Lamenting Injustice: Appealing to God

It's great to be out here worshiping, sun shining on us, and I think it was Blue Jay or Common Grackle screaming.

And for those of you who don't know me, if you're visiting, my name is Sean.

I'm one of the pastors of Trinity Cambridge Church.

It's my joy to preach God's word to you this morning.

We're going to be in Psalm 10, so please open up your Bibles to Psalm 10.

If you don't have a Bible, I don't think we have hard copies to give you today, but you could look it up on your phones.

You can get the BibleGateway.com or get one of the thousands of Bible apps out there.

I do highly recommend, if you are a believer and you regularly read the Bible, to use a physical Bible because it's nothing like, it doesn't capture, it's easier to see the pages when it's opened up in a book rather than having to scroll through it.

And I think I've had several encounters just from reading the Bible in public, had the opportunity to have gospel conversations, and Christians just being encouraged seeing someone reading the Bible in public and whatnot.

And so I encourage you guys to do that.

Much the same way we are publicly living out our faith and worshiping this morning.

Let me pray for the reading and preaching of God's word.

Father, we humble ourselves before you.

Father, we humble ourselves before you.

What it looks like to live as Christians who lament in the midst of the injustices in this world.

Point us to Jesus and captivate our hearts again with the gospel.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

Amen.

In our church, we usually rise for the reading of God's word as a way of honoring God and the word he has spoken to us and his authority.

So if you would please join me in standing.

I will read Psalm 10 out loud for us.

Amen.

Why, O Lord, do you stand far away?

Why, O Lord, do you hide yourself in times of trouble?

In arrogance, the wicked hotly pursue the poor.

Let them be caught in the schemes that they have devised.

For the wicked boasts of the desires of his soul, and the one greedy for gain curses and renounces the Lord.

In the pride of his face, the wicked does not seek him.

All his thoughts are, there is no God.

His ways prosper at all times.

Your judgments are on high, out of his sight.

As for all his foes, he puffs at them.

He says in his heart, I shall not be moved.

Throughout all generations, I shall not meet adversity.

His mouth is filled with cursing and deceit and oppression.

Under his tongue are mischief and iniquity.

He sits in ambush in the villages.

In hiding places, he murders the innocent.

His eyes stealthily watch for the helpless.

He lurks in ambush like a lion in his thicket.

He lurks that he may seize the poor.

He seizes the poor when he draws him into his net.

The helpless are crushed, sink down, and fall by his might.

He says in his heart, God has forgotten.

He has hidden his face.

He will never see it.

Arise, O Lord, O God.

Lift up your hand.

Forget not the afflicted.

Why does the wicked renounce God and say in his heart, you will not call to account?

But you do see, for you note mischief and vexation, that you may take it into your hands.

To you, the helpless commits himself.

You have been the helper of the fatherless.

Break the arm of the wicked and evildoer.

Call his wickedness to account till you find none.

The Lord is king forever and ever.

The nations perish from his land.

O Lord, you hear the desire of the afflicted.

You will strengthen their heart.

You will incline your ear to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed,

so that men who is of the earth may strike terror no more.

This is God's holy and authoritative word, and you may be seated at this time.

Since the Taliban took over Afghanistan's government,

the Afghani people have suffered significant curtailment of their freedoms

and a dramatic reduction in their standard of living.

According to the UN World Food Program, 95% of Afghans don't have enough food to eat.

But you can't even peacefully protest against the Taliban government

because peaceful protesters are arbitrarily arrested, tortured, and sometimes disappear.

The Taliban conducts extrajudicial executions, meaning that they kill people without due process.

The oppression of Christians is particularly intense in Afghanistan,

and any Christian convert is likely to be killed for their faith if discovered.

In the midst of such egregious injustice, where is God?

During the transatlantic slave trade, spanning over 400 years,

almost 13 million Africans were unjustly kidnapped and sold as slaves across the Atlantic Ocean.

According to the U.S. State Department, more than 27 million people worldwide

are victims of human trafficking every single year.

That's modern-day slavery of a staggering scale.

Unfortunately, however, many of those evildoers are never brought to legal justice.

For those suffering men and women, even children,

and to all those bereaved family members, where is justice?

Where is God?

According to Open Doors USA, 360 million Christians throughout the world

live amidst high levels of persecution and discrimination for their faith.

Hundreds of millions of Christians face extreme persecution

in countries like North Korea, Somalia, Yemen, Eritrea, Libya, Nigeria, Pakistan, Iran, India, Sudan.

Last year alone, 5,621 Christians were murdered for their faith.

2,110 churches were attacked.

And 4,542 Christians were detained for their faith.

These are Christians, children of God,

who are unjustly treated all throughout the world.

And when they cry out for justice,

where is God?

The far less severe we experience various forms of injustice in our society too.

Maybe you were unfairly overlooked for a job,

or a promotion,

or a certain wage level,

or admission into some program because of a prejudicial system.

Maybe you were unfairly accused,

or charged of a misdemeanor,

or a crime that you never committed.

In our sinful, broken world,

sometimes it can feel like the system is rigged

and weighted against you.

Where is God in all of this?

In His first coming,

Jesus came not to condemn the world,

but to save the world,

as it says in John 3,17.

However, in His second coming,

it says in 2 Timothy 4,1,

that Jesus will come to judge

the living and the dead.

And at that time,

all evildoers who refuse to repent and turn to Christ,

all those who have not been saved

by the work of Jesus Christ on the cross,

His death and resurrection,

will be condemned and brought to justice.

But we live right now

in between those two comings of Jesus.

Between two advents.

And so in that intervening period,

when we don't yet see the fullness of God's justice,

and when that haunting question persists,

where is God?

When we are torn between our faith,

between faith in the just God

and the reality of an unjust world,

when injustice persists,

despite many of us working toward justice

in accordance with our vocations,

how do we bridge that gap?

We lament,

as the psalmist does in Psalm 10.

Last two weeks,

we focused on the first two steps of lament,

turning to God

and then groaning to Him.

And then today,

we're focusing on the third step of lament,

appealing to God to act,

arousing Him to action.

And we can appeal to God

in the midst of affliction

because He is the righteous judge

to whom all are accountable.

And since we have some kids in the crowd today,

I thought I could try to involve them.

Kids,

can you guys hear me?

Inji,

Pearl,

Ine,

Chloe,

Constance.

Can you guys hear me?

So,

I'm going to repeat this main point several times.

When I say,

when the wicked say,

there is no God,

we say,

and then you guys could say this

as loud as you want,

arise,

O God.

Can you guys say that?

Arise,

O God.

Okay,

adults can participate too

if you want to.

Yeah.

So,

when the wicked say,

there is no God,

we say,

arise,

O God.

All right.

I also see that there's limited,

shaded real estate here.

So,

if you're out in the sun,

please feel free to sit close

with other people.

Everybody here,

love each other.

It's okay.

You guys can get close.

Yeah.

If you stay in the sun,

your complexion is going to be

a lot closer to mine

than yours probably

by the end of this.

In verses 1 to 11,

we face the reality

that sometimes

when our faith is clouded

by the sin and darkness

we see all around us,

the evildoers claim

that there is no God

can sound convincing.

So,

the psalmist cries out

in verse 1,

Why,

O Lord,

do you stand far away?

Why do you hide yourself

in times of trouble?

In light of the injustices

that he sees all around him,

he feels as though

God is aloof

and detached

from the troubles

of our world.

He feels as though

God's abandoned him

at the moment

of his greatest need.

The verse also speaks

to our perception

in the midst of suffering.

Even for those of us

who believe

in God's robust sovereignty

in and through

our sufferings,

it's still jarring

when we actually

are in the throes of pain.

In the book of Job,

for example,

the titular character

faces all kinds of suffering

that God sovereignly

allows into his life

and he is so destitute

and so sick

and desperate

at some point

that even his wife

counsels him

to just curse God

and die.

But Job rebukes her

in Job 2.10

and says,

shall we receive

good from God

and shall we not

receive evil?

And that is precisely

our sinful human tendency.

We only want to receive

good from God

and not evil.

Subconsciously,

many of us tend to believe

the false narrative

that if we're good Christians,

only good things

will happen to us.

we limit God's goodness

to our own

narrow perception

of goodness.

We can't fathom

that God might be doing

something deeper

in and through

even the evil

that surrounds us.

This is why God

can feel so distant

in the midst of our trials

and sufferings.

But God is not far away.

God does not hide himself

in times of trouble

but he sure can feel

that way.

The psalmist feels this way

in particular

because of the injustices

he sees.

And there are two main

categories of people

we see in this psalm,

in Psalm 10.

The first category

is the wicked

or the evildoer.

That word occurs

five times

throughout the psalm.

They are the perpetrators

of evil.

They are described

as the predators.

The second category

of people is most often

referred to here

as the poor

or the afflicted,

both of which

translate the same

Hebrew word

that occurs five times

in this psalm as well.

The poor are also called

the helpless

three times

and also referred to

as the fatherless

and the oppressed.

All these terms

have in common

the fact that

these people

are the prey.

They are vulnerable

because of their

social station,

their poverty,

and or their fatherlessness.

They are vulnerable.

And they have fallen

into a series

of unfortunate events.

And now their vulnerable

status makes them

an easy prey

for the wicked predators.

And the poor

do sometimes

fall prey

to the evil deeds

of the wicked.

It says in verse 10,

the helpless are crushed,

sink down,

and fall by his might.

And when you are downtrodden,

often enough,

it can feel like

that's what always happens.

That's what we see

in verse 5.

It says that

the ways of the wicked

prosper at all times.

It's hyperbolic

to express

the subjective feeling

of the psalmist.

The bad guys

always win.

I always get

the short end

of the stick.

Where are you, God?

The greedy

fleece the poor

and enrich themselves.

The violent

ravage the weak.

And the murderers

kill the innocent

with indemnity.

They do whatever

it takes to achieve

their own selfish ends.

And they succeed

sometimes

without repercussions.

When you feel this way,

Psalm 10 is teaching us

to continue,

to keep crying out to God,

to not give up on him,

but to appeal to him

to act.

And having explained

the status

of the innocent poor,

Psalm 10 insightfully

tells us what the wicked

are like too.

It tells us three things

primarily,

what the wicked do,

how they do it,

and why they do it.

First,

what do they do?

It says in verse 1

that the wicked

hotly pursue the poor

and they devise schemes

to catch the poor.

They target the poor

because they are vulnerable

and make easy targets.

They trot on them

for self-advantage

and selfish gain.

Of course,

evildoers can

and at times do

target the rich

and the powerful.

But generally speaking,

the weak and the poor

are their prey of choice.

Pedophile abusers

target orphans

and kids that come

from broken homes.

Scammers

target the elderly

who are not proficient

in the new internet age.

Burglars target

poorer homes

that lack security features

or ones that have

already been burglarized

because it makes them,

they see that

as successful targets.

And the wicked

do their misdeeds

not only with their hands

but also with their mouths.

It all says in verse 7

that the evildoer's mouth

is filled with cursing

and deceit

and oppression.

Under his tongue

are mischief

and iniquity.

They use words

to manipulate,

abuse,

slander,

deceive.

So that's what they do.

Second,

how do they,

do the wicked,

do evil?

Like a hunter,

it says in verses 8 to 9

that the evildoer

sits in ambush.

In hiding places

he murders the innocent.

His eyes stealthily

watch for the helpless.

He lurks in ambush

like a lion

in his thicket.

He lurks

that he may seize the poor.

He seizes the poor

when he draws them

into his net.

This is speaking

to the reality

that the wicked

don't do their evil deeds

out in the open

in full view

of the public

generally speaking.

There is still

God's common grace

at work

in society

and those sinful people's

moral compasses

often malfunction.

People do still

have a general sense

of right and wrong.

So evildoers

need to hide

their foul deeds.

So they use ambush

hiding places.

They lurk.

They stealthily watch

for the helpless

and that's why

they need to be exposed

and uncovered.

Now third,

why do they do evil?

Verse 3 tells us

one theological explanation.

For the wicked

boasts of the desires

of his soul

and the one greedy

for gain

curses and renounces

the Lord.

At the heart

of wicked deeds

is sinful desire

and greed

for gain.

James 1, 14-15

is very clear

about this dynamic

of the human heart.

It says,

each person is tempted

when he is lured

and enticed

by his own desire.

Then desire

when it has conceived

gives birth to sin

and sin

when it is fully grown

brings forth death.

Inordinate desire

desire that goes

beyond the bounds

that God has set.

That desire

is the conception

and when that desire

is incubated,

nursed,

and acted upon

it gives birth

to sin

and when sin

is fully grown

eventually it brings

forth death

apart from repentance.

It leads to

eternal death

and separation

from God.

So what is at the root

of all evils?

According to the Bible

it's not primarily

our inhospitable environment

or unfavorable circumstances

or lack of education

or guidance.

Sure,

those things can

exacerbate

but they are not

the cause.

Rather at the root

the cause

it's our desires,

our sinful desires,

our passions

that are at war

within us.

It says in James 4

1-2

we desire

and do not have

so we murder.

We covet

and cannot obtain

so we fight

and quarrel.

That's the first reason

why the wicked

do evil.

But there's another

theological explanation.

A second reason

even when the wicked

have sinful

inordinate desires

if they had

the fear of God

they would be

somewhat restrained

in their evil deeds

but they lack

the fear of God.

So verses 2-3

tell us that

they are arrogant

and that they

renounce the Lord.

It says in verse 4

in the pride

of his face

the wicked

does not seek God

all his thoughts

are there is no God.

So they do not

believe that God

sees what they do

in secret.

They think that

as long as they

can hide from

human eyes

they are in the clear.

They think

God's

judgments are on high

away

far away

somewhere out of his sight

and so they don't

pay any mind to it.

It says in verse 5

that as for all

his foes

he puffs at them.

The word puff

is such a great

translation

because the Hebrew

word for that

is poo.

It's like

it's onomatopoeic

it's a word that

sounds like

what it means.

So these guys

these evildoers

they poo-poo

their enemies

and poo-poo

God's judgment

and they think

that they're

going to escape

divine justice.

So the three quotes

attributed to

the wicked

demonstrate

their posture

toward God.

First in verse 4

they say

there is no God.

When the wicked

say there is no God

we say

I say no.

Alright

I don't know if the kids

are paying attention

or not.

First thing

the wicked say

is there is no God.

Second

in verse 6

they say

I shall not be moved.

Throughout all generations

I shall not meet adversity.

Third thing they say

is in verse 11

God has forgotten.

He has hidden his face

he will never

see it.

The evildoers

sense of self-assuredness

comes from

their atheism.

Sure

evildoers might claim

to believe in God

but even when

they are theists

theoretically

they are atheists

functionally.

That's why

in verse 11

they say

God has forgotten.

They're acknowledging

God in one sense

but they don't think

he will do anything.

God is to them

a toothless lion

who either cannot

or will not

do anything

to stop them

or bring them

to justice.

In this sense

all evildoers

in the world

are practical atheists

because their evil deeds

are abetted

by the belief

that there is

no God.

In 2016

there was

a New York Times

feature article

entitled

The Lawyer

Who Became

DuPont's

Worst Nightmare.

If you guys

have been talking

to me about this

some of you

I've already shared

this with you

because I

saw the movie

Dark Waters

with Bailey

I think in Seattle

when she was

visiting my parents

and the movie

is based on that article

it covers a story

of how a lawyer

named Robert Billett

exposed a major

chemical company

called DuPont

which for five decades

dumped forever chemicals

into the ground

and to the water supply

of several communities

in West Virginia

poisoning to various degree

more than 100,000 people

for five decades

because DuPont chemists

knew much more

than the regulating

agencies of the

U.S. government

at the time

and so they largely

hid the identity

of these harmful

forever chemicals

PFOA

also known as

Teflon

from them

so that they

wouldn't regulate it

so they had conducted

their own research

over the decades

so they knew

that these chemicals

were in the public

water supply

and in the community

members bloodstreams

they knew

that these chemicals

were killing

people's livestock

and wild animals

who were eating

off the ground

and drinking the waters

that they had poisoned

they knew

that these chemicals

caused birth defects

and that their

pregnant employees

were giving birth

to a very high percentage

of deformed babies

but they still

didn't tell them

they knew

that these chemicals

were linked

to kidney cancer

testicular cancer

and thyroid disease

and high cholesterol

preeclampsia

and ulcerative colitis

and yet knowingly

they dumped

7,100 tons

of PFOA-laced

sludge

out into open areas

and when they

found a less toxic

viable alternative

to the chemical

in 1993

they decided

not to replace it

because they didn't

want to jeopardize

their 1 billion

annual profit

from their line

of PFOA-coated products

pretty much

everything that is

greaseproof

waterproof

stick-proof

and stain-resistant

like non-stick pans

and Scotchgard

and PFOA

was only one

of more than

60,000

synthetic chemicals

that companies

like DuPont

produced and released

into the world

without regulatory

oversight

and thankfully

God used

Robert Billet

who is a Christian

to expose

DuPont's evil deeds

and DuPont

has already had

to pay

a total settlement

value of over

753 million dollars

for personal injuries

that they cost

and more is

coming to light

but for five decades

they did their

evil deeds

stealthily

in ambush

in hiding places

telling themselves

there is no God

I shall not

be moved

throughout all

generations

I shall not

meet adversity

God has forgotten

he has hidden

his face

he will never

see it

that's the case

for all

evildoers

maybe some of you

are doing

evil in secret

but if you are

sinning

and perpetrating

justice

thinking that you

will never be

found out

thinking that

there is no God

or that God

will never see it

then be warned

because God

is not blind

and he is

not deaf

and he is

not far away

our God

is the all

seeing

all knowing

God

he is attentive

to the cries

of his people

and he is near

he is the God

who is with us

Emmanuel

and that brings me

to my second point

in verses 12

to 18

the psalmist

answers

the presumptuous

boasting of the wicked

with his declarations

of faith

so first

the wicked

said in verse 11

God is forgotten

but the psalmist

prays in verse 12

forget not

the afflicted

the wicked

said in verse 11

God will never

see it

but the psalmist

says in verse 14

you do see

for you note

mischief and vexation

the wicked

boasted

of the desires

of his soul

in verse 3

and took advantage

of the poor

but the psalmist

prays in verse 7

oh Lord

you hear the desire

of the afflicted

the wicked

believed

in verse 5

that God's judgments

are on high

out of sight

but the psalmist

believes in verse 18

that God will do

justice

to the fatherless

and the oppressed

and there are two

related words

in Hebrew

the wicked

boasted in verse 13

that God will not

call him to account

but the psalmist

declares in verse 15

that God will

call his wickedness

to account

the wicked

renounce God

in their heart

in verse 6

11 and 13

but the psalmist

declares that the Lord

strengthens the heart

of the afflicted

in verse 17

so point

by point

by point

the psalmist

counters

the presumptuous

boasting

of the wicked

when it was

the wicked

versus the poor

the wicked

won

and trampled

all over the poor

but the psalmist

declares that

now the Lord

God himself

will take up

the cause

of the poor

because God

cares

about the cause

of the innocent

poor

and if God

cares about

the cause

the plight

of the afflicted

we as God's

people

also should

care about

the plight

of the afflicted

now

I want you to know

I'm going to

qualify this

because I'm not

saying

that you all

need to be

doing something

about all of

the injustices

in this world

there are tens

of thousands

of injustices

in the world

and Christians

cannot possibly

be doing something

about every single

one

at least not

every single

one of us

some of you

will

be in different

things

and that's

okay

that we

can't do

that

because we're

finite creatures

and limited

in our capacity

but it's

not okay

to not

care

about the

injustices

of the world

if we hear

about various

injustices

of the world

but they don't

make us

indignant

and they

don't break

our hearts

if we don't

care about

them

that means

we don't

care about

the things

that God

cares about

and that's

not okay

if injustice

in the world

don't make

us cry out

arise

oh Lord

then we

ourselves

need to be

aroused

out of our

apathy

the psalmist

is not aloof

he's not

disinterested

he's gutted

by the injustices

that he sees

all around him

and so he appeals

to God

in verse 12

arise

oh Lord

oh God

lift up your

hand

forget not

the afflicted

when the wicked

say there is

no God

we say

arise

oh God

when the

righteous

start

to lose

heart

they begin

to despair

and say

there is

no God

but we

must not

do that

when God

seems absent

when we

most need

him

we must

not despair

and say

there is

no God

instead

we turn

to God

when we

appeal to

him in

faith

we call

upon him

to act

arise

oh Lord

this is a

very common

refrain

in the

lament

psalms

arise

oh God

arise

oh Lord

psalm 3

7

says

arise

oh Lord

save me

oh my

God

psalm 7

6

arise

oh Lord

in your

anger

lift yourself

up against

the fury

of my

enemies

awake

for me

psalm

9

19

says

arise

oh Lord

let not

man

prevail

psalm

17

13

arise

oh Lord

confront

him

subdue

him

deliver

my

soul

from

the

wicked

psalm

74

22

arise

oh God

defend

your

cause

psalm

82

8

arise

oh God

judge

the earth

the phrase

arise

oh Lord

comes from

numbers

10

34

to 36

when the

Israelites

were journeying

in the

wilderness

and when

they were

facing

enemies

who were

occupying

the land

of Canaan

before

anybody

from the

camp of

Israel

was set

out

it was

the

ark

of God

which

represents

the presence

of God

among his

people

because it

stands

for God's

footstool

the ark

of God

would be

the first

to rise

and be

taken up

so it

would lead

the

vanguard

in the

charge

in battle

and so it's

really a

battle cry

so Moses

would say

arise oh

Lord

and let

your enemies

be scattered

and let

those who

hate you

flee before

you

so it's

figurative of

course

because you

know it's

not like God

is actually

sitting or

lying down

and or

asleep and

needs to be

aroused

but it's a

bold prayer

calling God

to act

on our

behalf

God do

something

see how

these evil

doers

revile you

see how

your people

are oppressed

rise up

oh Lord

stand up

for us

fight

for us

crying out

to God

for vengeance

may not

fit some of

our politically

correct sensibilities

but I dare

say that

that's because

we have not

known

true suffering

to those

who have

been unjustly

deprived

by the

wicked

so that

their

children

are

starving

but don't

know where

their next

meal is

coming from

to those

people who

wake up

in the

morning

wondering

whether

they'll

be raped

again

that day

to those

who have

been

widowed

and orphaned

by the

ravaging

violence

of the

wicked

it would

be terribly

callous

to speak

nonchalantly

of a loving

God who

never punishes

evildoers

the people

need

these people

need to

hear of

the God

of wrath

of the

God

of justice

they need

to hear

the battle

cry

arise

oh God

because

God's

vengeance

is an

expression

of God's

love

for the

oppressed

so the

psalmist

doesn't

mince words

he says

in verses

14 to

15

that the

Lord

will take

it into

his hands

to be

the helper

of the

helpless

and he

prays to

God

break the

arm

of the

wicked

and

evildoer

call

his

wickedness

to account

till you

find

none

notice

that the

psalmist

does not

try to

take matters

into his

own hands

he rather

prays that

God will

take matters

into his

own hands

and break

the arm

of the

wicked

that had

seized

the poor

the strong

hands of

the Lord

will break

the seemingly

strong hands

of the

wicked

that's why

Romans 12

19

it says

beloved

never avenge

yourselves

but leave

it to

the wrath

of God

for it

is written

vengeance

is mine

I will

repay

says the

Lord

the reason

why

Christians

can have

a non

retaliatory

personal

ethic

and turn

the other

cheek

to those

who slap

them

and forgive

their enemies

and love

their enemies

and be content

not to avenge

themselves

the reason

why we can

follow that

ethic

that Jesus

taught us

is because

we entrust

ourselves

to God

of justice

who will

ultimately

act

and ultimately

avenge

and note

that God

hasn't yet

done this

this is why

the psalmist

is lamenting

he's appealing

to God

to act

but the basis

for the psalmist

faith

that God

will intervene

is the

Lord's

kingship

he says

in verse 16

the Lord

is king

forever and

ever

even when

dictators

and warlords

and pimps

and slave

traders are

running rampant

the Lord

is still

king

and because

the Lord

is still

king

we appeal

to him

to act

arise

oh Lord

everyone

will be

called to

account

the bill

will come

due for

all those

who do

evil

and this

is good

news

for the

innocent

poor

who are

afflicted

but what

about

for the

wicked

is there

any hope

of mercy

for the

wicked

what if

we

are the

wicked

who have

lived as

functional

atheists

living for

ourselves

and taking

advantage of

others as if

God will not

do anything

about it

what if

we are

part of

the problem

part of

the injustices

of this

world

the times

one sent

out an

inquiry to

famous

authors

throughout

the world

asking them

to answer

the question

what's

wrong

with the

world

today

and G.K.

Chesterton

an English

author and

philosopher

and defender

of the

Christian

faith

reputedly

responded

with the

simple

short

letter

dear

sir

I am

yours

G.K.

Chesterton

what is

wrong with

the world

today

I am

injustice

are in

the world

because

we

are

sinful

and

because

we

are

living

in

rebellion

against

God

and

this

is

precisely

why

God

sent

his

only

son

Jesus

Christ

into

the

world

to

die

on

the

cross

for

our

sins

the

crucifixion

of

Jesus

is

the

worst

injustice

ever

committed

by

humanity

because

Jesus

was

the

perfect

son

of

God

the

holy

one

the

righteous

one

unlike

the

rest

of

us

he

had

never

sinned

and

he

was

the

infinitely

worthy

son

of

God

his

only

begotten

son

and

so

his

betrayal

torture

and

murder

are

the

most

egregious

acts

of

injustice

ever

perpetrated

by

mankind

but

through

that

seemingly

senseless

suffering

and

death

Jesus

paid

for

our

sins

and

he

satisfied

God's

just

wrath

towards

sinners

and

he

absorbed

the

full

fury

of

divine

vengeance

upon

himself

so that

the demands

of God's

justice

may be

satisfied

so that

even the

wicked

if we

turn to

him

if we

repent

can be

forgiven

without compromising

the justice

of God

and

if the

worst

injustice

in human

history

brought

salvation

then

we

can

trust

that

even

the

injustices

that

we

endure

and

we

see

will

ultimately

serve

God's

good

purposes

in the

end

so let's

keep appealing

to him

praying

to him

crying out

to him

arise

oh

lord

arise

oh

lord

let's

pray

together

arise

oh

lord

and

act

on

behalf

of

the

afflicted

and

the

poor

and

help

especially

your

children

who

are

persecuted

around

the

globe

our

fellow

brothers

and

sisters

in

Christ

and

help

all

believers

who are

enduring

suffering

of any

kind

to

endure

with

hope

and

to

never

stop

appealing

and

crying

out

to

you

to

never

lose

faith

that

you

are

there

and

that

you

see

and

that

you

hear

and

that

you

act

fill

us

with

faith

now

to

live

in

that

way

in

Jesus

name

amen

so

and

you

and

you