Peace and Justice

Reported for jury duty today.  Thought of these verses, circling the building and praying during the lunch break:

 

Isaiah 48:18 (NKJV)

¹⁸ Oh, that you had heeded My commandments!
Then your peace would have been like a river,
And your righteousness like the waves of the sea.

 

Psalm 51:3-4 (NIV)

³ For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is always before me.
⁴ Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight;
so you are right in your verdict
and justified when you judge.

 

I smiled when I saw that the book I was reading, in the place I was reading (while waiting in the jury room), mentioned the story Jesus told in Luke 18:1-8:

 

Luke 18:1-8, J.B. Phillips New Testament (PHILLIPS)

Then he gave them an illustration to show that they must always pray and never lose heart.

^2-5 “Once upon a time,” he said, “there was a magistrate in a town who had neither fear of God nor respect for his fellow-men. There was a widow in the town who kept coming to him, saying, ‘Please protect me from the man who is trying to ruin me.’ And for a long time he refused. But later he said to himself, ‘Although I don’t fear God and have no respect for men, yet this woman is such a nuisance that I shall give judgment in her favour, or else her continual visits will be the death of me!’”

^6-8 Then the Lord said, “Notice how this dishonest magistrate behaved. Do you suppose God, patient as he is, will not see justice done for his chosen, who appeal to him day and night? I assure you he will not delay in seeing justice done. Yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find men on earth who believe in him?”

 

 

So, watching the proceedings, thinking of God as Judge ...

 

Psalm 135 (NKJV)

Praise to God in Creation and Redemption

 Praise the Lord!

 

Praise the name of the Lord;
Praise Him, O you servants of the Lord!
² You who stand in the house of the Lord,
In the courts of the house of our God,
³ Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good;
Sing praises to His name, for it is pleasant.
⁴ For the Lord has chosen Jacob for Himself,
Israel for His special treasure.

 

⁵ For I know that the Lord is great,
And our Lord is above all gods.
⁶ Whatever the Lord pleases He does,
In heaven and in earth,
In the seas and in all deep places.
⁷ He causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth;
He makes lightning for the rain;
He brings the wind out of His treasuries.

 

⁸ He destroyed the firstborn of Egypt,
Both of man and beast.
⁹ He sent signs and wonders into the midst of you, O Egypt,
Upon Pharaoh and all his servants.
¹⁰ He defeated many nations
And slew mighty kings—
¹¹ Sihon king of the Amorites,
Og king of Bashan,
And all the kingdoms of Canaan—
¹² And gave their land as a heritage,
A heritage to Israel His people.

 

¹³ Your name, O Lord, endures forever,
Your fame, O Lord, throughout all generations.
¹⁴ For the Lord will judge His people,
And He will have compassion on His servants.

 

¹⁵ The idols of the nations are silver and gold,
The work of men’s hands.
¹⁶ They have mouths, but they do not speak;
Eyes they have, but they do not see;
¹⁷ They have ears, but they do not hear;
Nor is there any breath in their mouths.
¹⁸ Those who make them are like them;
So is everyone who trusts in them.

 

¹⁹ Bless the Lord, O house of Israel!
Bless the Lord, O house of Aaron!
²⁰ Bless the Lord, O house of Levi!
You who fear the Lord, bless the Lord!
²¹ Blessed be the Lord out of Zion,
Who dwells in Jerusalem!

 

Praise the Lord!

 

… and my journey with Him continues …