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Trusting God for Justice

Ordinary Time (Second Section)Policing, Accountability and Community Trust Week 39 · Day 7

Scripture References

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Old Testament

Psalm 37:3-7

³ Trust in the LORD, and do good. Dwell in the land, and enjoy safe pasture.
⁴ Also delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.
⁵ Commit your way to the LORD. Trust also in him, and he will do this:

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⁶ he will make your righteousness shine out like light, and your justice as the noon day sun.
⁷ Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him. Don’t fret because of him who prospers in his way, because of the man who makes wicked plots happen.

New Testament

1 Peter 2:21-23

²¹ For you were called to this, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving you an example, that you should follow his steps,
²² who didn’t sin, “neither was deceit found in his mouth.”
²³ When he was cursed, he didn’t curse back. When he suffered, he didn’t threaten, but committed himself to him who judges righteously.

Thought for the Day

Psalm 37 teaches a patient posture: trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness; commit your way to him. It does not deny injustice. It refuses to let injustice become the centre of the heart. Waiting becomes a kind of obedience.

Peter points us to Christ, who suffered without returning insult for insult. When he was threatened, he did not threaten back, but “continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.” There is a way of carrying wrong that does not become bitterness, because it is held by God.

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For communities that have been harmed, talk of patience can sound cruel. Scripture does not ask us to pretend. It invites us to seek justice while refusing to be consumed. We can pursue what is right, report what is true, demand accountability, and still place ultimate judgment in the Lord’s hands.

Lord, give courage to those waiting for justice. Comfort those who fear that truth will be buried. Strengthen all who labour for reform and repair. And keep our hearts from corrosive anger. Teach us to do good while we wait, trusting the Judge who is never indifferent and never hurried, and hold us in your peace.

Prayer Points

Respond

Comfort those harmed by injustice; give safety, support, and a path toward truth and repair.
Strengthen those pursuing accountability and reform; protect them from exhaustion and despair.
Give courage to speak truth and patience to endure process; keep justice from being quietly abandoned.

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Guard our hearts from bitterness and vengeance; teach us to do good while we wait.
Fix our hope on Christ who entrusts himself to the just Judge, and make us steadfast in faith.

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