What does it mean that God is a God of justice?

(1) The real theme is in the first four verses: it is God Himself, the unchangeable One, faithful, just, and right. Well may the heavens hear, and the earth, the blessed words which drop as the rain, and distill as the dew of night, refreshing grass and herb. It is Jehovah's name they publish, that sweet and wonderful name which expresses truly what He is, and which man, dropped out of that knowledge, needs so much to learn. To Him they ascribe greatness; yes, to Him, O man, out of the clay, who hast ruined thyself by thy pretension to it. He is the Rock — the "dwelling-place in all generations," says our Moses elsewhere (Ps. 90:1,) — safe as shelter, strong against storm, clear-shadowy in the noon-tide heat of a desert land. "His work is perfect" — though men and devils have combined in their own persons to dishonor it. "All His ways are judgment" — not wrath, but far-seeing, well-discerning righteousness. "A God of faithfulness without deceit, just and right is He."

"He is the Rock" — not merely a rock. There is, there can be no other Rock but Himself. Eternal and universal homage to His glorious Name! — "His work is perfect;" — not a single flaw in anything that comes from His blessed hand, all bears the stamp of absolute perfection. This will be made manifest to all created intelligences by-and-by. It is manifest to faith now, and is a spring of divine consolation to all true believers. The very thought of it distils as the dew upon the thirsty soul. "For all his ways are judgement; a God of truth, and without iniquity, just and right is he." Infidels may cavil and sneer; they may, in their fancied wisdom, try to pick holes in the divine actings; but their folly shall be manifest to all. "Let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged." God must have the upper hand, in the end. Let men beware how they presume to call in question the sayings and doings of the only true, the only wise and the almighty God.

Verse 20. "Now a mediator is not of one, but God is one." Justice exposes what a righteous and true love would hide, but which it may hide only with the consenting help of law. God is in His nature love; but He is also the just God. Justice is His public and necessary attribute, the measure and witness of His every act. To do iniquity in any sense would be a dethroning of Himself (Ps. 89:14). In fulfilling, therefore, His eternal purpose towards men, He proves His justice ere He gratifies Himself in the indulgence of His love. He is a just God and a Saviour (Isa. 45:21). Remembering this, the explanation of the verse before us is not difficult. Law, the apostle tells us, was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator. But, he proceeds, "a mediator is not of one, but God is one." Here, then, is a pointed contrast: conditional agreement needs a mediator, but the promiser gives all its value to His promise by declaring it Himself. Now promise is essentially one-sided, or "of one;" and like the things of nature to which God is likened figuratively in the Spirit's testimony, when described as the rest and comfort of His people's faith, He needs no third party as a medium by which to communicate Himself to those whom He is pleased to bless. The "sun" shines on us through no other medium than the air we breathe, or he fails to cheer us by his beams. A "shield" protects us without any intermediate defence, and "a fountain of living water" is ready, without artificial aid, to give refreshment to our thirsty lips. And so of all the rest.

But right rule is service, and love is the spirit of service which to be effectual must be discriminative — must have respect to all differences, all relationships. And such is the character of divine rule which is now announced: righteousness and judgment — not a sentiment of right merely, but maintained executively are the basis of this government; while loving-kindness and truth, in corresponding activity, go before the face of the glorious King. As the type and expression of this the perfect Servant will be upon the throne in the days to which all these psalms look forward: all judgment His because He is the Son of man (John 5:22, 27).

Justice then or righteousness is that feature in God in which He is consistent with Himself in all He says and does. His word, which is the expression of His justice, is the guarantee of stability in all. If, for example, the law of gravitation ceased to act for one moment, the whole structure of the heavens and earth would immediately collapse, and fly to destruction. Moreover, if God ceased for an instant to honour His word, the whole moral structure of society would crumble up. The divinely ordered barriers between good and evil give way; the conflict between good and evil cease, and evil alone prevail, and chaos, moral darkness, cover all, to the everlasting defeat of God. How good and blessed it is to know, in a scene where evil is permitted, and often flourishes at the expense of the good, and where the innocent are often seen to suffer, that the God who for His own wise purposes permits all this for a moment, is Himself the sure and stedfast proof that all wrongs must be righted, and that evils must be punished, and what is of good prevail to the glory of His name, and the security and blessing of all that is of Himself. "Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?" (Gen. 18:25).

In connection with the above, there is a point which cannot well be passed over, because of its connection with the honour of God and the well-being of His people. It will be remembered that the godless in Israel dared to challenge the consistency of God's ways, in His dealings with the people. He took account of this, and graciously came down to reason with them, at a time when their ways had got so bad, as to cause Him to depart from His own Sanctuary. (Ezek. 8:6). In such a state of things we hear Jehovah saying: "Yet saith the house of Israel, the way of the Lord is not equal. O house of Israel, are not My ways equal? are not your ways unequal? Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, saith the Lord God." (Ezek. 18:29-30). This condescension of the Lord is most telling in the light of Deut. 32:4: "He is the Rock, His work is perfect: all His ways are judgment: a God of truth, and without iniquity, just and right is He."

This great God of Israel who shows no partiality nor takes a bribe, is shown rather to administer justice for the fatherless and widow and shows love toward strangers (v.18). How totally in contrast to this are the great majority of rulers in the world today! Law courts too frequently show sad disregard for justice. The poor will commonly suffer gross injustice while the wealthy use their money to pervert judicial action in their own favor. Believers may well be deeply thankful for a God who is perfectly just and faithful.

But this cared for, they must manifest Him also on His salvation side, in His regard for the poor, the weak, the defenceless, and the oppressed. "Judge the weak and fatherless: do justice to the afflicted and destitute." It must be still justice: that must not be violated even in pity to the poor; and there was a special commandment as to this (Ex. 23:3). Yet his poverty should nevertheless make him an object of special and tender interest: "Rescue the weak and needy: deliver him out of the hand of the wicked."

How true also it will be for Israel then, that God has a mighty arm! (v. 13) — an arm of strength, high in its abilities above all others. Then it will be clearly seen by all mankind that righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne — so striking a contrast to all the previous thrones of kings of the earth (v. 14). But along with righteousness and justice are the gentle qualities of mercy and truth. Thus, all the attributes of God will be beautifully evident in the millennial reign of the Lord Jesus. Well might we be told, "Blessed are the people who know the joyful sound!" Why? -because "they walk, O Lord, in the light of Your countenance" (v. 15). This will be particularly and manifestly true in the thousand years of peace, the millennium, yet it is spiritually true now for all those who know Christ as Savior, for the Church anticipates the great blessing of Israel, not in a natural way, but spiritually.

With delight, Moses proclaims the Name of Jehovah, ascribing greatness to Israel's God. If poor Israel proved himself unstable, God remained immovable; He is the Rock, and nothing would move Him from His purposes, or alter His ways. Great in all in which He makes Himself known, His work is perfect, and His ways are just. How these things had been proved by Moses during the forty years in the desert! On the mount he had seen the greatness of Jehovah, when he saw His glory; to him God made known His ways in the secret of the sanctuary; and in all God's dealings with His people he had learned the nature and character of God's work. God could not allow His people's sins to go unpunished; He is a faithful God, without deceit: and in the knowledge that himself was excluded from the land, because of his failure, Moses can still say, "Just and right is He.'' How blessed for His people to have such a God: altogether transparent, no deceit, no unfaithfulness, no unrighteousness, no imperfection: and altogether marked by greatness. Only such a God could go on with such a nation; yea and with ourselves also. His transcending greatness is richly manifested in the mercy, goodness, grace and love, shown to such as we.

"He is the rock; His work is perfect, for all His ways are judgment. A God of truth, and without iniquity; just and right is He." This reveals His stability, His unchanging goodness. The blessed God carries out His own purposes in spite of men's failure and evil and wickedness. There is no flaw in His ways. All is perfectly right. He uses everything to serve His own purpose. He is supreme over all. He brings out the divine excellency, the righteousness and goodness and love in Himself. When you come to God you come to perfection, reliability — that which cannot shift. You have come to that which you can stake your soul upon for time and eternity. As we are told in the New Testament, "We receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved." Everything material and shakable will be moved, but Christ is the one in whom there is eternal continuity. To the Son God says, "Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever."