“The Lord announced his victory;
he made his saving power known to the nations.” Psalm 98:2

Psalm 98 celebrates God’s victory, a victory displayed in saving righteousness to all the nations.

When I think about God’s  victory, my mind envisions a world  where  conflicts that destroy and harm God’s children end.  A place where all of God’s children are fed, have adequate housing, and the medical care they need. Air, sea, and earth, are pure and healthy, while Creation thrives.  All creatures rejoice in plenty.

According to Jesus, when God is victorious there is neither want nor deprivation in a land. Strangers are welcomed and treated with love and compassion. The weak are lifted up, those in need are helped both physically and emotionally.

Jesus  defined his call and his purpose by quoting  from the book of Isaiah:
“The spirit of the Lord God is upon me
because the Lord has anointed me;
and sent me to bring good news to the oppressed,
to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives
and release to the prisoners,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. Isaiah 61:1-2a

Today we are  living in a twisted world, where too often, good is named as evil, and evil as good.  When we stray from the truth, scripture draw us back to God’s truth.  One cannot read the Biblical books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, without hearing the compassionate voice of Jesus, calling each of us to live a compassionate and caring life. The scripture continues to call us to a tenderhearted and merciful  response to the world around us.

Ginger Gaines-Cirelli, says of Jesus, *“Jesus had to choose a stance and Jesus chose a side. It wasn’t the side of the status quo. It wasn’t the side of the strong and powerful. It wasn’t the side of personal comfort or cheap grace. It wasn’t the side of self-protection or revenge. It wasn’t the side of wealth or privilege. Jesus chooses the underside, the outside, the pushed-aside. He stands on the side of justice, he stands on the side of self-giving love, and he stands on the side of humility and vulnerability. Jesus doesn’t choose the side of the poor and oppressed because he loves only them. Jesus takes that side because he loves all people and knows that “when one part of the body suffers, the whole body suffers with it.” 

The Psalmist ends with these words:
Let all the rivers clap their hands;
let the mountains rejoice out loud altogether before the Lord
because the Lord is coming to establish justice on the earth!
The Lord will establish justice in the world rightly;
and will establish justice among all people fairly.” Psalm 98:8-9. CEB

*  Gaines-Cirelli, Ginger. Sacred Resistance: A Practical Guide to Christian Witness and Dissent (p. 108). Abingdon Press. Kindle Edition.