Wednesday 21 February 2024

Psalm 89:14-21

Background

The problem facing those who have returned from exile to Jerusalem to rebuild their lives and seek the restoration of Zion (the Jewish homeland) is that things aren’t going as well as they thought they would. There is hardship, infighting, famine, poverty and injustice and the people are asking “Where is God in all of this?” After all, they believe that they are doing everything they can to know God’s ways and draw near to God (v. 2); they are fasting, praying, humbling themselves and then asking why God does not see them or notice their problems (v. 3). 

The prophet’s answer is a strong one. Despite all the things that the people are doing right, they are called rebellious and sinful (v. 2). The problem is not the way that they worship their God but the way that they treat their fellow human, which in turn affects their relationship with God. Their oppression of the workers, their quarrels and fights are, at least in part, contributing to the hardship that they are finding themselves in. 

The theme of justice, which runs throughout the book of Isaiah, is central to God’s message to the people. The people’s fasting is self-serving; the fast that God would choose would be one that loosens the bonds of injustice, breaks every yoke and lets the oppressed go free (v. 6). This is more than helping people out, it is an invitation to find what it is that is entrapping people in poverty and injustice, and to do something about it at source, breaking the yoke. In the words of the South African bishop and theologian Desmond Tutu “There comes a point where we need to stop just pulling people out of the river. We need to go upstream and find out why they’re falling in.”

 It is when the people share with the hungry and homeless, when they fast for justice, that God will notice them, and their ‘light shall break forth like the dawn" (v. 8); when they call on God, God will answer, when they cry for help, they will hear the response: "Here I am" (v. 9). It is when the people align themselves with God’s principles of justice that the kingdom will be rebuilt, repaired and restored (v. 12). 

To Ponder:

• Lent is a time of fasting and praying, of seeking to know God’s ways and drawing near to God. What are your religious practices this Lent? Are there new ways to explore to help you to draw near to God? 
• Justice is more important to God than self-serving religiosity. Are there ways in which you can challenge injustice in our society?
• The Methodist Church has committed to being a justice-seeking Church. Can you spend some time looking at these webpages and thinking about the principles, priorities and practices of justice?  Perhaps you could organise a justice conversation in your church? 

Prayer

God of justice, as we seek to draw closer to you in our spiritual lives, help us to not be indifferent to the injustices around us. May we notice them and act upon them, doing all in our power to break the bonds of injustice and let the oppressed go free. Amen.