Wednesday 2 April 2025

Psalm 107:33-43

Background
Some of the most familiar words in Isaiah are found in the 'Servant Songs', of which this is the first. But who is this servant? Much ink has been spilt trying to answer this question. Is the servant the people of Israel, who were charged with serving and worshipping God with their heart, soul and strength, and with carrying God’s light among the nations? Anyone reading the first 39 chapters of Isaiah would not recognise the qualities of the servant in the life of the nation as Isaiah describes it. Or is the servant, as many Christians have suggested, a pointer to the coming saviour, Jesus Christ, who certainly embodied the qualities described here? Finally, perhaps the servant is an idealised portrait of one who embodies all that God desires his people to be.

Whoever the servant has represented through the centuries, we must interpret these words for our times. In the first verse, we hear God commending and commissioning his servant for the task. God’s power is with the servant for one overriding purpose: to uphold justice. It would be tempting to assume that justice is just a legal idea – images of law courts and bewigged barristers arguing over legal details may distract us. But justice here means more than legal settlements between citizens. The word applies to the balance of the whole created order. It is not something that is found progressively over time through legal argument, it comes directly from the nature and purposes of God. Hence it can’t be separated from truth and faithfulness, even though finding it in a world where truth and faithfulness are so underrated may be a great challenge.

If we seek to live in God’s way, we must make it our priority to understand what God’s justice really is. We will catch glimpses of justice wherever God’s people seek to live faithfully, where hospitality is offered and forgiveness is practised. We will see it in self-giving generosity and among aid workers in war zones, for example. Justice is not an extra to our faith, it’s at the heart of God’s purposes.

To Ponder:

• Sometimes, God’s justice is presented as a scary idea, associated with wrongdoing and punishment. What do you understand God’s justice to be?
• If justice is about restoring balance to the whole created order, what injustices concern you in today’s world?

Prayer
God of justice, sometimes the world seems a confusing and fractured place. Help me to understand where justice is to be found, and to rejoice in it. Help me not to be overwhelmed by the injustice I find, but to consider my response and to join in with the work of the servant: bringing justice to those on earth. Amen.

Bible notes author: Bob Bartindale
Bob Bartindale is a local preacher in the Bramhall & Wythenshawe Circuit near Manchester. He currently serves as the Officer for Local Preachers and Worship Leaders in the Methodist Connexional Team.