An appeal for justice revisited
November 25, 2023 - Saturday, 33rd Week in Ordinary Time
Psalm 9:2-3, 4 and 6, 16 and 19
Psalm 9 begins with a superscription that puzzles the translators. Contemporary translators render it as “for the death of the son”, on the other hand, the Ancient Greek translation of the Old Testament, the Septuagint, rendered it as “for the mystery of the son”. But who is that son?
On October 7, 2023, Hamas attacked Israel from Gaza. The media reported 40 children being killed in a kibbutz near the Gaza border. On October 25, 2023, an Israeli strike in Gaza killed the wife, son, daughter, and 18-month-old grandson of Wael Dahdouh, one of Al Jazeera's journalists. Two days later, the media stated that at least three thousand children had been killed since Israel launched its bombing campaign in Gaza.
Psalms 9 and 10 - originally a single psalm - reflect an experience of injustice where the needy are forgotten and the hope of the afflicted perishes (see Ps 9:16, 19). In a world where might is right and justice is denied to the majority of people, we can only dream of a just ruler who, on behalf of God, would administer justice or for a just God to take the matter of justice into His hands.
We see that dream, for example, in Isaiah 11 which speaks about a Messiah that “with justice he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth” (Is 11:4). On the other hand, the Psalmist speaks about the Lord taking the just cause in His hand by making the enemies of the psalmist’s retreat and blotting out the wicked forever (see Ps 9:4, 6).
The puzzling superscription at the beginning of this psalm allowed the early Christians to connect this psalm with Jesus, the only begotten son of the Father. Jesus’ death was an act of human injustice and his resurrection is an act of God’s justice.
On Good Friday, the entire universe went into mourning and those who saw the manner of Jesus’ death returned home beating their breasts in an act of contrition (see Mark 15:33; Luke 23:48). Then, His resurrection, ascension into heaven, and reigning at the right hand of the Father reveals the mystery of the death of the Son of God. He is going to judge the world with justice and the principle of judgement that he is going to apply to the nations and people is this: “Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me” (Matt 25:40).