Daily Manna · Day 175 · June 24
Righteousness and Judgment
“The LORD executeth righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed.”
In the Nile delta in Egypt stood two cities called Pithom and Raamses. The KJV calls them "treasure cities," which means storehouse cities, and they were built by people who did not want to build them, with taskmasters standing over them. Then came a season when the straw for the bricks was taken away but the number of bricks stayed the same.
Picture the day the count comes up short. The Hebrew foremen are beaten for it. They take a fair complaint to Pharaoh, and he tells them, "Ye are idle, ye are idle," as if that were the only reason they had time to think about worship. Then they come out and meet Moses and Aaron in the road, and they turn on them. That is what happens to worn-down people: the anger goes to whoever is nearest and safest to blame. Nobody in that scene has any way to put things right, because every legal path in the country leads back to the man who profits from the whole thing.
That is the memory Psalm 103 has in mind, because the very next verse says, "He made known his ways unto Moses, his acts unto the children of Israel." Today's verse sums up what God did there: "The LORD executeth righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed." "Executeth" means more than sympathy from far away. It is the ordinary Hebrew verb for doing, for carrying something out and making it happen. And the verse tells you how far it reaches: "all that are oppressed." That means all of them, including those who never seemed to deserve it and those who did not know how to pray.
Maybe someone with more power than you got their way again last week, and you swallowed it, because arguing would have cost more than the loss. Then do the part that is still yours. If it is safe, take the practical step today: write down what happened, report it, or tell the person who ought to know. If it is not safe yet, hold on, and stop telling God it is fine when you pray. You are not the one who has to put it right. The Lord who brought Israel out of Egypt still carries out justice for the oppressed, and He has not forgotten what was done to you.
Daily Manna runs on a two-year cycle. The year two reading for day 175 is Write The Vision (Habakkuk 2:4).