A few weeks ago in class we were discussing Psalm 9-10. This is actually one psalm in the Hebrew and it is based on the Hebrew alphabet -- each verse beginning with a successive letter. I asked my students to write an acrostic about the justice of God. I wrote one as well.
After the most recent school shooting in Parkland, FL where again another fatherless shooter brought havoc and horror, I was reminded of the importance of fathers. God is father to the fatherless. This is good news in a culture where the sexual revolution has steadily eroded the foundations of the family and made fatherlessness rampant. I wrote this prayer in the weeks before the shooting, but it seemed appropriate to share it now. This is a prayer for justice for the fatherless, innocent casualties of the sexual revolution. It's also a call for the church to unashamedly preach the truth about marriage and family -- this is part of what it means to preach the gospel, the good news to the poor. Marriage should be honored by all and the marriage bed kept pure for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral. (Hebrews 13:4)
Answer me when I call, O LORD
Bring relief to the poor and oppressed
Consider my prayer and my pain
Don't abandon me or turn away your ear
Everywhere I look I see brokenness
Families are severed by divorce
Generations of broken homes pass down a legacy of loneliness
How many children grow up without knowing father or mother?
In your mercy, hear their cry and be their Father
Jesus welcomes the children in his arms
Keeping them in his care and love
Let wholeness and healing come to the family
May marriage be honored by all
No one should grow up without knowing God
O LORD, equip your servants to share good news
Place your hand of protection on the innocent
Quickly come to their aid
Rise to bring justice to those that have been wronged
Safety and security are found in God
Trust in the LORD for He is our stronghold
Understand the He is just
Violent men will have violence done to them
When will justice come?
Exactly when, no one knows
Yet I will trust in Him
Zero-tolerance for sin, this is our holy God.