Justice

I was listening to a song I hadn’t heard in quite some time, and the phrase, "when mercy smoothes the furrowed brow of justice" caught my attention. It grabbed me, I think, because I’ve developed a completely different concept of justice, and am now of the opinion that such phrases as that portray justice quite incorrectly.

I believe it was the prophet Isaiah who penned the statement, "For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed [happy and enviable] are all those who wait for him." This seems to indicate that those who wait for God to bring justice into their lives are the envy of us all. Justice, then, is not vengeance—although that belongs to God, as well. Justice is not punishment for wrongdoings. Justice is …

The one who was robbed … is repaid seven times.

The one who was lied about … is vindicated publicly.

The one who was rejected … becomes popular.

Justice, you might say, is what happens when we forgive. The truth is that it doesn’t bring justice to me if the person who robbed me is put in jail. Sure, he’s been punished, but what has that done for me? Not a thing. I still lack what was taken from me. But what happens to the person who robbed me becomes completely immaterial when God brings justice to me. When God repays me seven times, I really don’t … well … give a damn … about what happened to the person who robbed me. It just doesn’t matter! In fact, when God has brought me justice, then I can give others mercy.

Mercy, you see, is for when we have robbed, lied, and rejected. Justice is for when we have been robbed, lied about, and rejected. There is no question of mercy and justice being in conflict. In fact, they are two sides of one coin. They are God’s automatic response, I believe, to any wrong-doing: justice to the one who was wronged, and mercy to the one who did the wrong.

I’m standing in justice and mercy, and I can tell you that it’s good. I’ve had things taken from me, and I can tell you that when God pays you back, nothing could be better! But I’ve done wrong, myself, and so I know that nothing could be better than when God doesn’t count our transgressions against us. They’re both good, and being the recipient should inspire us to give as we’ve received.

Some people seem to think that it’s selfish to think about or focus on receiving from the Lord, but I beg to differ. I don’t think it’s even possible to thoroughly forgive those who have wronged us if we don’t have a very clear idea of justice. We need to know that God will pay us back, so that we can stop expecting those who have robbed us to pay us back.

So if you have been robbed, give God no rest until He gives you justice.

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