Briefing: I think all of us got bullied at some time or another. I remember in third grade, running home crying as a group of kids chased me and threw rocks at me. I thought when I grew up things would change, but I see adults doing the same things to other adults, just not with rocks.

Dispatch (Assignment): Read Psalm 113.

On the Street: Praise the LORD, Praise the LORD. Why is it so important to praise the LORD? Verses 1-3 say praise the LORD or the LORD be praised, five times. The psalmist really wants us to understand how significant it is to praise the LORD.

Now that he has set the mood, with praise the LORD, he begins to tell us why. Verses 4-9 tell us the LORD is a good God, a God of justice who loves all of His people. In His economy, justice for all is fairness, equality, love, and respect. This justice is expected to be extended to all of His creation. We praise Him because of this great love for all of us.

Everyone who reads this should stop and think about how they treat their neighbor. It is important for all of us to do an internal check and see, who do I encounter that is not being treated the way God intended and what can I do to show God’s love to them? As crucial as this is, we in law enforcement cannot stop there. We have an obligation to carry this out a step or two further. We are God’s chosen instruments to carry out justice. The people who God is concerned for, and who need our assistance in getting justice, are listed in 7-9.

“He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap; He seats them with princes, with the princes of His people. He settles the childless woman in her home as a happy mother of children. Praise the LORD.” In my experience, the poor and needy don’t always get justice. Law enforcement has a calling and an obligation to protect and serve the poor and needy as well as the rich and influential. “If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing right. But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers.” James 2:8-9. In Proverbs 24:23, “These also are sayings of the wise; To show partiality in judging is not good”

From a legal standpoint, His authority is spelled out in verses 4-5, “The LORD is exalted over all the nations, His glory above the heavens.” In other words, He created all and He rules over all. Verse 5 says, “Who is like the LORD our God, the One who sits enthroned on high”?

I don’t normally use other translations but I had a friend tell me about a psalm he read out of the New Living Translation. The way he described it let me know how much it touched his soul and how it gave him a greater appreciation of how much God loves him. The meaning of the translation is basically the same but the image it gives conveys a beautiful word picture. Psalm 116:2 (NLT), “Because He bends down to listen, I will pray as long as I have breath!

I mention this because we read a question in Psalm 113:6, “who stoops down to look on the heavens and the earth?” We know from Psalm 116:2 (NLT) that it is God. Can you picture a father kneeling and bending down to hear what his little girl is whispering to him? I get this same loving picture when I think of my God bending down to listen to my prayers. He is interested in what I have to say and He wants to hear me. This is the God we serve!

Investigational Resources: James 2:1, 1 Timothy 5:21, Galatians 3:27-28, Romans 2:11.

Officer Safety Principle: Is it possible to go to work with a renewed sense of purpose and justice? We have the power, through Christ, to make a difference in this world, one needy person at a time. It is what God expects of the peacemaker.

from Psalms Through the Eyes of a Cop, Volume 2
©by Charles Gilliland. Used by permission.
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