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The Creator God is the source of true justice

June 21, 2024
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Daily Scripture

Psalm 146:5-10

5 The person whose help is the God of Jacob—
   the person whose hope rests on the LORD their God—
    is truly happy!
6 God: the maker of heaven and earth,
    the sea, and all that is in them,
God: who is faithful forever,
7     who gives justice to people who are oppressed,
    who gives bread to people who are starving!
The LORD: who frees prisoners.
8     The LORD: who makes the blind see.
    The LORD: who straightens up those who are bent low.
    The LORD: who loves the righteous.
9     The LORD: who protects immigrants,
        who helps orphans and widows,
        but who makes the way of the wicked twist and turn!
10 The LORD will rule forever!
    Zion, your God will rule from one generation to the next!
            Praise the LORD!

Daily Reflection & Prayer

Sojourners founder Jim Wallis, who preached at Resurrection in 2019, captured one implication of Psalm 146 in this comment: “Instead of politicizing faith with a religious right or a religious left, how can faith trump politics and help people find the moral center that could challenge partisan politics on all sides? Instead of what’s right or left, how do we discern what is right and wrong, and especially what will protect the most vulnerable people in our society whom our God calls us to defend?” *

  • The great hymn writer Isaac Watts based a hymn on Psalm 146. The second stanza said, “Happy are they whose hopes rely on Israel’s God…whose truth forever stands secure, who saves th’oppressed and feeds the poor, for none shall find God’s promise vain.” The Creator’s promise to give justice to the oppressed made the psalmist “truly happy.” Does it give you joy too? Why or why not?
  • The prophet Isaiah faced a society in Israel that created a large gap between a relatively few affluent, influential people and lots of poor, oppressed people (as most of our world still does). In Isaiah 29:18-21, he promised that “in that day” (the day when God sets right all that’s gone wrong) “the poor” and “the neediest” would rejoice, while “the tyrant” and “the mocker” would be no more. How can you, as one of God’s people today, work toward that ultimate godly goal, not against it?
Prayer

God of all creation, guide my thinking and my actions so that I may be one of your earthly helpers as you faithfully move our world toward your goal of justice for everyone. Amen.

GPS Insights

Picture of Jacob Hery

Jacob Hery

Jacob Hery is a returning intern from Houston, Texas serving in the Modern Worship department at the Church of the Resurrection. He recently graduated from Samford University with a Bachelor of Arts in Commercial Music, with an emphasis in songwriting and a minor in worship leadership. In his free time, Jacob enjoys binge-watching sitcoms, hanging out with friends, and writing music.

Growing up in the United Methodist Church, I was unaware of how vital justice was to the denomination that formed me. It was not until my first year of college, when I moved from my comfortable suburban home in Katy, Texas, to the unfamiliar Birmingham, Alabama, that I understood how much the call to justice is woven into Methodist doctrine.

I attended various denominations in my search for a Bible-belt church home. Yet, I left every service feeling like the call was to isolate myself, only focusing on reading the Bible and praying.

Although those things are essential in our faith journey, I was reminded of a song from my childhood by Tim Hughes, appropriately titled “God of Justice.” This song calls for the global church to be “filled up and sent out” to “feed the hungry,” “stand beside the broken,” and be “move[d] into action.”

God wants us to be inspired by the splendor of creation, but I also believe God does that to motivate us to serve others. As Christians, we long to see God’s vision of the perfect world realized on earth, where oppression, hate, and judgment of any kind would be abolished.

So bask in the majesty of creation so you might hear how the Creator calls you to serve the created.

© 2024 Resurrection: A United Methodist Church. All Rights Reserved.
Scripture quotations are taken from The Common English Bible ©2011. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
References

* Jim Wallis quoted in a Sojourners email message on Sept. 29, 2017.