Devotional of the Week: Total Fairness (7 in Psalm 98 series)

Photo: Danny Ayers, flickr

He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples with equity. Psalm 98:9

Parents and carers often find themselves the arbiters of disputes: “That’s not fair!” or, “He did it!” or, “It’s her fault!” The quest for justice can feel unrelenting as the siblings compare the dollops of ice cream they receive or the amount of screen time they lose when they are punished. Surely one of the effects of the fall of humanity is this continual weighing out and complaining.

But praise the Lord, for he judges the world fairly. Unlike parents who might miss the fight in the kitchen, not knowing which child is at fault, he sees and knows all that happens. We can trust that he will be just in judging disputes, for after all, he defines the standard of fairness.

And not only is the Lord the ultimate judge, but in the form of Jesus he is also our advocate, pleading on our behalf before the Father and standing in our place to wipe our slate clean. When we surrender our lives to him, we can find ourselves transformed through his Holy Spirit. No longer do we wince when we receive the smallest piece of pie, but we rejoice over our sibling enjoying the piece covered with the biggest chunk of chocolate.

Praise the Lord with a new song! Shout for joy, all the earth!

Prayer: Lord, we worship and adore you. You make all things new; we sing with grateful hearts for your love, mercy and grace. Amen.