ALPHA MAAMA (A.M.)

 TUSITE SUNE 9, 2026

SAAME 9-16; ‘EMOSI 5:18-24

The Lord, who rules over everything, is perfectly just all the time and in every way. Therefore, justice and righteousness will never end.

Ko e ‘Otua ‘oku pule ki he me’a kotoaa, ‘oku haohaoa ma’u pe ‘ene tu’utu’uni ‘i he tapa kotoa pe. Pea ko ia ai, ko ‘ene faitotonu mo ‘ene haohaoa ‘e ‘ikai ngata.

In the heart of every human is a desire for justice. All of us have felt the pain of injustice. A child sees someone cheat in a game on the school playground and "That's not fair." A worker gets accused by his boss of doing something he says, did not do. A person is rejected because of his skin color and wonders how he will ever escape racial injustice. An elderly woman is cast aside because of her age. A family arrives home from vacation to discover that they've been robbed. A man living in poverty feels as though everything is against him, making success impossible. A family attends the funeral of a dad and husband who lost his life because of a drunk driver. A wife watches her unfaithful husband build a new life that seems much easier and better than the one she's left with. A criminal system is too light on crime, and the bad guys seem to win while the good guys struggle.

We all have moments when we cry out for justice. We all wish that right would win more often. When you read the Psalms, you find your cries for justice there. I often think that the book of Psalms is in the Bible to keep us honest about the true nature of faith between the "already" and the "not yet." The grittiness of faith - its doubts and fears, its battles and enemies, and its dark valleys and mountain peaks - is graphically depicted in the Psalms Here we are confronted with the fact that a life of faith isn't easy; it's more of an arduous journey than a paid vacation. But the book of Psalms, with all of its stark realism, doesn't leave us discouraged, depressed, or hopeless. It doesn't ask you to deny reality, nor does it allow you to let the fallenness of this sin-scarred world dominate your meditation, because in the middle of all the realism is a God of righteousness, justice, and grace. Psalm 9:7-9 makes this very clear:

The LORD sits enthroned forever;

he has established his throne for justice,

and he judges the world with righteousness;

he judges the peoples with uprightness.

The LORD is a stronghold for the oppressed,

a stronghold in times of trouble.

Justice can be found, because the Lord of lords has established his throne for justice. Even if we can't always see his justice, he judges his world in righteousness and, because he does, he is a stronghold of safety for his people. Your cries for justice are heard, and there will be a glorious day when righteousness will win. Don't give up. God will act in righteousness on behalf of the children of his love.