Pray the Word with David Platt is a resource from Radical.net.

Deuteronomy chapter 16, verse 20,

justice and only justice you shall follow,

that you may live and inherit the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

This is a great verse that summarizes God's justice and God's desire for his people

to do justice. This passage specifically is talking about appointing judges and officers in

towns as God's people will enter the promised land, to judge people rightly, to not show

partiality, to not accept or make bribes, but to work and to act justly. And this is something

we see all over scripture. Justice is mentioned hundreds of times, and it's oftentimes mentioned alongside righteousness,

and we don't have time to dive in here into a whole biblical definition of justice.

I would say that the most broad definition of justice would be doing that which is right and good

for all people as exemplified in God's character and expressed in God's word. In other words,

God is the one who defines justice. And that's important because the world has all kinds of different definitions

of what justice is, but it's God's character and God's word that tells us what justice is.

The whole point is God calls his people to do justice, to do that which is right for others.

And so I want to encourage you today to think about God's command for us as his people

to do justice, to treat others rightly.

This is really summarized in Jesus's command to love our neighbors as ourselves, to do

what is good and right for the people around us. And all throughout scripture, as we've

already prayed about in Deuteronomy, God prioritizes justice for the poor, the oppressed, or the needy, or the widow,

or the orphan, or the sojourner. And all of this should affect the way we pray and we live. So,

let's pray accordingly in light of this picture in Deuteronomy chapter 16. God saying,

...