Administer justice
Day 368, Thursday, Aug. 14
Jeremiah Chapters 21 and 22
Warnings of the coming exile continue, with an emphasis on the importance of justice (and the consequences of injustice).
“Administer justice every morning; rescue from the hand of the oppressor the one who has been robbed, or my wrath will break out and burn like fire because of the evil you have done—burn with no one to quench it.”
In 22:3, God says, “Do what is just and right. Rescue from the hand of the oppressor the one who has been robbed. Do no wrong or violence to the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place.”
22:18 provides a valuable time reference to understand the context, referring to Jehoiakim son of Josiah.
If you recall, Josiah was one of the few good kings who sought to be faithful to God. His son, Jehoiakim, was not.
They were both king near the end of the time that Judah was independent, so this prophesy is about the coming exile to Babylon.

-Rev. Mark Fleming

Thursday meditation

Job 21:1-16
Then Job replied: “Listen carefully to my words; let this be the consolation you give me. Bear with me while I speak, and after I have spoken, mock on.
“Is my complaint directed to a human being? Why should I not be impatient? Look at me and be appalled; clap your hand over your mouth. When I think about this, I am terrified; trembling seizes my body. Why do the wicked live on, growing old and increasing in power? They see their children established around them, their offspring before their eyes. Their homes are safe and free from fear; the rod of God is not on them. Their bulls never fail to breed; their cows calve and do not miscarry. They send forth their children as a flock; their little ones dance about. They sing to the music of timbrel and lyre; they make merry to the sound of the pipe. They spend their years in prosperity and go down to the grave in peace. Yet they say to God, ‘Leave us alone! We have no desire to know your ways. Who is the Almighty, that we should serve him? What would we gain by praying to him?’ But their prosperity is not in their own hands, so I stand aloof from the plans of the wicked.

Prayer focus
Lord, let us hear your plea for justice for the powerless among us.