Read: 2 Chronicles 19:1-20:37, Romans 10:14-11:12, Psalm 21:1-13, Proverbs 20:4-6

 Fear the Lord and judge with integrity, for the Lord our God does not tolerate perverted justice, partiality, or the taking of bribes. (2 Chronicles 19:7)

Relate: Thirty-nine years ago today president Nixon was impeached. Just over two years previous a group of men had been busted breaking in to the Democratic National Committee offices trying to wiretap phones and steal documents. In other words, they were about politics as usual and had the misfortune of being caught. As a result of the investigation multiple people who work for Nixon were indicted for the part in the conspiracy. Nixon himself would have been indicted except the special prosecutor for the case argued to the grand jury that Nixon couldn’t be prosecuted while in office.

Nixon also viewed himself as above the law and the scandal today is famous mostly for the stand off he had with the courts about his botched attempts to cover the evidence, the tapes, which implicated him. The sad fact that often gets overlooked in the matter is that after the heat became too much and resigned, his successor, Gerald Ford issued a blanket pardon for Nixon. This confirmed a sad truth about the American justice system. If you’re rich enough or have the right friends, you can escape justice.

To be fair, many felt that the public humiliation and forced resignation he went through was punishment enough. I wonder if those who were languishing in jail for acting on his orders felt that way. There are 313 million people in the US. nearly a third, 91 million people, have very little confidence that our justice system is capable of dispensing justice. Ninety-one million people, of which I am one.

React: It is easy to look at our system and declare it broken, but how am I at dispensing justice? What are my biases? Am I quicker to forgive some than I am others? Why? Do I react to others the same as I would hope they would react to me if the roles were reversed? Am I showing love in delighting in the truth? Am I being unloving through keeping a record of wrongs?

Respond: 

God, I pray for a broken system. There is injustice rampant and an ungodly favoritism in nearly every verdict it hands down. That system is my mind. Please forgive me. It is so easy to point my finger outward and scream out, “injustice, injustice!” but there is a log in my own eye that first be removed first. Help my to get it out that I might see clearly to help remove the injustice I find in others. Let me be a shining example of wisdom justice and love.