Justice (Sir 27:8-27:10)

“If you pursue justice,

You will attain it.

Wear it

Like a glorious robe.

Birds roost

With their own kind.

Thus honestly comes home

To those who practice it.

A lion lies in wait

For prey.

So does sin come

For the workers of iniquity.”

Sirach says that if you pursue justice, you will attain it. He makes it sound easy. If you have justice, you should wear it like a glorious robe. Just as birds of a kind flock together, so too honestly comes home to those who practice it. On the other hand, the workers of iniquity sin just like a lion lies in wait for its prey. Good begets good and sin begets sin.

Yahweh knows all things (Ps 139:1-139:6)

To the choirmaster leader, a psalm of David

“Yahweh!

You have searched me!

You have known me!

You know

When I sit down.

You know

When I rise up.

You discern my thoughts from far away.

You search out my path.

You search out my lying down.

You are acquainted with all my ways.

Yahweh!

Even before a word is on my tongue,

You know it completely.

You hem me in,

Behind and before.

You lay your hand upon me.

Such knowledge is too wonderful for me.

It is so high

That I cannot attain it.”

Psalm 139 is a choral psalm or song of David, as the title indicates. This prayer for deliverance emphasizes the great knowledge of Yahweh. Yahweh truly knew David. He knew when he sat down or rose up. He knew his thoughts from far away. He knew when he was walking or lying down. He knew all about his ways. He knew what he was going to say before David said it, so that David felt hemmed in on all sides. The hand of Yahweh was on him. Yahweh’s knowledge was so wonderfully high that David could not attain it.