Equal Justice
Psalm 28 is a much needed teaching on justice. I say much needed because it seems that many today are trying to redefine and discard God’s idea of equal justice under the law for all and replace it with a new idea, “social justice.”
God’s justice is not based on favoritism. It is wrong to show favoritism when passing judgment; when attempting to right wrongs. Proverbs 24:23 Do not pervert justice by siding with the crowd, and do not show favoritism to the poor in a lawsuit. Exodus 23:2-3 Judge carefully… no injustice or partiality or bribery. 2 Chronicles 19:6-7 Do not pervert justice; do not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the great, but judge your neighbor fairly. Leviticus 19:15
Where as God made everyone equal, in his image Genesis 1:27, one race Acts 17:26 by contrast, social justice is an artificial secular idea that seeks to divide people on the basis of all sorts of artificial categories; skin color, sexual identity, religion, social status, economics status, nationality, culture, etc. and teaches that life is a zero sum game, meaning that the success of one group necessarily comes at the expense of another group. As a result social justice seeks to remove what it defines as the systemic privilege of one group and rebalance the scales of justice in favor of the newly defined victim group de jour.
In contrast to God’s equal justice for all, social justice, by definition shows partiality, judging based on both bias and corruption, demanding double standards, reparations, affirmative actions and other forms of favoritism.
Psalm 28 is based on the description of the court system in Deuteronomy 17. Deuteronomy describes how the court is to decide cases after all of the evidence has been thoroughly examined and testimony from 2-3 witnesses has been heard. However, if the lower court is unable to reach a verdict the matter is to go before the Judge at the Temple Court …
If cases come before your courts that are too difficult for you to judge – whether bloodshed, lawsuits, or assaults … go to the priests who are Levites, and to the judge who is in office at that time. Inquire of them and they will give you the verdict. You must act according to the decisions they give you … Do not turn aside from what they tell you, to the right or to the left.
| Psalm 28 Of David | Lawsuit |
| To you, Lord, I call; you are my Rock, Do not turn a deaf ear to me. For if you remain silent,I will be like those who go down to the pit. Hear my cry for mercy as I call for help, I lift up my hands toward the Most Holy Place. | I. Plaintiff’s Appeal to the Court: We are not told what the nature of this case is but because we see the Plaintiff lifting up hands toward the Temple’s Most Holy Place, we know that he is no longer in the lower court. He is at the Temple. As he addresses the court he appeals for Mercy … always a good idea when addressing the court or our Creator God! |
| Do not drag me away with the wicked, With those who do evil, Who speak peace with their neighbors But harbor evil in their hearts. Repay them for their deeds and for their evil work; repay them for what their hands have doneand bring back on them what they deserve. | II. Petition While we don’t know the exact reasons behind this court case we do know that; 1. The Plaintiff has been falsely accused by 2. Neighbors pretending to be his friends 3. Who turned on him, doing evil. The Plaintiff asks the court to: 1. Find him innocent: Do not curse me with the fate of the wicked. Genesis 19:12-17 2. Find his neighbors guilty 3. Rule against them, justly repaying them for their evil. |
| Because they have no regard for the deeds of the Lord and what his hands have done, He will tear them down And never build them up again. | III. Verdict: Guilty. The defendant had no regard for God’s law. Thus says the Lord, Behold what I have built I will break down. What I planted I will pluck up. Jeremiah 45:4 |
| Praise be to the Lord, For he has heard my cry for mercy. The Lord is my strength and my shield; My heart trusts in him, and he helps me. My heart leaps for joy, And with my song I will praise him. | IV. Plaintiff’s Response His heart leaps for joy and he promises to write a song about the experience … Psalm 28! God is just in all his ways, faithful, without any injustice, righteous, and upright is he. Deuteronomy 32:4 |
| The Lord is the strength of his people, A fortress of salvation for his anointed one. Save your people and bless your inheritance; Be their shepherd and carry them forever. | V. Judge’s Final Proclamation: Shall not God avenge his elect who cry out day and night to him? Luke 18:1-8 |
In contrast to the social engineering that seeks to judge people differently based on artificial categories, here in Psalm 28, the defendant is judged by the law. As strange as it may sound to folks today, the Biblical idea that everyone is equal before God’s law literally changed the world. You don’t want to live in a world where “everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” Judges 17:6 If justice is a moving target there can be no justice.
The Bible teaches that no one is above the law. In fact, the King was not above the law. He could not be a law unto himself and do whatever he wanted. The King was to keep a copy of the law and read from it daily. Deuteronomy 17:18-20 Further, the law was to be read in its entirety every seven years to all the people. Deuteronomy 31:11 God also established a series of checks and balances to safeguard the law, insuring that no one could claim either superiority or victimhood to unjustly seize power: Prophets to remind both King and Priests of the law, Priests to speak for God, Judges to judge impartially on the basis of the law.
In the past you walked according to the world’s standards, Ephesians 2:2, judging between each other using differing weights and measures depending on the circumstances Proverbs 20:10. But now, There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to the promise. Galatians 3:28
My heart leaps for joy, And with my song I will praise him.
Can you imagine singing a song about this in the worship service? We should before our world forgets true justice!
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