Musings on a Psalm

For the word of the Lord is upright, 
    and all his work is done in faithfulness.

He loves righteousness and justice;  
    the earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord.  Psalm 33.4-5

This sections of the Psalm includes an interesting list of divine qualities or attributes: faithfulness, righteousness, steadfast love. We like all of these. But what about 'justice'? That simply doesn't have the same appeal. To hear about our God as a God of love feels good. But what response does 'our God is a God of justice' get? Somehow it just doesn't have the same enjoyable zing to it. Why is this the case?

Justice is important. It is key to understanding the Gospel. The death of Jesus on that Cross is all about justice. And that gives us hope. 

We are familiar enough with this verse:

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1.9

We latch on to words like 'confess' and 'forgive' and maybe even 'cleanse'. But we skip over 'just'. John is reminding us that we are forgiven because our God is a God of justice. Because our sins have been dealt with at the Cross the demand for justice has been satisfied. So, when we come to our Father confessing our sin, it is not too strong to say that He is obligated to forgive us. His own sense of justice requires it since Jesus' death removes any reason not to forgive.

So, next time you confess your sins, remind yourself of the justice of God. It's because of His justice that He forgives you.