Defender of the Weak
“Because he dispensed justice to the weak and the poor, it went well with him. Is this not true knowledge of Me?” Jeremiah 22:16 NAB
Being born into this world is being born into a fallen form of the world God created. There is a world system that is based on self-sufficiency and control. Some are stronger than others, and sometimes those stronger ones will dominate and use the weak.
God’s heart is to help the one who is weak, poor, sick, hurt, or bound. Justice will help lift up the lowly. In Isaiah 68:5-6 NLT in says about God, “Father to the fatherless, defender of widows- this is God, whose dwelling is holy, God placed the lonely in families; He sets the prisoners free and gives them joy.”
Not everyone shares the same heart as God. Instead of lifting up the weak, they exploit them. The definition of exploit is: “To unjustly use a person for gain or pleasure. To take advantage of someone knowing he or she is vulnerable.” When people take advantage of the hurting, God notices. These people are setting themselves against God Himself.
There is also a spiritual truth connected to this. There are vulnerable people who are trusting leadership with their broken lives. If a Christian uses Christianity to take advantage of someone to misuse for selfish motives, he or she is exploiting the weak (Ezekiel 34) underneath the name of God. 2 Peter 2:3 says, “In their greed these teachers will exploit you with fabricated stories. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.”
We are to represent God and be His hands and feet to those in need. We are to express God’s true nature as the loving, merciful, patient, gracious Rescuer that He is. Let’s be careful not to misrepresent God, exploiting the ones He deeply loves.
God says He will repay us for lending to Him by helping the poor (Proverbs 19:17). This is God’s heart. He cares about the one. Let us show justice by helping the lonely, the deceived, the broken, the poor, and the weak.
Application: Do something this week to help someone in some type of need as a representative of a just and merciful God, with no strings attached. God will take notice!