When Life Feels Emptyਨਮੂਨਾ

Both Sides of Justice

“In the place of justice — wickedness was there.” (Ecclesiastes 3:16)

When we read passages like this in Ecclesiastes, it stirs up a lot of feelings. First, it feels familiar, like our hand gravitating back to our body’s imperfections. We’ve felt that spot before. Where we hope to find justice, we instead find corruption.

That leads to the second feeling: surprise and frustration. This thing that seems all too familiar is, at the same time, still a surprise to us.

But if we routinely encounter stories of injustice, why do they still surprise us?

From an early age, children often complain, “It’s not fair!” They’re tuned in to the slightest imbalance with a sibling. We don’t train children to notice injustice. They find it naturally. They desire justice intuitively, except when they receive more. Then they stay quiet. They’ve benefited from injustice.

When we grow up, things don’t change much. “The king himself profits from the fields,” the Teacher points out (Ecclesiastes 5:9). The king benefits from the top-down arrangement, so he’s not going to point it out.

Passages like these reveal our own hearts. They show us a set of opposites. On the one hand, a desire for justice is hardwired into us. On the other hand, our desire for justice is broken. Sometimes it burns, and we mistake it for vengeance. Sometimes we’re numb and only fix it if we have to.

The prophet Micah acknowledged the two-sidedness of our hearts. He wrote, “I will be patient as the Lord punishes me, for I have sinned against him. But after that, he will take up my case and give me justice for all I have suffered from my enemies” (Micah 7:9).

We recognize injustice, and it still surprises us. We desire justice for ourselves, and sometimes avoid it for others. We are both the righteous and the wicked at times.

Yet in all of this, God’s justice is perfect and His mercy complete. He counters our sins with forgiveness, our suffering with restoration, and our hearts with His unwavering faithfulness, showing us that true justice is found not in our striving, but in His hands.

Prayer

God of truth, when I witness the wicked prosper and my spirit cries out for fairness, let me remember Your promise to forgive and restore; shape my soul to trust in Your judgment, to act justly, and to rejoice in the certainty of Your faithful love.

In Jesus’ name.
Amen.