Are we Singing “Just” Songs, or Just Songs?
Picture this: it’s Sunday morning, back in the familiar church pew. The same familiar greeters at the door, the familiar welcome, the stirring sermon, and the familiar songs. But, have you ever thought about the songs we sing? The lyrics of songs, Christian or not, have an impact on our thoughts, motivations and identity. As a church musician myself, I am passionate about worship through music and singing, as well as being aware of 'what' we are singing.
The theology of the songs we sing together as the Body of Christ is important for three reasons:
1. The activities of the church flow from the nature of our worship.
2. Songs stick in our brains and we imbibe what we sing without knowing.
3. Worship is a vessel for us to co-labour with Christ (1 Cor 3:9) through prayer and intercession.
But this got me thinking; what are the majority of songs we are singing helping us to believe? I investigated some of the songs we sang recently at our church, and noticed something interesting: what has happened to our songs of justice? Out of the two months’ worth of songs I looked at, only three contained a hint at the theme of justice. This may be different in your context, but this kind of shortage of justice songs is reflected in the Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) charts too. Why is that a problem? Well, if we’re meant to be a people of justice, and embody God’s justice to the world around us, why aren’t we singing about it?
When we think of the idea of seeing justice in a situation, it’s often the idea that a person or people would get what they deserved. Justice in our society is commonly seen as a consequence for those who have done wrong. However, this is not always the case in Scripture. The Lord is a God of justice (Is 30:18), but does not act justly in the way we often assume. So I wonder: are we not singing about justice because we’re unsure what justice looks like?
I did some digging and discovered God’s justice is not as scary as I thought! Two key ideas in the Old Testament sum it up:
Mishpat: often translated as ‘justice’ or ‘judgement’, emphasises God’s wisdom and acting appropriately to bring a solution to a situation. The ‘mishpat’ of God is seen as God upholding the rights of the vulnerable and advocating for their needs.
Tsedaqah: often translated as ‘righteousness’, encompasses the broader idea of shalom and restoration to make something right.
God’s justice reflects God’s character of faithfulness and upholds the rights of the vulnerable and poor. This brings restoration and wholeness to relationships, both between God and God’s beloved image-bearing creation of humanity, and interpersonally within humanity. It is this kind of justice God’s people are called to embody and act out. Israel was instructed to show this ‘mishpat’ because this is the kind of justice God showed them when God led them out of Egypt (Deut 24:17-18) and continues to show through God’s acts of redemption. It is this same justice that God shows through Jesus’ ministry, through putting things right, restoring and making people whole, and through the cross. The culmination of God’s justice is Jesus’ act of atonement, and it is by this we are made whole (Is 53:5). Jesus embodied God’s justice.
This idea of “putting things right” and “restoring” is what God’s people are instructed to do. However, when this instruction to do justice and be righteous is given, it is normally paired with the instruction to be merciful. Micah 6:8 does not just command God’s people to do justice, but also to love mercy. Hosea 12:6 also instructs Israel to “hold fast to love and justice”. So here is the catch with being people who do justice: it sits equally with mercy. God’s justice is revealed in God’s mercy.
“I think it’s at this point we need to ask the important question: The Psalms sing about God’s justice and doing justice, so why don’t we?”
When I first discovered this link between God’s justice and mercy, I found that whenever I found God showing mercy in scripture, it did not take me long to find God’s justice close in tow, and vice-versa! For example, Jesus challenges the Pharisees with a parable about a man beaten on the side of the road, left for dead, and then ignored by a Priest and a Levite, but rescued by a Samaritan (Luke 10:30-37). The Samaritan shows both mercy and justice to this man: they showed mercy by being the only one who stopped; they showed justice by restoring them to health by pouring oil and wine on their wounds; they showed mercy by taking them to an inn; and, they showed justice by ensuring everything was in place for them to be restored by giving up a day’s wages. The Samaritan upheld the rights of the vulnerable and restored them, and revealed it through an act of kindness. This is what Jesus did through His atonement on the cross. Jesus’ crucifixion is the fulfilment of God’s justice and mercy, and it is through the central act of God’s redeeming mission that God’s righteousness is revealed.
The more I read, the more I found God’s justice and mercy littered throughout scripture, especially in the Psalms. The Psalms emphasise that God’s justice and righteousness is not an unwelcome characteristic of God’s nature, but rather a characteristic that is a reason to praise God. Psalm 71 describes God’s righteousness (tsedaqah) as something to call out for from God in times of trouble, and is the vessel in which God can deliver and save (v.2). It also describes God’s righteous acts as events that should be testified as well as God’s deeds of salvation, and suggests a relationship between God’s righteousness and God’s salvation (v.15). God’s righteousness and justice is also something to be yearned for and asked for. Solomon asks God to give his father, David, God’s justice and righteousness, so he may rule as a just king for Israel (Ps 72:1-2). He specifically petitions that David would defend the cause of the poor, deliver the needy and crush oppressors, which is the idea of mishpat and tsedaqah.
There are plenty more places where God’s justice is being sung of in the Psalms, but I think it’s at this point we need to ask the important question: The Psalms sing about God’s justice and doing justice, so why don’t we?
It seems like our justice songs are MIA (Missing in Action!). We are great at articulating God’s mercy, but I think if we are to understand God’s mercy through the songs we sing, we must also sing about justice. God’s mercy and justice do not contradict each other, but rather they work in a reciprocal relationship, driving the other forward in grace and truth. I wonder what it would be like if we sang about God bringing an appropriate solution to a specific situation we see in our world? What if we asked God to make us vessels of God’s righteousness? What if we sang words of restoration and wholeness over one another?
Are we singing “just” songs, or just songs?
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Mitchell Youngs is a musician and pastoral leadership student at Carey Baptist College - Te Kareti Iriiri o Carey.