From the very birth of Israel as a nation she was beset with persecution (as predicted in Genesis 3:15). Prayers for justice against adversaries were therefore a regular part of the life of the nation. The psalmists looked forward to a final day of judgement upon evildoers but they also cried out to God for a foretaste of this judgement. We cannot expect complete justice on earth until the final day of judgement, but we can nevertheless pray for some temporal justice in the meantime. It is interesting to note that, when Jesus illustrates persistence in prayer, he uses the example of a widow praying for justice against an adversary (Luke 18:1-8). He is inviting us to pray as the psalmists did for temporal judgement against those who persecute and oppress. Does this contradict Jesus previous exhortation to “pray for those who persecute you”? He doesn’t say that we should pray against our adversary, he says that we should pray for them, implying a request for them to find mercy with God. However, it is not a contradiction to pray for temporal justice together with final salvation for evildoers. Often, a dose of temporal justice can lead evildoers to seek God for mercy. So, the two can go together quite naturally. Being gracious does not mean that we allow people to walk all over us. We can seek justice so long as we don’t make ourselves into the judge.
Ask God for justice and mercy where it is needed.
Read Psalm 129
