DAILY READING
REFLECTION
Lament, Justice, and Mercy
by Katie Borden
Ahhhh, Psalm 28—a song of lament.
I have a particular fondness for the lament Psalms. I know that may sound strange, but in our world, where not all is as it should be, these hymns of God’s people from generations ago provide me with a way of expressing my grief, anger, and profound sadness at the brokenness and injustice of the world. I can imagine you and I both needn’t look far to find things wrong with the systems around us and with the cultural and societal waters in which we are swimming. I read this Psalm the first time, I identify with the Psalmist, crying to God for mercy because I have been wronged.
But when I read this passage again, mindful of the fact that I also swim in these waters and contribute to the systems of injustice and brokenness—sin—of the world, I recognize that my place in this Psalm is also as the one who has done wrong and contributed to the reason for lament in the first place.
Let me be clear—I am not saying that, just because we all sin, we should not hold accountable those who wrong others or break laws in this world and in our systems of justice. Rather, I am in awe of how God metes out both justice and mercy on us, his beloved creatures, through Jesus Christ. We are both the victims and the perpetrators of sin, and through Jesus Christ God attends to both of those facets of our being. He satisfies the need for cosmic justice, and he rescues us from our own undoing. And because of this, we can be assured that eventually, in the age to come, all will be made right in the new creation. We will live in perfect peace with our good, just, and gracious God.
PRAYER PRACTICE
Thank God today for both his justice and his mercy, and for his unending love for us.
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