A Prayer about Righteousness and Justice for the Oppressed

The Lord works righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed. Psalm 103:6

Holy, Righteous, and Just Lord,

Even as yesterday we considered 

so many of your benefits and blessings, 

today we meditate on the awe-some news 

that you work your righteousness and justice 

for all who are oppressed (Psalm 103:6). 

I confess, when I think “oppressed,” 

I often think of the marginalized and weak, 

those who have experienced 

the demeaning of their dignity as image-bearers, 

those who suffer regular injustices against them. 

Those are the “oppressed,” 

but we must remember that we, 

your people, were “oppressed” 

before you sent your Son, our Savior, 

to free us from our sins:

You sent Jesus to set prisoners free, 

to open the eyes of the blind, 

to lift up those who are enslaved by sin (Psalm 146:8).

Because of your abundant mercy and lavish love, 

we are set free, and we are made righteous (2 Corinthians 5:21). 

Now, as your new creation, 

you send us out as your ambassadors (2 Corinthians 5:17-20),

to be instruments of your shalom: 

working toward 

“universal flourishing, 

wholeness, 

and delight”* 

Today and every day, 

open our eyes to see those who are oppressed—

whether in bondage to sin 

or marginalized because of their skin color, 

whether broken by loneliness and grief, 

or by addiction to substances, 

whether stuck in a cycle of poverty 

or in a cyclone of mental illness…

And strengthen our hands and our hearts 

to work for their flourishing and wholeness.

In Jesus’ righteous name. Amen. 

Read Psalm 103:6-4; 2 Corinthians 5:17-21; Psalm 146:7-9.

*Cornelius Plantinga, Not the Way It’s Supposed to Be: A Breviary of Sin