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Justice: The Foundation of God's Throne
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Connected by scripture or shared themes.
Justice: The Foundation of God's Throne
Continue exploring
Connected by scripture or shared themes.
God is just, and that is why the Psalmist said, "Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne." Micah has shown us what is good and what the Lord requires of us: to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with our God.
Yet we live in a world where justice is not exercised. A casual review of our daily newspapers and news broadcasts reveals cases of injustice ranging from abused children and women, to widows dispossessed of their properties, to abused students by teachers, to abused congregations by their pastors. We see abused IDPs and refugees, households whose wages have been withheld after working long hours, poorly paid daily wage earners, couples whose babies are sold at birth, families whose loved ones die in the hands of negligent doctors, and doctors who have worked months without salaries or protective gear.
We read of unconvicted economy looters whom we mistakenly refer to as our leaders, who grab our lands, our roads, our dams, our stadiums—which appear only on papers while nothing exists on the actual site. There is crying for justice everywhere in our nation.
If Amos lived in our dress, he would prophesy the same way he prophesied to the Israelites. In Amos 5:22-24, he speaks the Lord's word:
"Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Though you bring choice fellowship offerings, I will not accept them. Though you bring your offerings, I will no longer regard them. Away with your noise of your songs—I will not listen to the music of your harps. But let justice roll like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream."
God says He is ready not to accept our offerings, not to listen to us when we sing or worship, and not to regard our fellowship offerings. Why? Because He Himself is justice. Justice is one word we can use to define the character of God.
God says the foundation of His throne is justice. There is no building that can stand without a foundation, and God declares that the foundation of His throne is justice—moral uprightness, doing that which is right, exercising justice among the nations.
This is why we as human beings and believers can stand on His word. Part of being just is ensuring that He does that which His word says, and ensuring that He is bound by His word. That is why we sing, "Standing on the promises of God." We are able to sing such a song because the foundation of His throne is righteousness. He is bound by the word He has given to each one of us.
Justice is one of the attributes that defines who God is. Remove justice and God stops being God the way we know Him and the way He describes Himself. He cannot stand without justice; His throne, His kingdom cannot stand without justice.
If the foundation of His throne is justice, what does He expect of the subjects whose God's foundation is justice? Micah says, "He has showed you, O man, what is good. He has showed you what is right. What is good is to act justly."
When we do not act justly, we are not working in accordance with what He has showed us. He has showed us through His word, through the many messages we have listened to, through the many Bible studies we have been in—what is good is to act justly.
It is unfortunate that even among us as believers, and certainly among those outside the church and outside of faith, there is still so much injustice. Ask households who have worked for believers. Ask daily wage earners who have worked for believers. Ask people who have worked in churches and Christian organizations.
There are acts of injustices in our families and extended families. Perhaps we feel most comfortable as believers when we just keep quiet when we witness acts of injustice in our communities, our nations, our neighborhoods, our own families—so long as it is not us who are exercising that injustice, we think we can get away with it. But that is not what is biblical. The Bible tells us He has showed you, O man, what is right, what is good for you to do—and what is good is to act justly and to work humbly with your God.
It is not just a matter of working humbly after we have exercised justice, after we have lived uprightly in the context where He has put us.
God expects that when He has given us families, we shall teach our children to act justly. In Genesis 18:19, God says about Abraham:
"For I have chosen him so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just, so that the Lord will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him."
God chose Abraham so that he would direct his children and household to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just. God expects that we shall instruct our children to exercise justice in whatever they do. And that is how God fulfills the promises He has given to Abraham.
Could it be that there are some promises we try to claim, but because of injustice we have allowed to be perpetrated in our families—because we are not teaching justice to our children, grandchildren, nephews, and nieces—God does not act when we try to claim the promises? When we sing, "Standing on the promises of God," God can look at us and say, "I'm not accepting this one. First, go and teach your children. First, go and teach your nieces and nephews. Teach those small cousins to walk justly and to exercise justice."
You can see why these are the same people who, ten years from now, fifteen years from now, you will meet in a government office and they are not exercising justice. Ten years from now, those will be the politicians looting your economy. Those nieces and nephews will be the doctor who makes drugs disappear from a government hospital. They will be the nurses who sell babies. They will be the policemen. They will be those people you keep complaining about. So if you want God to fulfill the promises He has given you, teach them to act justly when they are young.
When God gives you possession of authority—when He puts people under you—He expects you to govern with justice. Because of God's love for His people and His desire to uphold them forever, He made you king over them to maintain justice and righteousness.
Because of God's love for those people, He has put you over them. Because of God's love for that household, because of God's love for those small children in your Sunday school class or in your classroom, because of God's love for those students in the university lecture hall, because of God's love for the citizens you oversee if you are a political leader, because of God's love for the patients you treat as a doctor, because of God's love for motorists if you are a policeman at traffic—because of God's love for His people, He has given you a possession of authority so that you may govern them with justice, so that you may maintain justice over them, so that you may hold righteousness over them, so that you may do what is right over them.
It is unfortunate that when we as leaders occupy positions of authority, the subjects tremble under the weight of injustice. In this country, since 2014, the corruption tracker has registered in newspaper headlines millions here, billions there, hundreds of billions there. They have registered eight trillion shillings that have either been misused or stolen. Projects were started and never finished. White elephant projects. The laptops project, the Galana project, Said Kimwua—all of those you add together, you get about eight trillion shillings. That is injustice. That is money that has been deducted from your salaries, money that will continue to be deducted for many years as we repay loans.
It is not justice. Yet because of His love for His people, He appoints leaders so that they can maintain justice and exercise righteousness among the people. He has showed you, O man, what is good, and what does God require of you but to act justly and to walk humbly with your God? Because the foundation of His throne is justice and truth and righteousness go before Him.
Father, we thank you. We apologize for times we have not exercised justice. We come before you and repent of the sin of injustice. Whether in our families, whether in places of work, whether in other institutions where you have given us authority over people whom you love and expect us to maintain justice and righteousness over them—forgive us.
When we do not know who God is, then we do not really care for what He cares for. We know many characteristics of God: He is powerful, He is faithful, He is loving. But rarely do we consider Him as a just God. God's throne's foundation is justice. That is mind-blowing. We need a new revelation of that—that God is just.
Lord God, your throne is founded on justice. If we are called your holy priests, if we are called your holy nation, it means we need to understand who you are and whose we are. Please transform our view of you. Help us understand how much it means to you—that you would even send Israel into exile because you cared about justice.
Please change our thoughts and our minds about you and your character and the things that you hold important. Perhaps we need to cry out in repentance because we haven't dealt justly with those around us—with our colleagues, with our house help. We haven't dealt justly with our relatives. The land and court cases you probably are in is because of injustice. Perhaps we need to look inside and cry out to God.
Father, help us. Forgive us, O Lord. Before we can even pray for anyone, let's begin praying for ourselves. Jesus, you see our hearts. You are all-knowing, so we cannot hide from you. Psalm 139 says that even if we hide in the darkness, darkness cannot hide us. Please, Lord, forgive us where we have not acted in justice. Forgive us where we have not spoken words that bring about justice. Forgive us for how we treat one another, how we have treated the widows, how we have treated the poor.
It is not only doing it ourselves, but we haven't spoken up. We haven't spoken up in our nation. So please forgive us. We have watched it in the confines of our safe spaces and thought we would not be held accountable. But, Lord, you chose us to spread this justice in the land. Would you give us courage to do so? Give us courage to do so, but also to admit that we are wrong.
Lord, you are welcome in our lives. Deal with us. Begin with us. Begin here in our homes, in our marriages, in our offices where we are employed and being seen. Help us, O Lord.
We also need to teach justice to our children, to our grandchildren, to our nephews and nieces. If you feel like the moment has passed with your children, you have grandchildren, you have people who are called to you—they are teachable, they are around you. Have you taught justice to them? Lord, would you give us wisdom on how to teach your precepts and your rules to the next generation? Father, may we not neglect this next generation. May it not be said as it was said in the generation after Joshua—that there came about a generation that did not know you. Not on our watch, O Lord.
Arise amongst us—arise the church, Lord—not just those who gather here but those who gather all over the world. Arise, God, and help us be posed to teach those who are coming after us that you are just, that you are faithful, that your throne is founded on these things. Help them not forget, that they would speak out.
Right now, we want to begin praying for the leaders in this country—which includes you, because you are a leader in one respect or another—and for our government officials and all those people. Lord, please help us become that which you want us to be—just leaders, just employers, just doctors, just bosses.
Lord, please help us become that light, that city on a hill, your representatives here on earth. To be your representatives, the things that matter to you ought to matter to us. If justice matters to you, it ought to matter to us, and we need to act on it everywhere we go.
We commit all these leaders, all the future leaders, Lord—even those in government. It is not too far for us to cry out for them, O Lord. Would you come? Please help us become those people when we are being seen and when we are not being seen. Help us become those people not just by speech but by action. Please come, Lord.
Lord, let no one leave this service the same again. Help us contemplate what you are saying. Help us evaluate our lives and who we have really been, what is required from us to do justice, to walk humbly before the Lord. In Jesus' name we pray and believe. Amen.
God is just, and that is why the Psalmist said, "Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne." Micah has shown us what is good and what the Lord requires of us: to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with our God.
Yet we live in a world where justice is not exercised. A casual review of our daily newspapers and news broadcasts reveals cases of injustice ranging from abused children and women, to widows dispossessed of their properties, to abused students by teachers, to abused congregations by their pastors. We see abused IDPs and refugees, households whose wages have been withheld after working long hours, poorly paid daily wage earners, couples whose babies are sold at birth, families whose loved ones die in the hands of negligent doctors, and doctors who have worked months without salaries or protective gear.
We read of unconvicted economy looters whom we mistakenly refer to as our leaders, who grab our lands, our roads, our dams, our stadiums—which appear only on papers while nothing exists on the actual site. There is crying for justice everywhere in our nation.
If Amos lived in our dress, he would prophesy the same way he prophesied to the Israelites. In Amos 5:22-24, he speaks the Lord's word:
"Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Though you bring choice fellowship offerings, I will not accept them. Though you bring your offerings, I will no longer regard them. Away with your noise of your songs—I will not listen to the music of your harps. But let justice roll like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream."
God says He is ready not to accept our offerings, not to listen to us when we sing or worship, and not to regard our fellowship offerings. Why? Because He Himself is justice. Justice is one word we can use to define the character of God.
God says the foundation of His throne is justice. There is no building that can stand without a foundation, and God declares that the foundation of His throne is justice—moral uprightness, doing that which is right, exercising justice among the nations.
This is why we as human beings and believers can stand on His word. Part of being just is ensuring that He does that which His word says, and ensuring that He is bound by His word. That is why we sing, "Standing on the promises of God." We are able to sing such a song because the foundation of His throne is righteousness. He is bound by the word He has given to each one of us.
Justice is one of the attributes that defines who God is. Remove justice and God stops being God the way we know Him and the way He describes Himself. He cannot stand without justice; His throne, His kingdom cannot stand without justice.
If the foundation of His throne is justice, what does He expect of the subjects whose God's foundation is justice? Micah says, "He has showed you, O man, what is good. He has showed you what is right. What is good is to act justly."
When we do not act justly, we are not working in accordance with what He has showed us. He has showed us through His word, through the many messages we have listened to, through the many Bible studies we have been in—what is good is to act justly.
It is unfortunate that even among us as believers, and certainly among those outside the church and outside of faith, there is still so much injustice. Ask households who have worked for believers. Ask daily wage earners who have worked for believers. Ask people who have worked in churches and Christian organizations.
There are acts of injustices in our families and extended families. Perhaps we feel most comfortable as believers when we just keep quiet when we witness acts of injustice in our communities, our nations, our neighborhoods, our own families—so long as it is not us who are exercising that injustice, we think we can get away with it. But that is not what is biblical. The Bible tells us He has showed you, O man, what is right, what is good for you to do—and what is good is to act justly and to work humbly with your God.
It is not just a matter of working humbly after we have exercised justice, after we have lived uprightly in the context where He has put us.
God expects that when He has given us families, we shall teach our children to act justly. In Genesis 18:19, God says about Abraham:
"For I have chosen him so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just, so that the Lord will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him."
God chose Abraham so that he would direct his children and household to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just. God expects that we shall instruct our children to exercise justice in whatever they do. And that is how God fulfills the promises He has given to Abraham.
Could it be that there are some promises we try to claim, but because of injustice we have allowed to be perpetrated in our families—because we are not teaching justice to our children, grandchildren, nephews, and nieces—God does not act when we try to claim the promises? When we sing, "Standing on the promises of God," God can look at us and say, "I'm not accepting this one. First, go and teach your children. First, go and teach your nieces and nephews. Teach those small cousins to walk justly and to exercise justice."
You can see why these are the same people who, ten years from now, fifteen years from now, you will meet in a government office and they are not exercising justice. Ten years from now, those will be the politicians looting your economy. Those nieces and nephews will be the doctor who makes drugs disappear from a government hospital. They will be the nurses who sell babies. They will be the policemen. They will be those people you keep complaining about. So if you want God to fulfill the promises He has given you, teach them to act justly when they are young.
When God gives you possession of authority—when He puts people under you—He expects you to govern with justice. Because of God's love for His people and His desire to uphold them forever, He made you king over them to maintain justice and righteousness.
Because of God's love for those people, He has put you over them. Because of God's love for that household, because of God's love for those small children in your Sunday school class or in your classroom, because of God's love for those students in the university lecture hall, because of God's love for the citizens you oversee if you are a political leader, because of God's love for the patients you treat as a doctor, because of God's love for motorists if you are a policeman at traffic—because of God's love for His people, He has given you a possession of authority so that you may govern them with justice, so that you may maintain justice over them, so that you may hold righteousness over them, so that you may do what is right over them.
It is unfortunate that when we as leaders occupy positions of authority, the subjects tremble under the weight of injustice. In this country, since 2014, the corruption tracker has registered in newspaper headlines millions here, billions there, hundreds of billions there. They have registered eight trillion shillings that have either been misused or stolen. Projects were started and never finished. White elephant projects. The laptops project, the Galana project, Said Kimwua—all of those you add together, you get about eight trillion shillings. That is injustice. That is money that has been deducted from your salaries, money that will continue to be deducted for many years as we repay loans.
It is not justice. Yet because of His love for His people, He appoints leaders so that they can maintain justice and exercise righteousness among the people. He has showed you, O man, what is good, and what does God require of you but to act justly and to walk humbly with your God? Because the foundation of His throne is justice and truth and righteousness go before Him.
Father, we thank you. We apologize for times we have not exercised justice. We come before you and repent of the sin of injustice. Whether in our families, whether in places of work, whether in other institutions where you have given us authority over people whom you love and expect us to maintain justice and righteousness over them—forgive us.
When we do not know who God is, then we do not really care for what He cares for. We know many characteristics of God: He is powerful, He is faithful, He is loving. But rarely do we consider Him as a just God. God's throne's foundation is justice. That is mind-blowing. We need a new revelation of that—that God is just.
Lord God, your throne is founded on justice. If we are called your holy priests, if we are called your holy nation, it means we need to understand who you are and whose we are. Please transform our view of you. Help us understand how much it means to you—that you would even send Israel into exile because you cared about justice.
Please change our thoughts and our minds about you and your character and the things that you hold important. Perhaps we need to cry out in repentance because we haven't dealt justly with those around us—with our colleagues, with our house help. We haven't dealt justly with our relatives. The land and court cases you probably are in is because of injustice. Perhaps we need to look inside and cry out to God.
Father, help us. Forgive us, O Lord. Before we can even pray for anyone, let's begin praying for ourselves. Jesus, you see our hearts. You are all-knowing, so we cannot hide from you. Psalm 139 says that even if we hide in the darkness, darkness cannot hide us. Please, Lord, forgive us where we have not acted in justice. Forgive us where we have not spoken words that bring about justice. Forgive us for how we treat one another, how we have treated the widows, how we have treated the poor.
It is not only doing it ourselves, but we haven't spoken up. We haven't spoken up in our nation. So please forgive us. We have watched it in the confines of our safe spaces and thought we would not be held accountable. But, Lord, you chose us to spread this justice in the land. Would you give us courage to do so? Give us courage to do so, but also to admit that we are wrong.
Lord, you are welcome in our lives. Deal with us. Begin with us. Begin here in our homes, in our marriages, in our offices where we are employed and being seen. Help us, O Lord.
We also need to teach justice to our children, to our grandchildren, to our nephews and nieces. If you feel like the moment has passed with your children, you have grandchildren, you have people who are called to you—they are teachable, they are around you. Have you taught justice to them? Lord, would you give us wisdom on how to teach your precepts and your rules to the next generation? Father, may we not neglect this next generation. May it not be said as it was said in the generation after Joshua—that there came about a generation that did not know you. Not on our watch, O Lord.
Arise amongst us—arise the church, Lord—not just those who gather here but those who gather all over the world. Arise, God, and help us be posed to teach those who are coming after us that you are just, that you are faithful, that your throne is founded on these things. Help them not forget, that they would speak out.
Right now, we want to begin praying for the leaders in this country—which includes you, because you are a leader in one respect or another—and for our government officials and all those people. Lord, please help us become that which you want us to be—just leaders, just employers, just doctors, just bosses.
Lord, please help us become that light, that city on a hill, your representatives here on earth. To be your representatives, the things that matter to you ought to matter to us. If justice matters to you, it ought to matter to us, and we need to act on it everywhere we go.
We commit all these leaders, all the future leaders, Lord—even those in government. It is not too far for us to cry out for them, O Lord. Would you come? Please help us become those people when we are being seen and when we are not being seen. Help us become those people not just by speech but by action. Please come, Lord.
Lord, let no one leave this service the same again. Help us contemplate what you are saying. Help us evaluate our lives and who we have really been, what is required from us to do justice, to walk humbly before the Lord. In Jesus' name we pray and believe. Amen.
