Tag: injustice

Categories
Psalms Devotionals 2

Hoping in our righteous Judge

Sunrise

…you have ordained a judgment. (Psalm 7:6)

Those words resonated with me this morning.

There is so much evil and injustice in the world that it’s easy to get angry just reading the news.

But God reminded me again: he isn’t ignoring it all.

He has ordained a judgment.

And on that day, he will judge all righteously.

He knows not only people’s actions, but searches their hearts and minds. And if they refuse to repent, they will eventually face his justice.

So even as I read the news today, I choose to set aside my anger and sing with David.

I will thank the Lord for his righteousness;
I will sing about the name of the Lord Most High. (Psalm 17:7)

Categories
Luke Devotionals

Our message

Luke

I ended last week by talking about the real problem in society and the only true solution.

The real problem in society is not systemic racism or injustice, but sin in the hearts of individuals.

Unless you deal with the sin in the hearts of individuals, all the reform of the world’s systems will not make any substantial change.

And so our message needs to be the message Jesus gave.

The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.

He has sent me
to proclaim release to the captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to set free the oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. (Luke 4:18-19)

Jesus then said,

Today as you listen, this Scripture has been fulfilled. (21)

What kind of good news was Jesus preaching?

What kind of release was he proclaiming? What kind of sight was he restoring? What kind of oppression was he dealing with? In what way was he proclaiming the Lord’s favor?

Was he talking about all the problems we see in society?

No. Jesus dealt with none of the societal problems of his day when it came to the oppression the Jews were facing from the Romans during his three-year ministry. Neither did the apostles after they took over his ministry.

Instead, he was talking about release for the spiritual prisoners, restoration of their spiritual sight (although he did restore physical sight too), and freedom from their spiritual oppression.

When he talked about God’s favor, he meant God showering down his grace upon us so that our sins may be forgiven and that we might receive new life, a life restored from the brokenness of sin.

That’s the message of hope we proclaim.

Am I saying then that we just let our society fall apart around us? That we don’t care when we see injustice around us?

No. Get involved in your community. Get involved in politics. At the very least, vote. Let your voice be heard.

But never forget your primary mission: to proclaim his gospel.

If any other message is exchanged for it, no matter how good the cause, we will eventually lose sight of our true mission.

What message are you proclaiming?

Categories
Matthew Matthew 5

Sermon on the Mount: Hungering and thirsting for righteousness

Matthew

I suppose as you look at this passage, you can read it two ways, both equally valid in my mind.

First, Jesus could be talking about having a hunger for holiness in your life. To want to live a life that’s pure and pleasing to God out of your love for him.

Yet so often we struggle. Paul talked about that struggle in Romans 7. Yet in that struggle, we see his desire for righteousness in his life.

In short, he says, “I want to do what’s right, but somehow I can’t. I just keep falling time and again. What a total mess I am!”

I know I feel the same way. I desire holiness and purity, and yet so often I fall. And it’s easy to become discouraged. To just throw in the towel and say, “Forget it. Why keep fighting? I’m just going to fall anyway.”

But Jesus encourages us here to not give up. To keep on hungering and thirsting for righteousness. Because the day will come when those desires will be fulfilled.

Ultimately that will happen in heaven. But even here on earth, God is continuing to work in us, “to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.” (Philippians 2:13)

And until that day when perfection comes, the grace of God reigns. For as Paul writes in those passages in Romans,

But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 5:20-21)

Because of this,

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. (Romans 8:1)

But I think there’s another sense in which our hunger and thirst for righteousness will be filled.

So often we look at the world around us, and we see all the injustice and sin that is so prevalent.

We see the failings of the court systems. The laws that are being passed by politicians that are contrary to the word of God. The way moral values are changing so that what was once considered detestable and wrong are considered right.

And we wonder, “When will righteousness and justice come to our land again? Are we beyond hope?”

To be honest, I don’t think things will get better. Paul gives a pretty bleak picture of what the last days will be like. (II Timothy 3:1-5). And I do believe we are in those last days.

I personally put no hope in the politicians, the justice system, or anything else we have set up in order to make things right.

Yet I have hope. Why? Because the day will come when every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord. (Philippians 2:10-11).

So I refuse to despair at all the evil I see. Justice and righteousness will come. Our hunger and thirst for these things will be satisfied.

So until that day, I will wait and hope, not on the things of this world or the governments and institutions people have set up, but on God.

May we never lose our hunger and thirst for righteousness in our lives or in the world around us. For Jesus promises that we will be satisfied.

Categories
Proverbs

Though we live in the midst of evil

It used to be that you could call the United States a Christian country. But though there are many people that still claim to believe in God and even claim to be Christians, I doubt you could say that anymore. We really haven’t been able to say that for some time.

It does seem, however, that things are even worse than ever.

Solomon lived in a time when things were much better. But he could look at other countries and see the evil that was there.

He talks about anarchist societies (28:2), and societies ruled by tyrannical rulers who do evil and care nothing for justice nor for their people (28:3, 12, 15–16, 28; 29:2, 4, 12).

The States and Japan are not quite as bad as other countries in that sense, but we do see people in government who are more interested in their positions than in serving the people.

And we see lawmakers taking our society off moral cliffs that we’ve never been over before. (Though more so in the United States. Japan is still fairly conservative in a lot of ways.)

But Solomon also talks about the evil within society itself. Of those who have rejected God’s laws and praise those who do the same (Proverbs 28:5).

Of those who, because they have rejected God’s law, are now a law unto themselves, and as a result have become morally corrupt (5).

And of those who will rise up against those who are righteous (Proverbs 29:10).

How do we live in that kind of society? Solomon tells us:

Stay the course. Keep following after God.

Solomon writes,

Blessed is the man who fears the Lord,
but he who hardens his heart falls into trouble. (Proverbs 28:14)

It’s easy to become callous when surrounded by the evil that we see. To have our love grow cold, as Jesus once put it (Matthew 24:12). Love for God, and love for others.

But don’t let that happen. Keep on fearing the Lord, with a heart that’s softened toward him.

For as Solomon also writes,

If anyone turns a deaf ear to the law,
even his prayers are detestable. (Proverbs 28:9)

And again,

He whose walk is blameless is kept safe,
but he whose ways are perverse will suddenly fall. (28:18)

So continue to resist what is evil (28:4), continue to work hard (28:19), continue to be faithful in all you do (28:20), and continue to be generous to those around you (28:27).

When you fall, be quick to repent (28:13).

And teach your children to do the same (29:15, 29:17).

Though everyone else casts off restraint, hold on to the ways of God (29:18).

And most of all, continue to trust God.

Solomon writes,

He who trusts in himself is a fool,
but he who walks in wisdom is kept safe. (Proverbs 28:26)

And again,

Fear of man will prove to be a snare,
but whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe. (Proverbs 29:25)

As God once commanded Jeremiah, so he commands us.

“Let this people turn to you, but you must not turn to them.

I will make you a wall to this people, a fortified wall of bronze; they will fight against you but will not overcome you, for I am with you to rescue and save you,” declares the Lord. (Jeremiah 15:19–20)

How about you? Are you becoming like those around you?

Or are you being a light in the midst of all the evil in which we live?

Categories
Psalms

When the judges will be judged

Psalms

I think a lot of us get frustrated by the injustices we see in our courts. People we know are guilty get set free, and the people they hurt are left even more wounded.

It’s not a new problem. It was happening back in Bible times as well. And God here pronounces judgment against them.

Just a brief note. It’s very clear from the context that when it says he presides among the gods, that it’s used in a very ironic tone. He calls these judges “gods” because they had the power and authority to pass judgment as God does.

It by no means can be interpreted (as the Mormons would claim) that men can become gods. Note in verse 6, that it says to them, “You are gods” not “You will be gods.” Even Mormons will not claim they are gods now.

Moreover, in the very next verse, he says, “I said you are gods, but you will die like mere men,” because they were mere men, and corrupt ones at that.

Why was God bringing judgment upon them?

The answer is found in verses 2–4.

“How long will you defend the unjust
and show partiality to the wicked?

Defend the weak and the fatherless;
uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed.

Rescue the weak and the needy;
deliver them from the hand of the wicked.” (Psalm 82:2–4)

He then says of them,

The ‘gods’ know nothing, they understand nothing.
They walk about in darkness. (5)

The psalmist concludes by singing,

Rise up, O God, judge the earth,
for all the nations are your inheritance. (8)

So let us not get discouraged when we see the injustice that’s in the world.

The time will come when the wicked, and the judges that set them free will be called to account. Though they may be unjust, God is not.

And he will bring judgment on the last day.

Categories
Psalms

No escape

Psalms

One of my all-time favorite shows is “Columbo.” They often show it on “Mystery Channel” here in Japan.

In it, the criminals always think they have devised the perfect crime, only to see it come unraveled thread by thread in the hands of Columbo.

That’s what I think about when I read Psalm 64. David wrote of the wicked,

They sharpen their tongues like swords
and aim their words like deadly arrows.

They shoot from ambush at the innocent man;
they shoot at him suddenly, without fear.

They encourage each other in evil plans,
they talk about hiding their snares;
they say, “Who will see them?”

They plot injustice and say,
“We have devised a perfect plan!”

Surely the mind and heart of man are cunning. (Psalm 64:3–6)

But as with Columbo, God quickly unravels their plots and turns them against themselves.

But God will shoot them with arrows;
suddenly they will be struck down.

He will turn their own tongues against them
and bring them to ruin;
all who see them will shake their heads in scorn.

All mankind will fear;
they will proclaim the works of God
and ponder what he has done. (7–9)

Haman found this out in the book of Esther as his “perfect plan” to destroy the Jews came crashing down upon his own head.

But sometimes justice comes longer than we’d like. We see criminals get set free in our court systems and wonder where God is in all of this. What’s he doing about this?

But let us remember that God will never let slip what has happened. And he will bring about justice whether it’s in this life or in the next.

So don’t fret when you see all the injustice in the world. Though the justice of mankind may fail, God’s never will. So as David said,

Let the righteous rejoice in the LORD
and take refuge in him;
let all the upright in heart praise him! (10)

Categories
Psalms

When we see injustice

Psalms

One thing that I think frustrates us all is to see a person that we know is guilty be set free by a judge.

Perhaps the police or prosecutors mishandled the case, or perhaps the judges or juries themselves were corrupted. And we cry out at the injustice.

This is nothing new. For even David, in this psalm, cries out against the same thing. He wrote,

Do you rulers indeed speak justly?
Do you judge uprightly among men?

No, in your heart you devise injustice,
and your hands mete out violence on the earth. (Psalm 58:1–2)

Why are things this way?

For one, all are born sinners. From the time we are born, we are pulled astray by our own sinful desires. (3)

What’s more, though God has told us what is right, we close our ears to him (4–5).

And so David cries out for God’s judgment against them.

But as with David, we can take comfort that that day will indeed come. God will come and the wicked will be swept away. On that day,

Men will say, “Surely the righteous still are rewarded;
surely there is a God who judges the earth.” (11)

Is it hard to wait? Yes. Is injustice frustrating to deal with? Certainly.

But let us not give up hope. And as David wrote in another psalm,

Do not fret because of evil men
or be envious of those who do wrong;
for like the grass they will soon wither,
like green plants they will soon die away. (Psalm 37:1–2)

Rather, let us continue to trust in God and do good, delight ourselves in him, and commit each and every day to him. (Psalm 37:3–5)

And even in these evil times, we will see his work in our lives and in the world around us.