Sermon – Psalm 72 – Justice and Righteousness

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard

Sermon – Psalm 72 – Justice and Righteousness

First Presbyterian Church of Ocean City

December 4, 2016

I am continuing today with my sermon series entitled Psalms of Advent. Last week we accompanied a pilgrim coming to Jerusalem. She rejoiced because people in the city lived together harmoniously, they cared for the poor and needy, and were concerned with the shalom, the well-being of everyone. This is the vision of what a church should be like.

Today we will unpack the concept of caring for the poor and needy. There are four terms in the Bible, two in Hebrew and two in Greek, which refer to our responsibility to care for those in need. These terms appear in this context in scripture over 1000 times. By contrast, four terms that refer to sexual impropriety appear less than 100 times in the Bible. What do you think God is most concerned about? There is no question about it, God's primary concern is with how we treat the poor. We will get to this, but first let's pray.

“Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of thy heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety, to thy glory and our own edification. Amen.” (John Calvin)

The political and economic system established by God for his people was based on private property. This was done when the promised land was allocated to all the families and tribes of Israel. There was no need for a king in this system. All they needed was a system of rules that governed how to treat each other. Of course they also needed God. When they eventually acquired a king his responsibility was to protect the people from their enemies and see to it that the law of God was carried out, that the rule of law continued.

In a system based on private property it is the responsibility of everyone to work. Your ability to work is a blessing from God. And the fruit of your work blesses others. The was the covenant that God had established with Abraham. We are blessed to be a blessing. Money was established as the mechanism whereby you receive and give blessings. The world God created is a world of abundance so no one has to experience shortages of anything, provided they work. But some people refused to work. We read this in Proverbs 6

6 Go to the ant, you sluggard;
    consider its ways and be wise!7 It has no commander,
    no overseer or ruler,8 yet it stores its provisions in summer
    and gathers its food at harvest.

9 How long will you lie there, you sluggard?
    When will you get up from your sleep?10 A little sleep, a little slumber,
    a little folding of the hands to rest—11 and poverty will come on you like a thief
    and scarcity like an armed man.

In a system based on private property all are expected to work. You have no obligation to care for a person who can work but refuses to do so. If a person has capacity to work and work is available then he or she is under an obligation to work and support himself and family. But there are exceptions to this rule. And these exceptions bring us to Psalm 72.

Psalm 72

Of Solomon.

1 Endow the king with your justice, O God,
    the royal son with your righteousness.2 May he judge your people in righteousness,
    your afflicted ones with justice.

3 May the mountains bring prosperity to the people,
    the hills the fruit of righteousness.4 May he defend the afflicted among the people
    and save the children of the needy;
    may he crush the oppressor.5 May he endure[a] as long as the sun,
    as long as the moon, through all generations.6 May he be like rain falling on a mown field,
    like showers watering the earth.7 In his days may the righteous flourish
    and prosperity abound till the moon is no more.

12 For he will deliver the needy who cry out,
    the afflicted who have no one to help.13 He will take pity on the weak and the needy
    and save the needy from death.14 He will rescue them from oppression and violence,
    for precious is their blood in his sight.

Psalm 72 is a coronation Psalm. It was sung in Judah as the descendants of David were crowned king. And it reminded these kings of their responsibility to care for the poor and needy. In this prayer God was asked to give these kings the gifts of justice and righteousness. Let's look at what these terms mean.

Justice is how the NIV translated the Hebrew word mishpat. Mishpat refers to the obligation we have to care for people who have been impoverished because of a denial of their God given human rights. For example, when a man died without children it was the responsibility of his brother to marry the widow so that she will be cared for. A widow has the God given right to be cared for by her husband's family. But sometimes this right was denied, and widows were not cared for. Possibly the family had no sons and was financially unable to care for her. Maybe the family just didn't like her and threw her out. Whatever the reason, she would fine herself destitute, unable to work and support herself. When a situation like this occurred it was the obligation of the king to ensure that she was supported in some way. This responsibility was called mishpat, “justice”.

We have the same responsibility. If someone is poor because of some injustice we have an obligation as Christians to support that person. We must remove any authority or power that is causing that injustice. If someone is able to work and wants to work but cannot because of Government policies, Christians must seek to change those policies. If taxes or regulation or immigration policy prevent jobs from being available to those who wish to work, it is our responsibility to change those policies and get people to work. God created a world of abundance. There is no reason why everyone shouldn't have a job. If a person can work and wants to work but cannot find a job then we have an obligation to help. This obligation is called mishpat, “justice”.

When someone is poor because their rights have been denied mishpat requires that we help them in the short term with money and in the long term with changes in governmental policy to provide jobs. But these are not the only people we should help. There is another group of people that needs our assistance. These are the people with disabilitities, mental or physical which prevents them from working. Our responsibility to care for the most marginal in our society is called tsedaqah, which the NIV translators call “righteousness”. Tsedaqah refers to the delivering, community restoring care we are to give to the poor who have no capacity to work.

In ancient times the disabled where unable to earn a living. A person might be born with a mental or physical defect which prevented them from working. Or they may have suffered a disease, injury or just aging and now are unable to work. God's law required them to be supported by their families, but sometime this didn't happen. Some turned to begging. Tsedaqah requires us to care for these people. We are under an obligation from God to care for aged and the infirm and the disabled. We can do this through taxation and government programs. We can do this through the church and non-profit organizations. We can do this ourselves. We have the duty to help those who cannot help themselves.

The kings of Judah were reminded in their coronations that they were responsible for mishpat and tsedaqah, justice and righteousness. Those whose rights had been denied and those who where unable to work had to be cared if not by their family or community then by the king. This was the reason God allowed them to have a king. The king had to care for his people. So too today, we are responsible through our own resources, through our tithe at church and through our taxes to government to help the poor and needy in our community.

There are several ways that we can do this. People from this church help out at the Cold Weather Shelter, Diakonia and Shepherd's Crook Food Pantry. And we support with food and money the Samaritan Shelter in Pocomoke City. We bring hats and mittens for the tree in Fellowship Hall. And the Women of Worship are collecting gifts for children at Samaritan Shelter. Also this Christmas Eve, Grace and I will be hosting a Jesus Christ Birthday Party for children living around the church. Please see Grace if you would like to help. There are many ways you can care for the poor and needy this Christmas.

In God's economic system based of private property, all people are required to work to support themselves. We have no obligation to support a person who refuses to work. But if a person is prevented from working by unjust systems or if a person is incapable of working because of a physical or mental disability then we do have a responsibility to help. This responsibility applies to us personally, through the church and the government. We are to do whatever we can do to remove the unjust barriers to work and support those who are incapable of working. We are always to bless others just as we have been blessed by God. Let's pray.

Father in heaven, we know of your great concern for the poor. We see people in our community who cannot find jobs. We see people who are unable to work. We thank you for blessing us with a world of abundance, and we pledge to care for people who receive little of this abundance. Bless us in our ministry to the poor. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.