A Prayer about Finding True Justice

How long will you judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked? Psalm 82:2

Judge of the Earth,

All it took me was a stint on jury duty 

to realize how poorly qualified 

I am to serve on a jury. 

I want to believe I could be fair and impartial, 

to believe the defendant is innocent until proven guilty. 

And yet, I know in my heart how quickly 

I can jump to conclusions, 

how quickly I can judge another, 

how I think I know the whole story when I don’t. 

Help me to relinquish my daily “jury duty” to you, 

the judge of the earth.

You see the intentions of the heart perfectly.

You defend the weak and the fatherless.

You uphold the cause of the poor and oppressed.

You rescue the weak and the needy.

You deliver the weak and the needy 

from the hand of the wicked (Psalm 82:3-4). 

And through Jesus, who died 

so that we may be acquitted for our sins, 

you have called and empowered us to be like you. 

Send us out into this broken world 

to love the weak and needy as you do. 

In Jesus’ sacrificial name. Amen.

Read Psalm 82:1-8.