Administer true justice
Day 467, Friday, Nov. 21
Zechariah Chapters 6 – 9
Zechariah gets down to what is the most familiar prophetic message in chapter 7—God’s preference for justice over ritual.
God tells Zechariah, “Ask all the people of the land and the priests, ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months for the past seventy years, was it really for me that you fasted? And when you were eating and drinking, were you not just feasting for yourselves?”
Instead, what God wants is, “Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another. Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner or the poor. Do not plot evil against each other.”
It was the people’s disobedience that led to the bad things that happened to them. “When I called, they did not listen; so when they called, I would not listen.”
In 9:9 we read a prophecy of the coming messiah: “See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”

-Rev. Mark Fleming

Friday meditation

Psalms 31:1-8
In you, Lord, I have taken refuge; let me never be put to shame; deliver me in your righteousness. Turn your ear to me, come quickly to my rescue; be my rock of refuge, a strong fortress to save me. Since you are my rock and my fortress, for the sake of your name lead and guide me. Keep me free from the trap that is set for me, for you are my refuge. Into your hands I commit my spirit; deliver me, Lord, my faithful God.
I hate those who cling to worthless idols; as for me, I trust in the Lord. I will be glad and rejoice in your love, for you saw my affliction and knew the anguish of my soul. You have not given me into the hands of the enemy but have set my feet in a spacious place.

Prayer focus
Into your hands I commit my spirit; deliver me, Lord, my faithful God.