2 Chronicles 19:11 MSG

I am an attorney who litigates employment law matters, mostly issues of wrongful termination. I especially appreciate Jehoshaphat’s encouragement to his judges: remember this is “serious business” because you are applying God’s law, and you are to do so honestly without partiality.

Jehoshaphat directs his appointed judges and priests in each village of his kingdom to be “bold and diligent” and states “God will be with you” as you carry out your duties.

Everyday, I need the encouragement to be “bold and diligent.” Everyday, I need the assurance that if I proceed this way intent on following God’s will and direction, God will “be with me.”

The very nature of business, and especially the business of law and litigation, is that the outcomes are uncertain. The system is designed to produce a winner and a loser. The capitalist system is much the same generally: you compete in the market, and the best product or service wins.

In this system, worldly as it is, we must live and survive. Jehoshaphat speaks to us centuries later with good counsel: Bring God’s way of doing things into this “rough and tumble” world of conflict and discord. Enter into the fray with boldness and diligence, knowing that God is your guide, your strength, and your source.

Psalm 82

1 God calls the judges into his courtroom, he puts all the judges in the dock.
2 “Enough! You’ve corrupted justice long enough,
you’ve let the wicked get away with murder.
3 You’re here to defend the defenseless,
to make sure that underdogs get a fair break;
4 Your job is to stand up for the powerless,
and prosecute all those who exploit them.”
5 Ignorant judges! Head-in-the-sand judges!
They haven’t a clue to what’s going on.
And now everything’s falling apart,
the world’s coming unglued.
6 “I commissioned you judges, each one of you,
deputies of the High God,
7 But you’ve betrayed your commission
and now you’re stripped of your rank, busted.”
8 O God, give them their just deserts!
You’ve got the whole world in your hands!
An Asaph psalm