Psalms 103:6: “The LORD executeth righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed.”
Say, how does righteousness and judgment help the oppressed? If I am oppressed I would just be satisfied that the oppressor gets off my back. If God wants to administer righteousness and judgment, well He is welcomed to it, but first just get this oppressor to stop his oppressing.
Perhaps there is a more significant message in this verse than that which first meets the eye. First what constitutes being oppressed? I could say that these past few weeks I have been under great oppression from various sources, at least according to my definition of oppression. The word for oppression is ‘ashaq in the Hebrew. It has the idea of being pressed down, crushed. This often comes from being defrauded or deceived such that you feel this weight of disappointment and sadness. In the Akkadian language it has the idea of roughness or as we say being roughed up or beaten up. Akkadian warriors would engage in hand to hand combat during their training with each other and I mean it would be no holds barred. If they did not come out feeling ‘ashaq beaten up then they would not qualify as a warrior.
Do you ever feel this way, that the enemy has really beaten you up, has you on the ground with his foot on your head holding you down? Righteousness and judgment just does not seem to be important in that moment. But soft, look at what righteousness is. It is the word tsedaqah. This is a legal term used when the truth of a matter has been proven.
The other day I checked my mail box and found a letter, you know what I am talking about, a letter that says from Cook County or whatever county you live in. You are being called to jury duty. I then looked at the name and with relief I found it was addressed to my landlord. But I paused for a moment. Why was I relieved? This letter offered the opportunity to perform your greatest duty as a citizen. We live in a country where the truth does matter in an offense or crime. If a person is arrested they have a right to a trial by jury. They are considered innocent until the true is found. Sure the system is not perfect, but it is the best we can do find the truth. This truth or proof lies within the decision of twelve strangers, fellow citizens who are charged with obligation of finding the truth. They will sit and listen to witnesses, doctors, scientist and other experts. In the end they are called to deliberate. If you are like me you will feel that moment of doubt or hesitation. You will think, I am not a doctor, a scientist or an expert in the fields necessary to determine the truth. But that envelop you received entrusted you with the most important obligation that our founding fathers placed upon its citizens, so important that it is not given to just one person but to twelve, a group of strangers who must work together to find the truth, to find tsedaqah, righteousness.
Truth is very important to God for our enemy is liar, the master of lies and it is his lies that oppress us. Sure our system of justice is not perfect, it is made up of humans after all and mistakes are made. It is still a good system, the best in any nation in the world. But God has the perfect system, he knows the truth and he will make the truth known and the truth shall set you free John 8:32. The truth is that Jesus died on the cross and that the enemy has no power or hold over us any longer. The truth is that the blood of Jesus will force the enemy to take his foot off your head and free you from the oppression you are under.
The only thing he has are lies. He will tell you whatever lie he can to oppress you and keep you from loving Jesus. You will try to praise or worship God and the enemy will whisper in your ear, “Just who do you think you are trying to praise God? What makes you think God will listen to you and pay attention to you after what you have done? You’re just fooling yourself, He is not going to hear you, He will not answer your prayer, you are not good enough, you have sinned too much.”
So you stand there and scratch your head and say: “You know, you’re right.” Then he will put you under that oppression, like the oppression I suffered through the last few weeks. But yesterday I attended a church in the city located in the Lawndale area of the city which is a high crime, high gang infested area. Many in that church were former druggies, gang bangers, and prostitutes. The enemy was whispering in their ears as well, “You think you can come here to worship God after all you’ve done, come on, be reasonable.” But that pastor stood front of that church and pointed his finger to the enemy as said: “Satan, you’re a liar, I will tell you the truth, the blood of Jesus has cleansed every sin, and because of His sacrifice, His blood, we can worship God.” I too pointed my finger at the enemy and also said: “For the last few weeks you have been lying to me, you have no right to put me under this ‘ashaq this oppression because I know the tsedaqah the proven truth and therefore you cannot ‘ashaq me any further. After that I joyed in with a congregation that packed out that church as they just celebrated the joy of Lord. Everyone was filled with the joy of the Lord and expressed it in the way they wanted to express it, they didn’t care if they looked foolish or not, they were free, the truth had set them free and they were free indeed.
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