Justice

Psalm 9
Journal entry dated February 28, 2005

"He governs the world with justice, he judges the people with fairness."

This psalm claims that God is "enthroned from eternity," that he has "set up his throne for judgment." God is portrayed as "a tower of strength for the oppressed," one who "never ignores the cry of the afflicted," so that "the poor shall not be forgotten forever, the hope of the needy shall not be in vain."

The psalm is telling us that God's reign is present wherever justice is found, wherever the rights of the oppressed are upheld, wherever fairness is dispensed, wherever the most vulnerable are protected.

Where is the reign of God in my life?

I am noting a shift in my thinking since leaving the small town for the big city, a movement from a "help" centered model to a justice centered model. And I wonder about this. "Justice" can become so abstract, so comfortably theroretical, that it demands nothing from us except perhaps a certain liberal hipness. "Help," of course, has its own drawbacks.

What am I doing to further the reign of God in my own concrete situation? In a world of injustice and exploitation, is it enough to believe in justice as a principle? Short of running naked and screaming through the streets like Jeremiah, how does one uphold justice?