Social Justice & the Bible: Let Justice Roll

part one

The United States Pledge of Allegiance famously ends with the phrase, “with liberty and justice for all.” But justice is a controversial subject these days – partly because it’s a word that people use in different ways.

To some, it’s about ensuring equality; to others, it’s about punishing criminals. To some, it’s about righting institutional wrongs at the highest levels of society; to others, it’s about making sure no one breaks into their home or mistreats grandma. And to most of us, it’s at least a little about all these things.

“Justice” is an attribute of God – he is “God Most Just.” God is the standard of what is just, and the one who acts by his standard. When we give allegiance to Christ, we are saying that his mission is ours. We not only have an inward disposition to love him but an outward-facing disposition to see justice roll like a river (Amos 5:24).

So, in this series, we’ll look at a view of justice from each section of the Bible – what it is, and what it isn’t, as we journey through the story of Scripture. But in this first episode, we need to identify five key terms. Then, I’ll share with you the song I wrote, “Let Justice Roll,” and the story behind the song.

In the Hebrew scriptures, words for mercy and justice often go together, as in Micah 6:8, “do justice and love mercy.” We get a sense of justice from the Hebrew “mishpat,” often translated “judgment,” “justice,” or “regulation.” It means to treat everyone equitably, as in Leviticus 24:22, “have the same mishpat for the foreigner as the native.” The emphasis is on action. We translate “mercy” from the Hebrew “chesedh,” which more fully means God’s unconditional compassion, with an emphasis on the attitude behind the action.

“Misphat” is used when God or God’s people need to correct something. It means “making things right.” There’s another word that carries more of the Big Picture of Biblical Justice: Tzadeqah, which is often translated as “righteousness.” We tend to think of this as private morality, like having daily devotions or not watching dirty movies, but the biblical word extends to social relationships that are all conducted with fairness and generosity. It’s a vision for a world where everyone is treated rightly. So tzadeqah is a vision of abundant life, while misphat is the rectifying actions that are needed to bring this vision to life.

When righteousness rules the day, the result is our fourth key word, “shalom.” This is often translated as “peace,” but it means far more than a ceasefire. It’s about the flourishing of all God’s creation: women and men from every nation and ethnic group, the animals, our planet, and the entire cosmos. Shalom is about all of creation living in joyful harmony and wholeness. It’s what we were created for, and what the coming Kingdom of God will be like.

And then we come to “meshar,” another Hebrew word for equity, with a sense of evenness, concord, levelness, and peaceful arrangement. This is a politically loaded term in our day, but equity is all over the Bible, and we are unwise to pit equity and equality against each other. You’ll find “equity” in places like Psalm 9:8; 17:2; 75:2; 96:10; 98:9; 99:4; and Proverbs 1:3; 2:9.

Equity is about fairness. It goes beyond the letter of the law to the spirit behind the law. Equity means we consider people’s needs and circumstances when they are relevant, and that we remain impartial when these needs and circumstances are irrelevant to a case. Equity means we long for everyone to experience shalom together.

The final Hebrew word is “hesed,” which means “faithful and active lovingkindness.” God’s hesed means he cares deeply about justice, righteousness, and shalom for his creation. Hesed helps us see why God created us and why he remains faithful in spite of our sin, down through the ages. No English word encapsulates hesed, which is why it’s translated several different ways, like “steadfast love,” “mercy,” and “lovingkindness.” Old Testament scholar Ellen Davis calls hesed “God’s love in action.”

In Jesus, we see all of these words perfectly displayed. He is our great example, the spotless lamb, the perfect sacrifice, our judge and advocate, the eternal king, and our lasting peace. His greatest commandments, to love God and love others, are the perfect opposite of the two categories of sin that are called out most often by the Old Testament prophets: idolatry and injustice. And Jesus reminds us of one bonus word. We’ve been talking about Hebrew words in the Old Testament, so we’ll leave you with a Greek word from the New.

Dikaiosyne is translated as both “justice” and “righteousness” in English Bibles. These English words and the words “justification” and “justify” come from the same Greek root. The original readers of Paul’s letters would have understood the link between Christ’s work of justification and our righteous call to justice. Dikaiosyne is about being right with God and people and living virtuously.

With these terms in mind, we’ll pick up (in two weeks) at the beginning, our creation in the book of Genesis. Every other Monday, we’ll look at the theme of social justice in scripture.

Some of you know that I am a worship songwriter, although I don’t have much time for songwriting these days. I wrote one of my most popular worship songs in 2007 with Rebecca Elliott, “Let Justice Roll.” You can check out two versions on Spotify. I love them both. The second one has two short additional spoken word raps written by Phil Allen, Jr. I’ll write the story behind this song as well as the song lyrics below the audio players:

In 2007, I attended an arts conference at the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship. A class about the intersection of the arts, faith, protest, and social justice piqued my imagination. Is worship music, in a sense, protest music?

Dr. John Witvliet, Director of the Calvin Institute, says, “Yes.” A couple of years previous, in A More Profound Allelluia, he had written, “When we sing ‘Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow,’ we are also saying, ‘Down with the gods from whom no blessings flow.'”

I began to see lament and confession, in particular, as acts of protest against the devil, the systems of this fallen world, and the sin in our own hearts. And I began thinking about the conditions of suffering and injustice so present in the world. Then I began to write,

“Forgive us Lord, for passing by

When children cry for bread;

Forbid it Lord, that justice lie

In tatters, cold and dead

Outside these walls run desperate streets

Where greed is law and life is cheap”

We bar the doors, refuse to see

Or hear the words you said ….

I saw that this would be the first verse of a modern hymn. I wanted to anchor it with some kind of refrain or chorus, though — a rallying cry. I love American protest music, from slave spirituals to Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger, to Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen. So, although I wanted my verses to be theologically, poetically, and emotionally rich, I wanted a “rally cry” refrain like “We shall overcome,” or “The answer is blowin’ in the wind,” or “41 shots.”

And when you want an effective rally cry, one that all creation groans as the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings deeper than mortals can express, you turn to the words of Scripture. So as I prayed, God brought Amos 5:24 to mind:

“But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream.”

And so I had the refrain and the title of “Let Justice Roll.” I continued the lament, confession, and protest aspects in the second verse:

Convict us Lord, we dance and laugh,

Ignoring those who weep;

Correct us Lord, our golden calf has lulled our hearts to sleep

The gap between the rich and poor

Grows ever wider, shore to shore

There’s racial hate, religious war

And wolves among the sheep.

Then I turned the third verse toward supplication, a request that Christ fill us with His Spirit and send us out — like Isaiah’s “Here am I, send me.”

Indwell us Lord, and purify

Our hands to work for you;

Enlist us Lord to serve nearby

And ‘cross the waters, too;

Your image bearers on the earth

Will never know how much they’re worth

Unless we love and help them first,

And show the way to You.

My friend Rebecca Elliott composed the music for “Let Justice Roll.” The music matches the tone of the lyrics well (songwriters call this “prosody”). And she hit upon a master stroke when she turned “Let it roll” into a bridge. This is, emotionally, the high point of the song.

Here’s hoping more and more worship songwriters and hymnists write social justice songs, anchored in biblical truth and reflecting the heart cries of people everywhere. If you know of any, let me know in the comments!