Waiting for Justice

Oh God, with your judgment endow the king, and with your justice, the king’s son; he shall govern your people with justice and your afflicted ones with judgment. Justice shall flower in his days, and profound peace, till the moon be no more. May he rule from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth. (Ps 72:1-8)

King Ahaz was a powerful ruler, revered for his position as king of Israel. In spite of his God-given power and responsibility, he ruled poorly and with questionable motives. Still, something good resulted from his reign, for from him sprang the root of Jesse and the lineage of our Lord Jesus Christ, the King of Kings.

There are Ahazes in my own life – people who use their power and responsibility for their own deranged motives. Still, something good may result from their reigns. I must trust that in his wisdom and providence, the heavenly Father can make a beautiful bloom spring from the most rotten root. Justice shall flower in his days – my days – and profound peace, till the moon be no more.

Mary, there must have been Ahazes in your life, too. Yet, you made no move against them. Instead, you waited determinedly for the blossoming of the flower of God’s justice. Teach me that kind of determined waiting.