Living in the Spirit
Light a Candle for Children
October 15, 2014
Scripture Reading: Psalm 99
Mighty King, lover of justice,
you have established equity;
you have executed justice
and righteousness in Jacob.
Extol the Lord our God;
worship at his footstool.
Holy is he! — Psalm 99:4-5
I discovered the equity of God’s judgment while reading another Psalm (75:2) several years ago and it was one of those “ah ha!” experiences. I did not realize until then that the foundation of our juris prudence system was drawn from this ancient source. This is the bases of the ruling that slavery was not just in the USA although there were many states that had laws that said it was illegal. The same is true for allowing women to vote, interracial marriage, and more recently same-sex marriage. These rulings did not say the states did not have the right to pass rules about commerce or voting or marriage. The rulings said that a higher law overrode those other laws. We cannot use law at any level that’s only specific purpose is to discriminate against a minority of people.
Merriam Webster defines equity thusly:
1a : a free and reasonable conformity to accepted standards of natural right, law, and justice without prejudice, favoritism, or fraud and without rigor entailing undue hardship : justice according to natural law or right : fairness
2a : a system of law (as in England and the U.S.) originating in the English chancery and comprising a settled and formal body of legal and procedural rules and doctrines that supplement, aid, or override common and statute law and are designed to protect rights and enforce duties fixed by substantive law
We should take great comfort in our scripture today because it is saying that God will judge each of us from this higher plain. It is a law that we need to apply generously to our children and not set them up for failure by branding them as anything other than the child of God that they are.
Oklahoma Fact: 19% of all children have one or more emotional, behavioral, or developmental conditions*
Prayer: Holy One, as we exercise judgment regarding our fellow human beings help us to see them through your eyes and to judge them with equity. Amen.
All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.