice being done. I see here a better way to respond.
By crying out to the Lord, I am involving God in the situation. His justice is perfect, and he has the strength to bring that justice about. That is a far cry from trusting myself to bring justice; I am far less likely to be able to bring justice due to my own slanted perspective and in some cases, lack of power.

“Lord, your justice is perfect, and you care deeply for those who are mistreated. I turn to you for help in this world where deception, bullying and oppression are rampant. I trust you to bring about justice in a way that is far higher than my ways!”

Written by Andrew Mellor