Today's Lectio 365 (app) prayer time focused on the joy and justice in Psalm 45:6-7.
"Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever; a scepter of justice will be the scepter of your kingdom. You love righteousness and hate wickedness; therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy."
Izwe Nkosi, the narrator of the prayer time today, said:
"Justice...and joy? To be honest, those are not words that I often put together. Mostly when I think about justice I think about injustice---the hurting, the desolation, the victims and perpetrators.
And yet I see in this passage that the God of justice is characterised by joy. In fact, the New King James version of these verses says that the God of justice is 'anointed with the oil of gladness MORE than all your companions.' As God practices justice, He does it with more joy than all of us!"
And then Mr. Nkosi prayed:
"God, I confess that as I practice justice, that often it's frustrated justice, exasperated justice, sometimes even depressed and despairing justice. In this time of quiet, I give you all those responses and emotions. I ask that you exchange them for your joy.
God I pray for justice activists on front lines everywhere. Those in back alleys, exposing human trafficking. Those combating systemic racial injustice. Those fighting economic injustice in lofty office towers. Those in the UN battling for climate change. I name justice activists I know personally before you now. Anoint them with the oil of joy, I pray."
AMEN.
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