Justice & Righteousness - Isa 5 & Psalm 82

1. A Prayer For The People of God
God of justice,
your word is light and truth.
Let your face shine on us
to restore us,
that we may
walk in your way,
seeking justice
and doing good.
Amen.

3. Isaiah 5 & Psalm 82
JUSTICE and RIGHTEOUSNESS

4. CHUTZPAH (American vs. Jewish)
American:
audacity, boldness
Jewish:
shameless, careless audacity

5. JUSTICE & RIGHTEOUSNESS (Hebrew)
Judgment;
regulation

6. JUSTICE & RIGHTEOUSNESS (Greek)
Verb: dikaioo  to free, to make/declare to be righteous
(i.e. to “justify”), to be righteous
Noun: dikaiosune  righteousness, justice

7. “God’s righteousness was to be
understood as God’s activity in
drawing individuals into and
sustaining them within the
(covenant) relationship…”
RIGHTEOUSNESS

8. “Righteousness is an attribute of God,
it is a measurement of God being
true and faithful to the attribute
of God’s own righteousness;
it is a power of God at work
to effect righteousness in the
world through God’s covenant;
it is also a gift to those who are
unworthy of it.”
RIGHTEOUSNESS
SCOT
McKNIGHT

9. “God’s righteousness is both an
attribute of God (God is righteous)
and a gift of God: that is, it is
God’s redemptive power at work
to make the world right through
forgiving sin and establishing
righteousness for all
(creation included).”
RIGHTEOUSNESS
SCOT
McKNIGHT

10. “With what shall I come before the
Lord, and bow myself before God
on high? Shall I come before him with
burnt offerings, with calves a year
old? Will the Lord be pleased with
thousands of rams, with ten thousands
of rivers of oil? Shall I give my first-
born for my transgression, the fruit
of my body for the sin of my soul?”
MICAH 6:6-7

11. “He has told you, O mortal,
what is good; and what does
the Lord require of you but
to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God?”
MICAH 6:8

12. Isaiah 5 & Psalm 82
JUSTICE and RIGHTEOUSNESS

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17. Isaiah 5 & Psalm 82
JUSTICE and RIGHTEOUSNESS

18. “Let me sing for my beloved my
love-song concerning his vineyard:
My beloved had a vineyard on a
very fertile hill. He dug it and cleared
it of stones, and planted it with choice
vines; he built a watchtower in the
midst of it, and hewed out a wine
vat in it; he expected it to yield grapes,
but it yielded wild grapes…”
ISAIAH 5:1-2

19. “And now, inhabitants of Jerusalem
and people of Judah, judge between
me and my vineyard. What more
was there to do for my vineyard that
I have not done in it? When I expected
it to yield grapes, why did it yield
wild grapes? And now I will tell you
what I will do to my vineyard…”
ISAIAH 5:3-5a

20. “I will remove its hedge, and it shall
be devoured; I will break down its
wall, and it shall be trampled down.
I will make it a waste; it shall not
be pruned or hoed, and it shall be
overgrown with briers and thorns;
I will also command the clouds that
they rain not rain upon it…”
ISAIAH 5:5b-6

21. “For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts
is the house of Israel, and the people
of Judah are his pleasant planting;
he expected justice,
but saw bloodshed;
righteousness,
but heard a cry!”
ISAIAH 5:7

22. Isaiah 5 & Psalm 82
JUSTICE and RIGHTEOUSNESS

23. “God has taken his place in the divine
council; in the midst of the gods he
holds judgment: ‘How long will you
judge unjustly and show partiality
to the wicked? Selah. Give justice
to the weak and the orphan;
maintain the right of the lowly and
the destitute. Rescue the weak and
the needy; deliver them from
the hand of the wicked.’”
PSALM 82:1-4

24. “They have neither knowledge nor
understanding, they walk around in
darkness; all the foundations of the
earth are shaken. I say, ‘You are gods,
children of the Most High, all of you;
nevertheless, you shall die like mortals,
and fall like any prince.’ Rise up, O God,
judge the earth; for all the nations
belong to you!”
PSALM 82:5-8

25. Isaiah 5 & Psalm 82
JUSTICE and RIGHTEOUSNESS

26. 1. RIGHTEOUSNESS ≠ HOLINESS;
it’s not about separateness or moral purity,
but about God’s faithfulness in covenant relationship
what WE have to REMEMBER

27. 1. RIGHTEOUSNESS ≠ HOLINESS;
it’s not about separateness or moral purity,
but about God’s faithfulness in covenant relationship
2. God declares US to be righteous, which is meant
to lead to JUSTICE for our NEIGHBORS/ENEMIES
what WE have to REMEMBER

29. 1. RIGHTEOUSNESS ≠ HOLINESS;
it’s not about separateness or moral purity,
but about God’s faithfulness in covenant relationship
2. God declares US to be righteous, which is meant
to lead to JUSTICE for our NEIGHBORS/ENEMIES
3. We live out God’s JUSTICE and RIGHTEOUSNESS
through NON-VIOLENT, other-oriented LOVE
what WE have to REMEMBER

30. 4. We are SAVED by GRACE, but
we are JUDGED by WORKS (i.e. good deeds),
and this is a CONSISTENT theme in SCRIPTURE
what WE have to REMEMBER

31. “Judgment in the Bible is more
about evil being vanquished
and eliminated and about justice,
peace, and love being made
permanent for eternity.
Salvation in an individual finds
its important place in that larger
framework...Salvation by grace is
consistent with judgment by works.”
SALVATION & JUDGMENT
SCOT
McKNIGHT

32. Isaiah 5 & Psalm 82
JUSTICE and RIGHTEOUSNESS

33. Benediction
Judge eternal,
you love justice and hate oppression;
you give peace to those who seek it,
and you condemn the rage of violence.
Give us courage to take our stand
with all victims of bloodshed and greed,
and, following your servants and prophets,
look to Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith.
Amen.