How does the social justice movement relate to Christian principles?

<p>How does the social justice movement relate to Christian principles?</p>

Hope Channel

InVerse, 3rd Quarter 2019: "The Least of These" : Ministering to Those in Need

Sikhu Daco

Justin Kim

Israel Ramos

Jonathan Walter

01-God Created

Callie Williams

02-Blueprint for a Better World

Sebastien Braxton

03-Sabbath: A Day of Freedom

04-Mercy and Justice in Psalms and Proverbs

05-The Cry of the Prophets

06-Worship the Creator

07-Jesus and Those in Need

08-The Least of These

09-Ministry in the New Testament Church

10-Living the Gospel

11-Living the Advent Hope

12-To Love Mercy

13-A Community of Servants

We've heard songs about love and about happiness and about summertime, but what about songs about justice?

We'll find out in this episode of Inverse.

Coming to you from Silver Spring, Maryland, Welcome to Inverse, a Bible-based conversation on life principles, contemporary issues, and thought-provoking perspectives.

Now, here's your host Justin Kim with Inverse.

We are in a special segment for 13 weeks studying the topics of justice and mercy throughout the Bible.

On this episode, we are looking at the book of Psalms, which was basically the hymn book for the ancient Hebrews.

So with me today in the studio is Siku, Israel, and Sebastian, who are all renowned lyricists in their own right.

And we're gonna be looking at different songs in the Bible.

All right, we're gonna be rapping, we're gonna be singing and no, not rapping.

So Siku, can you pray for us and we'll read a Bible verse and get into scripture.

Loving Father, we're thankful that you are a God of justice.

We're thankful that when we see injustice all over and everywhere, we can have the confidence that you care.

So as we study your word, we pray that our hearts would be drawn closer to you, that we would gain a deeper understanding and a knowledge of who you are that would transform our lives.

And Israel, can you read those verses for us not Isaiah Psalms 42 you are Israel not Isaiah thank you appreciate that all right Psalms 82 verse 1 God stands in the congregation of the mighty.

How long will you judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked?

All right, so Sebastian, what's going on here?

Not just in this verse, but you see this theme throughout the Psalms, throughout the books, elaborate on this for us.

Well, I think what you're seeing is a prayer for justice, right?

For God to intervene on behalf of those who are oppressed and to make sure that what has now been made out of whack by wicked, evil, sinful men, God wants to restore that balance.

Like is he praying to God for them or is he praying on their behalf?

He's really interceding on behalf of those who are oppressed because when you look at verse 2, he says, how long will you judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked?

And he's pleading to God to defend, right?

He's inviting God to come into the situation.

So, he really may not be oppressed himself, but he's taking it upon himself in his heart that the injustice that he sees, he brings that to God.

And it's a very interesting prayer because we know that God knows all things, but yet and still sometimes it can feel as if God is ignoring or God is overlooking or God is not really taking action the way that we human beings expect God to take action.

And his answer to that is not to go into discouragement or to doubt God, but to bring a very passionate prayer and plea to God.

Let's talk about the form of this in a couple of episodes.

I believe we'll look at the prophets and how the prophets are a spokesperson for God and asking and demanding or preaching, I should say, to the people for justice and for mercy.

What's cool about this is the fact that here you have a person, a human being, who is speaking this way to God and the crazy thing is that God doesn't respond by wiping this person away, right?

I mean, can you imagine if someone comes to you and says, how long will you judge unjustly?

And someone comes to you and says, hey, how long are you going to judge unjustly?

It's like, you know, this is something like my kids would tell me, you know, at home, hey, how come you're so mean, right?

They won't say those specific words, but, you know, they'll come to me and they'll have a misunderstanding of my character or a misunderstanding of the situation.

And the thoughts that go through my mind are, man, you little child, you don't even know what's going on and you're coming here with your little complaints.

God can respond to his people, to us in that way, but he doesn't, he listens.

And not just in Psalms, but You have this throughout the Bible, even the book of Habakkuk.

Habakkuk is gonna do something similar where he's asking God, how long will you not hear?

And so here you have an element, or we have a picture of even the justice of God and that he allows us to present our case and to be ourselves in presenting the case without him prematurely, you know, or not prematurely, but without him rebuking or punishing David for having those thoughts to begin with or for expressing those thoughts.

Could it be also in verse 3 and 4 that this is what God is saying to us, Siku?

Yeah, I was actually thinking this goes beyond the scope of the verses that we read, but by the end of the chapter where the psalmist says, arise, O God, judge the earth, for you shall inherit all nations.

Right, so he directs this plea that God arise and judge the earth, which makes me think about in the beginning when he's saying about injustice and not defending the poor and the fatherless and calling for those to defend the poor and the fatherless it seems like He's calling for God's people to be part of this Action of showing justice and showing mercy to the poor to the fatherless the afflicted and the needy to deliver them and free them from the hand of the wicked.

Psalm 82 really to me I see a lot of language about justice and judgment going on today on a day and age we are not so so favorable towards judgment we want to get away from it Are you judging me?

But here, it's the psalmist is pleading for judgment.

He's looking forward to that date when God will not be silent and the judgment will be executed throughout the land.

But I think it's also not only is the man, you know, with Asaph in this psalm bringing it to God, But I also feel like God put it in his heart to do that.

So it's almost like, yeah, he's coming to God, and how long will you judge unjustly?

But I also feel that God is speaking through him and has put that burden into his heart.

Because when you look at how we may feel about justice in our world today, you could easily understand how God could put that in someone's heart to go to someone who is not behaving justly in their position as a judge, right?

As a DA, as a police officer, as whatever.

And you say, look, you're not operating justly, you know?

And in this sense, God expects people whom he has given positions of responsibility to execute justice, just as He would execute it, you know, given His position and authority in the universe.

The perspective of justice is also interesting.

It says, defend the poor and the fatherless, do justice to the afflicted and the needy.

Normally when we think about the afflicted and the needy we're not thinking about justice, but we're thinking about mercy, right?

If someone's in need, we need to help them, we need to have mercy on them.

And so here you have a mingling of these 2 terms, to do mercy or to do justice is to have mercy.

And I think that's what's expressed in the passage here as well.

So our definition of justice is not necessarily equality, but it's the assisting, the helping.

We do justly by doing what God would do in that situation, which would be to help.

It makes me think a couple episodes back though, you know, if justice has to do with equitable distribution of what is rightfully deserved by a person, to do justice to 1 who is needy is to say that them being needy, there is something that is due them.

In the New Testament, it talks about owing no man anything but love.

There's something that we owe to them, but what we owe to them is from the perspective of who God has created them to be.

It's in the light of who God is that there's a certain sense of justice that is due to somebody that is poor, somebody that is needy, that I need to participate in because of who God has made them to be.

So I'm recognizing that your poverty, you being poor and me having means, where, yeah, it's actually an injunction upon me to do something about it.

Series

InVerse, 3rd Quarter 2019: "The Least of These" : Ministering to Those in Need

04-Mercy and Justice in Psalms and Proverbs

Transcript

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Recorded

InVerse, 4th Quarter 2023: Adventist Heritage

09 The Gospel in Adventism

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InVerse, 4th Quarter 2019: Nehemiah: Principles of Biblical Leadership

03-The Hand of God

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InVerse 3rd Quarter 2024: Stories that Transform

07 The Wedding Garment

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InVerse, 1st Quarter 2021: Romans

09 What About Israel?

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InVerse, 4th Quarter 2022: Beyond Death

07 The Rich Man and Lazarus

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Inverse, 3rd Quarter 2021: Sexuality

11 When Things Go Wrong

27m

InVerse 2nd Quarter 2024: The Great Controversy

07 The Endurance of Suffering

29m

InVerse, 1st Quarter 2020: Daniel: Practical Principles for End-Time Living

02-The Key to Prophetic Understanding

27m

InVerse, 2nd Quarter 2023: Three Cosmic Messages

13 Ablaze With God’s Glory

29m

InVerse, 2nd Quarter 2022: James

05 We’re Justified by Works

26m

InVerse, 4th Quarter 2021: Deuteronomy

06 Do Not Forget!

27m

InVerse, 1st Quarter 2020: Daniel: Practical Principles for End-Time Living

09-Predictive Prophecy

27m

Sound Doctrine