“1 Rescue me, Lord, from evildoers;
protect me from the violent,
2 who devise evil plans in their hearts
and stir up war every day.
3 They make their tongues as sharp as a serpent’s;
the poison of vipers is on their lips.[b]
4 Keep me safe, Lord, from the hands of the wicked;
protect me from the violent,
who devise ways to trip my feet.
5 The arrogant have hidden a snare for me;
they have spread out the cords of their net
and have set traps for me along my path.
6 I say to the Lord, “You are my God.”
Hear, Lord, my cry for mercy.
7 Sovereign Lord, my strong deliverer,
you shield my head in the day of battle.
8 Do not grant the wicked their desires, Lord;
do not let their plans succeed.
9 Those who surround me proudly rear their heads;
may the mischief of their lips engulf them.
10 May burning coals fall on them;
may they be thrown into the fire,
into miry pits, never to rise.
11 May slanderers not be established in the land;
may disaster hunt down the violent.
12 I know that the Lord secures justice for the poor
and upholds the cause of the needy.
13 Surely the righteous will praise your name,
and the upright will live in your presence.” Psalm 149
I never knew that what’s something called “adulting” required paying attention to not only what was happening in my neighborhood, but also to others, until the protest and riots of 2020 in Minneapolis-S. Paul area. I have known a little something about justice and causes for equity. Yet I never realized as acutely as that year that justice means more than simply opening your eyes. It means to live it and to see oppression for what it is.
Some say that the Church talks too much about justice. My reply is that’s because the Bible talks about it. A lot. I know I can’t live perfectly but I can, as a follower yearning for God’s reign, actively take part in stuff that matters.
It’s a big task, you can not do it alone. Nor can any cause or Organization. But we’re not, ultimately, alone. God calls us to work together, to continually renew and change the world into a more jst peaceful place for all.
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