This study was in part generated by my piece on Psalm 94 in my book Reflection: Journey through the Psalms. This particular Psalm is in the middle of a section in Book IV (93 – 100) called “Theocratic Psalms.” This Psalm is an appeal to the LORD as “Judge of the earth.” (Footnote: Concordia Study Bible, p.885, Psalm 94)
Justice (and injustice) are not foreign concepts in God’s Word. As Rabbi Toba Spitzer put it this way in his article, Tzedek: The Jewish Value of Justice, “God’s covenant with His people included specific provisions for human relations.” (paraphrased) He goes on to say that justice is “…a substantive vision of what human life should be.” And he concludes with a promise from Isaiah that when people do justice, “…they are watered like a garden.” (58:11)
The Bible is rich in quotes regarding justice, especially relating to honest scales and balances. Listen to the Proverb writer, “Honest scales and balances are from the LORD; all the weights in the bag are of His making.” (16:11) In Old Testament (“O. T.”) times, merchants carried stones of different sizes with them to weigh and measure quantities of silver for payment. (Source: Concordia Study Bible, p. 969) Later, the prophet Micah says, “shall I acquit a man with dishonest scales, with a bag of false weights?” (6:11)
The Scales of Justice were part and parcel of their covenant relationship with their God, i.e. how they should treat one another. God will surely deal with injustice. Isaiah said, “For I the LORD love justice; I hate robbery and wrong; I will faithfully give them their recompense…” (61:8 paraphrased). Again Isaiah says, “Thus says the LORD: Keep justice, and do righteousness, for soon my salvation will come and my righteousness be revealed.” (56:1) Of course, as Christians we know that salvation did come in the person of Jesus, the Christ who removed a very unbalanced scale loaded with sin. Researching the Jewish word for “justice,” I found that three words are used in Scripture: Tzedek, mishpat, and din. They can be translated as rightness(eousness), judgment, and abiding by the law. (Biblehub, 6664, 4941, and 1779 respectively)
The prophet Zechariah provides each of us with succinct rules for living under His covenant of grace and mercy. “This is what the LORD says:
- Administer true justice
- Show mercy and compassion to one another
- Don’t oppress the widow, fatherless, the alien, or poor; and
- Don’t think evil of one another.” (Zech 7:9-10)
The prophet Job was tested beyond what most humans could tolerate. Regardless of loosing everything (but his faith), he said in chapter thirty-one, “Let God weigh me in honest scales; and He will know that I am blameless.”
Are our scales in balance using honest weights? Like Job, we too can say that we are blameless before God’s throne based on our LORD’s atoning death, His burial, and His glorious resurrection over sin, death, and the Evil One. Listen to St. John in his first epistle, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9) Perhaps our guiding principle in this world of injustice is stated by the prophet Micah. I have memorized the three tenets using the acronym LAW. “Love mercy, act justly, and walk humbly with your God.” (Micah 6:8)
Peace
Connected in Him, I stand
GHR
Footnote: In my professional life as a pharmacist, I was trained on a very sensitive torsion prescription balance. This balance is used to measure very small quantities with a sensitivity of 2 milligrams. Various apothecary or metric weights are used as tare weights on the right-hand balance pan with the drug or chemical placed on the left-hand balance pan. Very small or fractional weights were available on an internal sliding bar in the balance itself.
