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Where There is No Justice, There is No Love
Psalm 111
Andy Nagahara
The psalms we will be reading this time and the next have the unique feature that in the original text, the first letters of the words at the beginning of each line are arranged in the order of the Hebrew alphabet.
There are 22 letters in the Hebrew language. So, there are 22 lines in this psalm, except for the first line, “Praise the Lord!”.
Although its format is not reflected in English or Japanese, there are important details that can help us understand God’s thoughts toward us.
A. The justice that God desires (1-4)
1. Is our church a place that embodies justice?(1, 2)
1. Praise the LORD.
I will extol the LORD with all my heart
in the council of the upright and in the assembly.
2. Great are the works of the LORD;
they are pondered by all who delight in them.
The fact that worship is an expression of gratitude and praise to God for the blessings He has given us in the past, for being with us now, and for our trust and expectation that He will give us the same blessings in the future, is the same today as it was in the days of the psalmist.
What we want to keep in mind is that it is described as a “gathering of the upright.
We know that God is right. But we are not sure of our own righteousness.It is quite natural that if we are too confident in ourselves, we will continue to make mistakes. However, God has invited us to this place of worship as the righteous, even though we are not!
Through the Jesus event, we were made righteous without being righteous. The righteous are those who want to hear and do God’s will as much as possible, while being aware that they are the ones who may not be able to make the right decisions.
2. Our exodus (3, 4)
3. Glorious and majestic are his deeds,
and his righteousness endures forever.
4. He has caused his wonders to be remembered;
the LORD is gracious and compassionate.
In verse 3, “righteousness” is a word that can also be translated as “grace,” and so in the Bible which we used to use, named The Interconfessional Translation it was translated as “the work of grace. The “work of grace” for the Israelites was above all the Exodus, and the “wonders” in verse 4 also refers to that. It was a blessing and justice for the Israelites to be freed from slavery in Egypt, where they had been oppressed.
However, here we need to remember what we talked about in verses 1 and 2. Israel was not a particularly righteous people either. They were a people who were considered righteous.
This is clearly seen in the many cases of disobedience to God in the history after the Exodus. And we are in danger of the same thing.
Now, encountering Jesus and starting to walk with Him is our exodus. The blessing of being freed from a state of helplessness, of not being bothered by my own ego or the ego of others, and of being able to walk through life listening to the God who loves me. We can learn from the second half of the psalm the secret of how we can continue to walk without losing this grace. Let’s continue reading.
B. Everything begins with the fear of Lord (5-10)
1. The fear of Lord (5-8)
5. He provides food for those who fear him;
he remembers his covenant forever.
6. He has shown his people the power of his works,
giving them the lands of other nations.
7. The works of his hands are faithful and just;
all his precepts are trustworthy.
8. They are steadfast for ever and ever,
done in faithfulness and uprightness.
Here it says, ” those who fear the Lord. That is the way it should be for those who are recognized as righteous to truly live righteously. What we can do to prevent ourselves from living selfishly and making things even worse is to “fear the Lord”.
We have talked several times about the fear of the Lord. The kanji character well expresses the difference from simply being afraid. (scared) We know that God is not the one who gets angry and punishes us for our actions.
The covenant described here is the covenant given to Moses at Mt. Sinai in Exodus 34:6,7.
And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation.”
When you read this, you may wonder, is it a God who forgives disobedience and sin? Or is it a God who not only punishes the person, but also his children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great-great-grandchildren? It would be necessary to explain this expression to you. It means that God does not punish those who disobey but ask for forgiveness and change the direction of their lives. Yet, it is a warning that if you keep disobeying, the result will be that you will continue on your unhappy path. The second and third generations are not unable to escape from unhappiness due to the sins of their parents, but they can receive blessings if they choose to fear the Lord on their own.
2. The fear of the Lord translates into love for others (9-10)
9. He provided redemption for his people;
he ordained his covenant forever–
holy and awesome is his name.
10. The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom;
all who follow his precepts have good understanding.
To him belongs eternal praise.
Jesus came to bring about the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God is not just the place where a person’s soul is invited in after death. This is where God’s will is shown. Jesus said, “Love one another,” because we are now called to strive to achieve this in the world we live in.
It’ s hard to believe that all creatures created and loved by God can coexist peacefully in the current world situation, but if we give up, those who are suffering now will continue to suffer. The one who suffers must be treated right. That is justice. But if it is someone’s selfish justice, then someone else will also suffer. In order for the justice of the Lord to be revealed here, we are to fear the Lord, listen to the Lord, and love the people. And as long as we don’t give up, we will receive so much of God’s grace that we will have a lifetime of praising the Lord forever.
(Prayer) Thank you, God, for forgiving us when we see your rightness but fail to walk in it, for being patient with us when we are prone to impose our own righteousness, and for leading us to walk in peace. Please guide us so that we can resolve the injustices that make you angry and grieve with your power and wisdom. Let us be eternally grateful to You, praising and worshipping You. Gratefully and hopefully we pray in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Summary
What is our standard of justice? For most people, this standard is subjective and this has resulted in strife on many levels. This psalm suggests that we use God’s standard of justice. Pursuing God’s justice means that we love and fear him.
For Discussion
1. What is justice?
2. What does it mean to fear the Lord?