Thursday, August 27, 2009

The Lord defends the poor



“I know that the Lord will maintain the cause of the afflicted, and the right of the poor.”


All through the Psalm the writer is bravely confident, and speaks of things about which he had no doubt: in fact, no Psalm can be more grandly positive than this protest against slander. The slandered saint knew Jehovah's care for the afflicted, for he had received actual proofs of it himself. “I will maintain it” is the motto of the great Defender of the rights of the needy. What confidence this should create within the bosoms of the persecuted and poverty-stricken! The prosperous and wealthy can maintain their own cause, but those who are otherwise shall find that God helps those who cannot help themselves. Many talk as if the poor had no rights worth noticing, but they will sooner or later find out their mistake when the judge of all the earth begins to plead with them.

From The Treasury of David, exposition of Psalm 140. Image by A Gude under Creative Commons License.

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