City Life Starter

Written by Stefan Johnsson

The Word

⁶ “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied.

Matthew 5:6 (NASB)

Psalm 50 (NASB)

God, the Judge of the Righteous and the Wicked.

A Psalm of Asaph.

50 The Mighty One, God, the Lord, has spoken
And summoned the earth, from the rising of the sun to its setting.
² Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty,
God has shone.
³ May our God come and not keep silent;
Fire devours before Him,
And a storm is violently raging around Him.
⁴ He summons the heavens above,
And the earth, to judge His people:
⁵ “Gather My godly ones to Me,
Those who have made a covenant with Me by sacrifice.”
⁶ And the heavens declare His righteousness,
For God Himself is judge. Selah

⁷ “Hear, My people, and I will speak;
Israel, I will testify against you;
I am God, your God.
⁸ I do not rebuke you for your sacrifices,
And your burnt offerings are continually before Me.
⁹ I will not take a bull from your house,
Nor male goats from your folds.
¹⁰ For every animal of the forest is Mine,
The cattle on a thousand hills.
¹¹ I know every bird of the mountains,
And everything that moves in the field is Mine.
¹² If I were hungry I would not tell you,
For the world is Mine, and everything it contains.
¹³ Shall I eat the flesh of bulls
Or drink the blood of male goats?
¹⁴ Offer God a sacrifice of thanksgiving
And pay your vows to the Most High;
¹⁵ Call upon Me on the day of trouble;
I will rescue you, and you will honor Me.”

¹⁶ But to the wicked God says,
“What right do you have to tell of My statutes
And to take My covenant in your mouth?
¹⁷ For you yourself hate discipline,
And you throw My words behind you.
¹⁸ When you see a thief, you become friends with him,
And you associate with adulterers.
¹⁹ You let your mouth loose in evil,
And your tongue harnesses deceit.
²⁰ You sit and speak against your brother;
You slander your own mother’s son.
²¹ These things you have done and I kept silent;
You thought that I was just like you;
I will rebuke you and present the case before your eyes.

²² “Now consider this, you who forget God,
Or I will tear you in pieces, and there will be no one to save you.
²³ He who offers a sacrifice of thanksgiving honors Me;
And to him who sets his way properly
I will show the salvation of God.”

Reflection

We often forget what kind of society that the first Christians lived in. They were originally Jews who were oppressed by Romans, then they became Christians persecuted, tortured, and killed by their brethren, and finally killed, burned, and tortured by the Romans. If you wish to have fought for the rights of Christians in the Roman society, then it would’ve been a just cause, but you would probably not survive very long in your endeavors.

So why would Christians be comforted when they strive after righteousness? The early Christians weren’t shown any during their lifetimes. It is simply that Christians know a very important fact. God will judge everyone according to their sin in this life and/or the next. A chasm will form between those who are saved by Jesus’ blood and those who are not. Justice will be served, but not by us. This is why we can take comfort that God is just and God is righteous. He will met out justice, and we are to pray, hunger, and thirst for this. And we can do so with the knowledge that it will happen, if not on this earth, then the next.

Today, we are so caught up to in social injustices that it is hard at times to decipher between what cause is Biblically aligned and what society is trying to push their values on us. There are also too many issues politically motivated and wants to make us divisive as people and drive a wedge between Christians. We are caught up in picking a side that we forget what it means to strive after God and His justice. We want to take it into our own hands and this brings anxiety, stress, and anger. Rather, ask God to bring about change and live your own life with a high level of integrity.

When we hunger and thirst for God’s righteousness, we can then be His light to the darkened places of this world we live in.

Application

Are you crying out for God to bring justice to the oppressed on this earth? We can cry out for this and be a light to a broken society. Let us show people who God is and that He is just and cares for the hurting and destitute.

Reflect on Psalm 50 above and seek what God may be telling you through His word.

Prayer

Thank you Father in heaven for being such a loving God. You give us the freedom to choose to love You and You love people enough to choose their own evil ways. Yet, I pray for Your justice to help the oppressed and poor, to bring righteousness to a broken society. Help me be a part of this change. In the name of Jesus I pray, amen.