Friday
Endow the king with your justice, O God, the royal son with your righteousness. He will judge your people in righteousness, your afflicted ones with justice. The mountains will bring prosperity to the people, the hills the fruit of righteousness. He will defend the afflicted among the people and save the children of the needy; he will crush the oppressor. . . .
For he will deliver the needy who cry out, the afflicted who have no one to help. He will take pity on the weak and the needy and save the needy from death. He will rescue them from oppression and violence, for precious is their blood in his sight.
(Psalms 72:1-4, 12-14, NIV)
In our devotions last week, we noted that sin is the cause of conflict and violence in society. The sin of Adam and Eve soon led to envy between Cain and Abel and history’s first recorded murder was the result. Genesis 6:11 tells us that, by the time of Noah, “the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence.”
Although God used war to conquer the Promised Land for his people and to dispense his judgment against the idolators who lived there, Scripture depicts God as the Giver of Peace. God desires harmony among people in his creation, not conflict.
Today’s verses are a prayer for the king and may have been used in Solomon’s coronation. The words express the desire of the nation that the king’s reign will be one of justice and righteousness and that God will endow the king with these special qualities. The ideal king, in the words of the Psalmist, is one who rescues the weak from oppression and violence.
The same view of political rulership is described by the Apostle Paul in Romans 13 — those in authority are described as “God’s servants.” Political rulers, as agents of God, are commissioned to protect the vulnerable and to prevent violence that victimizes those in society least able to care for themselves. God cares deeply for those who are suffering from oppression and violence.
Prayer
Lord God, we know that the sin and greed that exists in our own hearts and in the hearts of others causes violence and conflict in our world. Protect those who are vulnerable from the violence of our day. Give us a political leadership committed to ruling in justice, as your agents. Amen.