In Psalm 44 we read the prayer of innocent sufferers. They had not forgotten God with their minds, they had not turned from God with their hearts, they had not departed from God’s ways with their feet, they had not petitioned other gods with their lifted hands, and they had been true to God and his covenant with them (Ps. 44:17-22). Nevertheless, these innocents suffer physical opposition and defeat, looting by enemies and taunting by neighbors, and even find themselves being sold as if property and being exiled far from home (Ps. 44:9-16). The psalm ends with a cry to God for justice, trusting that God will hear, care, and respond by establishing justice for the oppressed (Ps. 44:23-26).
Father God, you are the God of justice. Every cry for justice rises to your compassionate ears. We love the stories of Scripture that remind us of your compassionate care, from the smallest scales to the largest scales. In Genesis we read of an innocent mother and child exiled to the desert. She begins to lose hope and despair of life all together, and then you show up and provide for her and her child. In Exodus we read of a race of people enslaved and mistreated by another, and how you hear the cries of the oppressed people, come to their aid, and deliver them from slavery. We love these stories because they give us hope, O Lord, that your compassion and justice might make a difference in our lives as well, and in the world we live in right now.
So we join the psalmist in his ancient prayer for justice. Most heavily on our hearts and minds at this time is the injustice of racism. There are injustices in legislation, unfair allocation of resources, inequality in police treatment, and the list goes on. We pray, Lord, reverse the systemic racism that is embedded into the fabric of our culture. Even more, O Lord, we pray for justice to reign in our own hearts. Increasingly help us to see people who are different than us not as people to fear, but as people made in the image of God. Grant us all the more to have the servant’s heart of the Good Samaritan, who sacrificed his own time, money, and effort to help someone who was in need, not because the person looked like him, but simply because he was a fellow human being in need. Yes, Lord, let justice reign in our country, and in our own hearts too. Let your kingdom come in our world and in our hearts, and may you be glorified in us, our God and King. Amen.
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