Day 5: Perfect justice
Then [Abraham] said, “May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak just once more. What if only ten [righteous people] can be found there [in the city of Sodom]?” He answered, “For the sake of ten, I will not destroy it” (Genesis 18:31-32).
Our Father, God of justice, You are the Righteous Judge of all the earth (Genesis 18:25). We wonder like the psalmist, "What is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?" (Psalm 8:4). For in spite of our treachery and our rebellion against You, the Lord longs to be gracious to us (Isaiah 30:18). But though You love us, You must, in Your righteousness, preserve and maintain justice.
Even in our human societies we know that for the good evil cannot be allowed to thrive unchecked, unopposed, unpunished. Our own courts seek to uphold justice, accountability, restitution, and deterrence against evil. Yet the best of them are flawed, and sometimes perverted; they often fumble and fail.
But You, Lord God, who preside in the great assembly; [who] render judgment among the “gods” (Psalm 82:1), are always right in Your verdict and justified when You judge (Psalm 51:4). Yet we grumble against Your perfect justice, and rage and plot and take counsel together against the Lord and against His Anointed (Psalm 2:1-2).
With reckless audacity, mere humans often contend with the Almighty and seek to correct and accuse the One who needs no counselor (Romans 11:34). Those You created from dust seek to discredit Your justice and condemn You to justify ourselves (Job 40: 2, 8).
And often we do not stop to consider that throughout human history, You have revealed Your heart of perfect love: “Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked?” declares the Sovereign Lord. “Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their ways and live?” (Ezekiel 18:23).
You are the God who unlocks the door to mercy and grace even as You uphold justice. You are the God who would, for the sake of ten righteous spare a city whose sin was so grievous—a city against whose evil the outcry was so great.
You are the God who came to us when we were ungodly, powerless, guilty, hostile— enemies of God (Romans 5:6-8). And though right in Your verdict, and justified in Your judgment, You did not spare Your own Son, but gave Him up for us all (Romans 8:32). Open our eyes to see You—our hearts to receive Your perfect love.
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