Wednesday
Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.
For your hands are stained with blood, your fingers with guilt. Your lips have spoken lies, and your tongue mutters wicked things.
No one calls for justice; no one pleads his case with integrity. They rely on empty arguments and speak lies; they conceive trouble and give birth to evil. . . .
The way of peace they do not know; there is no justice in their paths. They have turned them into crooked roads; no one who walks in them will know peace.
So justice is far from us, and righteousness does not reach us. We look for light, but all is darkness; for brightness, but we walk in deep shadows. Like the blind we grope along the wall, feeling our way like men without eyes.
At midday we stumble as if it were twilight; among the strong, we are like the dead. We all growl like bears; we moan mournfully like doves. We look for justice, but find none; for deliverance, but it is far away. . . .
Truth is nowhere to be found, and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey. The Lord looked and was displeased that there was no justice. He saw that there was no one, and he was appalled that there was no one to intercede; so his own arm worked salvation for him, and his own righteousness sustained him.
(Isaiah 59:1-4, 8-11, 15-16, NIV)
Following Isaiah’s book of judgment, the second part of his writings has been described as “the book of comfort.” This second book, which covers chapters 40 to 66, depicts the deliverance and restoration of Israel. Isaiah clearly delineates between true and false worship and then calls on God’s people to repent of this sin.
Today’s verses show the desperate condition of Israel, a condition so distorted that “no one calls for justice” or pleads their case with integrity (v. 4). What a pitiful description of a society! Verse eight tells us that people no longer know the way of peace or justice. Everything is so corrupt that no one is secure or unafraid. People are acting like they are blind, vividly pictured by Isaiah as men groping along a wall.
Isaiah’s tragic summary is captured in the statement that the Lord is displeased that there is no justice and is appalled that there is no one willing to correct the situation. What is clear in Isaiah’s analysis is that no peace can exist without justice, nor justice without peace. Like Jeremiah’s warning against those who say “peace, peace” when “there is no peace” (6:14), Isaiah links justice and peace. Biblical shalom is never the preservation of tranquility based on an unjust structure. It is never peace at any price. It is only true peace when it is built on a foundation of justice. And the Lord expects his people to be advocates — the ones who are willing to “intercede” (v. 16).
Prayer
Lord of Justice and Righteousness, we praise you for who you are and what you have done. Help us to see the bond between justice and peace. Teach us not to be afraid to work for justice and peace in our world. Amen.